arrr, mateys, for a thousand tongues to sing

Sarah posted a link the other day – this is from the article:

“Avast ye, mateys! Hear the word from our Cap'n: No fear have ye of storms and scallywags, says ye? Argh! But I be seein' your true hearts. For I see below quarterdecks, says I. Ye be tremblin' in the face of scurvy dogs. But pay them no heed. For I be preparin' to pour down plenty o' booty upon ye. So be of cheer, me hearties! Ye be loved of the Cap'n."

I copied it down and saved it. It’s fun – like The Message for Pirates – but the words also struck me. God speaking ordinarily with the ordinary. Even aside from that, they appealed to me.

There are a thousand ways to say what this pirate speaks. A thousand tongues for a thousand different people.

So many words are out there. I'm sitting here journaling for pages and pages and find myself even more frustrated than before I began. But just one metaphor can serve as “les mots justes” – the right words. Saves paper. Poetry is better for the environment.

What are some of your favorite words? Crock pot seems to be a hit. What words do you love to hear? What words do you hate to hear? I hate the phrase “I see.” Some people hate “Uranus” or even the word “hollow.”

A genuine “I missed you” is among of the best phrases to hear when you run into a good friend. Being addressed by a long-held nickname is way up there, too. “Riboflavin” always makes me giggle. You have your inside-joke words and phrases. “It’s raining!”

No, this isn’t actually going anywhere. I just like words. I never seem to have the right ones, though. It seems my life is a quest to find exactly the word-combination to describe… something. I don’t know what. I’ll tell you when I find it.