As an author, words are the tools of my trade. Like most retired people I know, I exercise my brain each morning with a few puzzles. I start with Quad Word, then move on to Wordle, followed by Sudoku. For anyone not familiar with Wordle it involves trying to guess a five letter word. If you have a right letter in the right place it goes green, and if you have a correct letter in the wrong position it goes yellow. My standard starting word is tiles, followed by acorn, then dumpy. These words use the most frequently occurring letters, and all the vowels. Claire starts with irate, and our friend Lyn starts with adieu.
I thought I’d see how many five letter words there are that don’t contain any vowels. It might surprise you to know that there are sixty. Most of them contain a Y, like crypt and nymph. That’s why dumpy is my third choice word. I couldn’t find phpht in my Chambers, but Collins lists it as an informal expression of irritation. A crwth is an old Welsh stringed instrument.
I’d be interested to know what you think about the use of obscure or unusual words in novels. Do you like to occasionally reach for the dictionary, or do you find it irritating? Let me know via the contact button. Personally I try to keep it to a minimum. I do like a bit of alliteration, and in The Favourite Murder, the fifth book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures I’m taking my time and attempting to make every sentence the best it can be. I’m currently at 53,900 words and only nearing the end of chapter eight of thirty-two.
Well that’s about all for my blog this morning. I shall finish my mental limbering up with a game of chess against the computer, then I’ll attempt to finish chapter eight.