1. In Greek mythology one of a family of giants, the children of Uranus and Gaea, who sought to rule heaven and were overthrown and supplanted by the family of Zeus.

            2. titan. A person of colossal size, strength, or achievement.                       

            3. The largest satellite of Saturn and the 14th in distance from the planet. It is the second largest satellite in the solar system.   

[Middle English, Helios, from Latin Titan, from Greek Titan.] 

             Though considered a titan in the shopping world, Maggie disappointed the ladies at the senior center when she bought $263.57 worth of groceries and despite possessing a fire-hazard size stack of coupons, had to hand more than $5.00 to the cashier. – N 

 
Satyr: (SAY-tuhr) noun                            

            1. Often Satyr. In Greek mythology, a woodland creature depicted as having the pointed ears, legs, and short horns of a goat and a fondness for unrestrained revelry.    

            2. A licentious man; a lecher.    

            3. A man who is affected by satyriasis.    

            4. Any of various butterflies of the family Satyridae, having brown wings marked with eyelike spots.   

[Middle English satire, from Old French, from Latin satyrus, from Greek saturos.]

             In my dreams, I am far more responsive to the antics of a satyr-like man than I would be in the waking world. Lechery in the dark is fun. -- N

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Background: 

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