Who's a Word Nerd? | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Kathy Manos Penn is a native of the “Big Apple,” who settled in the “Peach City” – Atlanta. A former English teacher now happily retired from a corporate career in communications, she writes a weekly column for the Dunwoody Crier and the Highlands Newspaper. Read her blogs and columns and purchase her books, “The Ink Penn: Celebrating the Magic in the Everyday” and “Lord Banjo the Royal Pooch,” on her website theinkpenn.com or Amazon.

    I call myself a word nerd and grammar geek. These descriptors can be considered compliments or insults, depending on whom you ask. My sisters and I are word nerds who must have dictionaries handy at all times. The advent of smartphones means we no longer have to rush home to look up words. Now, we google them wherever we happen to be.

    We likely inherited this habit from our dad, who read the encyclopedia for kicks. I don't use "big" words in conversation nor writing as I had an English professor in college who dinged me for saying "utilize" when "use" would have worked fine. That lesson stuck and was reinforced by my communications roles in corporate America where I learned that one key to successful communication is to write in easily understood language. I may occasionally toss out a word like "erudite" because it pops to mind and seems the best word for the situation, but I don't go in search of fancy words.

    I laughed and agreed with Alan Cumming's character on the TV series "Instinct" when he dissed someone for using big words. He commented, "Using obfuscate and eschew in one sentence-that's just showing off."

    I also cherish my thesauruses and prefer the paperbacks on my credenza to the online versions. I could be wrong, but I consider my dogeared books to have more options. The other sure sign that I'm a word nerd is my subscription to Wordsmith's A Word a Day emails.

    Anu Garg, who founded Wordsmith.org in 1994, says, "There are exotic species of words jumping out inviting me to play. I weave them into a theme, a garland of words." Most weeks, the words have a theme, though every once in a while, they're a random compilation. Monday - Friday, you get a word, its pronunciation, meaning, etymology, and usage. As a bonus, you also get a thought for the day. I find this email a pleasant accompaniment to my first cup of coffee.

    Since I've been writing columns and books, I also read lots of blogs and articles on writing, and I agree with this bit of vocabulary advice:

    Learn a new word each day. There's no need to add every new term to your working vocabulary. Just being exposed to new ideas will broaden your perspective and help you express yourself better.

    As to my grammar geek tendencies, I come by those naturally having taught high school English for four years-in another life, as I like to say. Again, this leaning intensified when I wound up being the go-to communications Queen in my corporate life. What's changed is that I used to grab my ancient blue tenth grade "Warriner's English Grammar and Composition" book in search of guidance. Nowadays, I have Grammarly.com installed on my computer. Admittedly, I sometimes disagree with Grammarly's take and return to my grammar book or go in search of a different online grammar resource.

    Believe it or not, some grammar geeks are too geeky for me. I joined a group on LinkedIn called, you guessed it, Grammar Geeks, but their grammar debates can be too much in the weeds for me.

    I can be pretty serious about grammar, but I chuckle when I think of my favorite boss, whose work I edited with my virtual red pen. We've remained friends, and I still edit the occasional article for him. He's a wonderfully engaging writer and speaker, but I laughingly say, "He's never met a comma he liked." Spoken like a true grammar geek, wouldn't you say?

    Kathy Manos Penn is a Georgia resident. Her latest book, "Lord Banjo the Royal Pooch," and her collection of columns, "The Ink Penn: Celebrating the Magic in the Everyday," are available on Amazon. Contact Kathy at inkpenn119@gmail.com.