This has been a DAY (another one). I am catching myself gazing into empty space, inert, for minutes on end. I’m tired but also burnt out. I can usually latch onto something to do to keep on being useful on some level or other. Nothing seems to work, but I finally thought of one task I have neglected for quite a while and you can help me with it, it if it appeals to you.

I have a lot of dictionaries of various styles and ages and specialties. I love words, in case I haven’t mentioned it. I keep a manageable-sized dictionary in my living room handy to open for quick consultation. But then I slipped into the habit of saving scraps of paper with words on them and tucking them into the dictionary for later investigation. Oh dear. So I thought of that now and I’m going to pull out some of the scraps and list some words I need to look up and you can help, if you feel like it. Even if you don’t, you might like to look at them, if you love words too.

ramous ossature vetiver tephra eidolon cottar polder karst semmet bashert somectitic neoteny, also called pedomorphous gralloch gamaleg bricolage wergild revanchist bolus swarf wonk(ish) titrate pickelhaube

accipitrine cere guillemot sett afikomen lacustine fumarole fissiparous

aporia nystagmus hexaflagons seanchai acuminate appetent pyretic hoggery coriaceous chasmal gracile

That’s enough. Actually, I checked out a lot of them with my online dictionary. You have to use a word three times before it’s yours. I read that somewhere. Some words stick instantly, though; others take a little longer.

It beats staring into space.