"D" is for....DROLL

Droll can be an adjective (amusing in an odd way, waggish, whimsically humorous says Dictionary.com), a noun (a jester or a wag, ibid), or an intransitive verb (to jest or to joke) (what, pray tell, is THAT? I really have to start hanging out more with Strunk & White - I've heard they're fun guys, right?).

From the French for scamp, and the Middle Dutch for imp, it is a short, sweet and oh, so evocative word. Use it in dialogue and you can immediately characterize both the speaker AND the object of derision (because when someone calls another person "droll" is usually not a "good" thing).

Synonyms: Witty, a clown. Antonyms: serious (or another of my favorite "d" words, DOUR!)

"Oh, my dear boy, do tell us another of your droll little tales!" said the Duchess of Dingleberry to the Tsar of Tumescence.

See? You know that someone in the scene is seething, right? And that one Duchess is due for a comeuppance .....

Do It Yourself Vocabulary

Shakespeare did it. So why can't I? I can, in fact, make up words.

It is probably a bit easier today when new words pop onto the scene daily. To whit: I twitter, therefore I tweet. Or something like that (actually, to twitter is the verb, the result of a twitter is a tweet - what I would really like someone to answer for me is, if I twitter, why am I not a Twit?)

Anyway. I coined the phrase: humongolicious (meaning: a large, muscular, hunky man). I referred to my day job responsibilities as "Everestian" (meaning nearly insurmountable except for the truly Sherpa-esque among us).

And when I congratulated an e-friend with "fantabulistic" regarding her recent success (don't ask me who or what, I try to be supportive of all), she thought it was a great word.

Then, of course, are my current references to all things "e-". My "e-boyfriend", "e-friends", "e-debates" and so forth. Forget e-books, I'm an e-phenom waiting to happen.

The universe is filled with amazing words that can describe everything from A to zed. But never forget that a new word can sum up something no one else may ever have thought of.

Seriously, someone, somewhere came up with the word, "Dingleberry". It was not from the Latin, trust me.

Don't know what it means? Honey, grab that dictionary.

"C" is for Chrematistic. (huh?)

Chrematistic (adjective and noun)

Adjective: Of, pertaining to, or engaged in the accumulation of wealth.

Noun: The branch of knowledge that deals with wealth; economics.

Never heard this word before. But I can think of lots of people it applies to. Do the names Enron, Exxon, Halliburton, AIG mean anything?

Some synonyms (off the top of my head): Greedy and grasping?

Antonynms: US middle class taxpayer.

I'm just saying .....