1. Hypersensitivity to the color red.

   2. An extreme fear of blushing.

[From Greek erythros (red) + phobia (fear).]

            At the All About Me salon, the metallic frosting strips in her hair crinkled as Maraj turned her head away from the magazine in her lap. She called over to the delicate, cracker-thin man at the desk who was busy looking at his hands. “Do you guys have some good magazines? This is an educational one for teachers or something. You don’t subscribe to this, do you?”

            The not-easily-irked woman in the chair nearest to Maraj replied, “I do. I left it so others could enjoy it. I always bring my old mags in when I come here.”

            Maraj looked at the woman’s fresh, French braid and scrunched up her nose. “Well I’m just not into pretentious things that are wrong to begin with. Look at this,” she said, as she leaned toward the woman, held out the magazine and pointed to a vocabulary feature.

            “Here’s a word they want me to learn. Erythrophobia. It means being freaked out by the color red. That's just stupid. I look great in red.” – N

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Nostomania: (nos-tuh-MAY-nee-uh, -mayn-yuh) noun\

            An overwhelming desire to return home or to go back to familiar places.

[From Greek nostos (a return home) + -mania (excessive enthusiasm or madness).]

            Overcome by nearly excruciating nostomania, Maraj called You II to schedule a private appointment. “I’m not kidding, Chantz. This is an emergency and you need to get me in there right away.” The manager of the exclusive clothier did not feel like arguing. He knew who he was dealing with.

            “Darling, come on in tomorrow at 2:30. That’s the soonest I can get you in and I swear, I’m bumping Cher to do it -- and only because it is you, because I know this is a health issue for you.”

            Maraj relaxed a little. She didn’t have any events coming up, but she had to get into You II soon and try on clothes or go crazy. Chantz soothed her more by adding, “You’ll love me even more when the girls show you the gorgeous pieces that just came in from Carlo in Milan.” – N

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Gynophobia or gynephobia: (jyn-uh-FO-bee-uh, gyn-) noun

            The fear of women.

[From Greek gyne (female, woman) + -phobia (fear).] 

 
            The office had been very quiet all day, so from her seat at the reception desk, Kande could almost make out the words as Dr. Rascal urged his gynophobia patient to have faith in the basic goodness of people, man or woman.

            Poor guy. Peter Salso won a date with some celebutant named Maraj, which apparently was not her real name, at an auction after a pie eating contest. However, Mr. Salso was having a really hard time working up the nerve to go through with it.

            Dr. Rascal was good though. He had been working with the patient for some time, even extending the appointment because the man was so terrified.

            After an hour and a half, Kande suddenly recognized the muffled vibration of desperate resolve. Then, through the nearly sound-proof door she clearly heard the determined patient cry, “This Peter is standing firm!” It seemed Maraj had a date after all. – N

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Along with countless other people the world over, I enjoy my subscription to A. Word. A. Day. that results in a daily email message with interesting, sometimes completely unknown-to-me words, along with pronounciation guide, etymology typical usage and more.

The New York Times hailed AWADmail as: "The most welcomed, most enduring piece of daily mass e-mail in cyberspace."

One day way back when, I decided that for learning, it would be helpful and fun to use the words AWAD sent to me in a sentence or two. Of course I found myself going beyond that and using them in not-so-obvious ways that entertained my friends as well as myself. Sometimes I use words incorrectly on purpose. But if you know the meaning, you get the joke. It is kind of a backward way of doing things, but that's creativity, right?

The first character inspired by AWAD was Maraj (not her real name.) She has quite a few fans. At the encouragement of several persistent friends, I decided it was time to share her and the others with my new friends here at OS, and begin on the first day of 2010. 

I'm offering vocabulary words I received from AWAD and what I wrote to practice using them. Tell me this isn't a much more fun way to work on improving one's vocabulary. Enjoy. Maraj and more will be back – and check out www.wordsmith.org to sign up for the free subscription. They don't know me, but for fun tell them I sent you. Like OS, it can be addictive. -- Natalie