Word Nerd
Sometimes I like to play word games. I find words of nine letters and place them in a 3×3 grid. For some reason, seeing the letters in a different form allows me to notice words emerge, starting with three letter words, then expanding to four, five and six letters.
I’m amazed at how many words I can create. It makes me realize that I may be expanding my vocabulary because I often think a certain combination of letters is a word, but it may not be, as well. So, I check the dictionary, of course, and often times I am happily surprised!
Just recently, I wondered about using words related to the same category or season. So, for example, how about collecting words related to Lent and/or Easter, such as: R E S U R R E C T or P E N I T E N T S or A B S T A I N S or S A C R I F I C E?
Each of these is a source of other words that might be related or not, but it doesn’t matter because the fun of seeing “new” words is exciting and fun—if you are a word nerd, like me!
Mary Jane Berger, OSB
