semaphore “l”
Emma, my college senior. told me this week I would love one of her professors. “He’s a word nerd, like you.” I laughed. I am a word nerd. I love language. It’s one of God’s best gifts to us. It’s what sets us apart from the animals. Language allows us to communicate with God and with each other. It’s powerful and wonderful and beyond interesting. I love studying the origins of words and dialects and languages. I find it fascinating. In school I even loved diagramming sentences. That was like a cross between words and puzzles, and I love both, so wow—best of both world!
I will use this opportunity to rant yet again against the demise of the word literally. When literally can literally mean “not literally,” to me that signals society’s acknowledgment that we need have no absolutes whatsoever. A bit extreme, perhaps, but I’ve already railed on this topic, so…
Emma’s first word
Back to language. Most babies’ first words are mama or dada. Emma has never been one to follow the crowd. Always quietly forging her own path, her first word was light. But when you start speaking one your first birthday, which is Christmas Eve, and have been surrounded by blinking lights for nearly two months, and up to the tree to touch and admire said lights, what else could you really expect?