Welcome to Wondrous Words Wednesday, hosted by bermudaonion.net. Join me and other bloggers each Wednesday for the opportunity to learn about some new words via our current reads.
In A Thousand Acres, by Jane Smiley, I came across a great pairing of antonyms. The passage reads:
Harold Clark promoted his own local reputation of garrulous thoughtlessness. While many, even most, farmers I knew were laconic and uncomplaining, Harold talked of himself often, and always as if he were almost but not quite two people…
Now here’s some information from Webster’s:
garrulous \’gar-ə-ləs\ adj from Latin garrire to chatter: given to prosy, rambling, or tedious loquacity; pointlessly talkative
laconic \lə-‘kän-ik\ adj from Latin laconicus Spartan, from Greek lakōnikos from the Spartan 
reputation for terseness of speech: using or involving the use of a minimum of words; concise to the point of seeming rude
You could call my husband laconic. He tends to answer questions in five words or less, and he often displays a “Why are daring to speak to me?” look on his face. Especially when he’s tired. (Love you, Honey!)
Not me though. My eleventh grade English teacher called me “loquacious” and nick named me “Babs.” But I certainly hope my talking is never tedious or pointless. (No need to confirm or deny, thanks.)
Word Nerd Workout
Let’s create an analogy with these words. An analogy shows correspondence between a set of words and serves as a basis to create another set. Here’s my example:
Garrulous : laconic :: loquacious : ?
(You could read this: garrulous is to laconic as loquacious is to _____?)
Fill in the blank, or create your own analogy!
Thanks for stopping by!
Julia
phone screen. Line up the ISBN code from the back of any book within the window. The phone will focus and an official sounding BEEP will tell you that the code has been successfully scanned. The title, author, and average rating for the book will appear on your phone.
Now, please also recall the scene from Hitch when Hitch convinces his hapless friend Albert to practice the right approach to a goodnight kiss. Hitch says,
