Word of the Day: Hortatory
Every so often, as I skip through sentences
crisp as leaves that line forest floors, I stumble upon an unknown
word that protrudes from the page like a gnarled
root. Today, it was “hortatory” that sent me tumbling.
Luckily, the fall didn’t bruise my ego. These lexical snags exhort
me to remember my own ignorance and savor the thrill of so many wonders I have yet to discover.
18 thoughts on "Word of the Day: Hortatory"
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Katrina = Thanks for the word lesson! Love the line – “Luckily, the fall didn’t bruise my ego.” It’s fun and cheeky. Nice forest/leaves/root images at the start. Lovely!
Thank you! I was rushing to meet the midnight deadline, and I was afraid this one may fall flat, so I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it!
I love that first sentence! Love the concept of lexical snags.
Thank you! Lexical was another word I discovered just yesterday; I was excited to put it to good use!
Love the root image especially: I felt the rush down its length, the disambiguation through a Gordian knot of root system, previously unseen.
I subscribe to a couple places like Dictionary.com for their Word of the Day. Like yours here, it is just one of the places I find poem starters.
P.S. I had to go look up its meaning too haha
And now you’re in the know!😂
Thank you! I used to visit dictionary.com every day to see the “word of the day,” but I fell out of practice. Maybe I should rekindle that tradition!
LOVE a good new word
I liked that you picked a forest floor setting!
Thank you!
I can completely relate to this feeling of being perplexed and drawn into discovery. And “sentences/crisp as leaves that line forest floors” is just a lovely line. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much!
I love everything about this — mental image of tripping through a forest of words, the tongue-in-cheek of the fall not bruising the ego, and a new word to explore. <3
Thank you!!😊
Love me some lexical snags! And those new words that hide in the underbrush everyday. Nice!
Thank you!
This poem is really fun (and clever)! Love it!
Thank you so much! I stumbled upon this “lexical snag” while reading Elements of Style!😄