1. To follow a winding and turning course.
               
            2. To move aimlessly and idly without fixed direction.   

noun                 

            1. Meanders. Circuitous windings or sinuosities, as of a stream or path.
 
            2. Often meanders. A circuitous journey or excursion; ramble.                            

            3. The Greek fret or key pattern, used in art and architecture.   [From Latin maeander, circuitous windings, from Greek maiandros after the Maeander River in Phrygia.]

            This weekend I have meandered through my chores with a lack of determination that would make a napping cat proud. -- N

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Thenar: (THEE-nahr) noun      

The fleshy mass on the palm of the hand at the base of the thumb.   

adjective       

Of or relating to the thenar.   

[Greek, palm of the hand.]

             After three unsuccessful attempts to open the bottle of cranberry juice, I took it to my neighbor and asked him, for the sake of my poor thenar, to open the jar for me.  

            He thought I said my poor "mother" and offered to be of assistance any time. Naturally I planned to take advantage of the situation. -- 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