Use it or lose it, they say!
Usually the slogan refers to memory or frequent flyer points but the same applies to vocabulary, too.Maybe you learnt a word last week - let's call it "farkle" - and unless you use farkle in a sentence pretty soon then the same word is likely to melt into oblivion.
Let's pretend farkle means to pick up an object with your toes. Anglers at low tide can be nifty farklers of buried pipi shells, just as anyone who's gathered a sock off the floor has been known to indulge in farkling.
That's the problem with acquiring strange words. Unless we use them, then the farkles of this world will only grow stranger to us.
According to different sources on the web this is what I learnt about farkle:
"Motorcycle enthusiasts may install accessories, called farkles (also spelled farkel), to customize their machine. The term Farkle apparently originated among the ST1100 riders. It is an acronym:"
F ancy
A ccessory
R eally
K ool &
L ikely
E xpensive
"Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use."
~~ Wendell Johnson
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| Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Australia 2022 |
