
Last week I mentioned that the Rare Words book ran out with 2013. That means I needed a new source of words for 15 Minute Tweet Tales. Even though it was interesting to encounter so many off-the-wall words in the Rare Words book, I didn’t really feel like it boosted my vocabulary because they were just so weird. I mean, some of the words were so unusual I had to search multiple online dictionaries to find a definition to link to them. And since they lacked any recognizability factor for me, I could barely remember them ten minutes after using them in the tweet tales. So I wanted to get back to words that are challenging but still have a chance of sticking around in my lexicon because I’ve seen or heard them before even if I don’t commonly use them.
Therefore, I am returning to the source from the first year, which is the Merriam-Webster’s word-a-day calendar. And like before, I will be using an old version rather than the one from this year. Hopefully readers will also enjoy more of the tales, since they won’t have to look up so many of the words. See how you fare with this first week of words:
1/1 – Said she'll be incommunicado at the office. Husband sees hotel charge, suspects affair. Actually avoiding kids and enjoying bubble bath.
1/2 – The heliacal light turns her white hair to gold, reminding him of the day they met. Missing the bus 50 years ago = best day of his life.
1/3 – Despite being raised to follow in his preacher dad's footsteps, parochial Jim vacationed in Vegas. 48 hours in, he landed in the morgue.
1/4 – Growing up, Kim followed her brother headlong into all adventures. When he takes his life, she can't imagine living without him and jumps.
1/5 – In his twenty years on the bomb squad, he was the most imperturbable officer they'd seen. Then a spider skittered across his hand. BOOM!
1/6 – Bev and Jan always considered it a successful girls' night if it ended in the calaboose, only now their mug shots show aging losers.
1/7 – He used pedagogical position to recruit teens, leading to his arrest. Plan: flash mob to propose to girlfriend at airport. TSA not amused.
Play along and write tweet tales for the above words. If you’re willing to share, post them on twitter with the hashtag #15tt or add them below in the comments because I’d love to read them. Any thoughts about this week's tweet tales or #15tt words?

Last week I mentioned that the Rare Words book ran out with 2013. That means I needed a new source of words for 15 Minute Tweet Tales. Even though it was interesting to encounter so many off-the-wall words in the Rare Words book, I didn’t really feel like it boosted my vocabulary because they were just so weird. I mean, some of the words were so unusual I had to search multiple online dictionaries to find a definition to link to them. And since they lacked any recognizability factor for me, I could barely remember them ten minutes after using them in the tweet tales. So I wanted to get back to words that are challenging but still have a chance of sticking around in my lexicon because I’ve seen or heard them before even if I don’t commonly use them.
Therefore, I am returning to the source from the first year, which is the Merriam-Webster’s word-a-day calendar. And like before, I will be using an old version rather than the one from this year. Hopefully readers will also enjoy more of the tales, since they won’t have to look up so many of the words. See how you fare with this first week of words:
1/1 – Said she'll be incommunicado at the office. Husband sees hotel charge, suspects affair. Actually avoiding kids and enjoying bubble bath.
1/2 – The heliacal light turns her white hair to gold, reminding him of the day they met. Missing the bus 50 years ago = best day of his life.
1/3 – Despite being raised to follow in his preacher dad's footsteps, parochial Jim vacationed in Vegas. 48 hours in, he landed in the morgue.
1/4 – Growing up, Kim followed her brother headlong into all adventures. When he takes his life, she can't imagine living without him and jumps.
1/5 – In his twenty years on the bomb squad, he was the most imperturbable officer they'd seen. Then a spider skittered across his hand. BOOM!
1/6 – Bev and Jan always considered it a successful girls' night if it ended in the calaboose, only now their mug shots show aging losers.
1/7 – He used pedagogical position to recruit teens, leading to his arrest. Plan: flash mob to propose to girlfriend at airport. TSA not amused.
Play along and write tweet tales for the above words. If you’re willing to share, post them on twitter with the hashtag #15tt or add them below in the comments because I’d love to read them. Any thoughts about this week's tweet tales or #15tt words?