A source of many unforeseen troubles.   

[From Pandora, the first woman bestowed upon humankind, wife of Prometheus's brother Epimetheus.]

            Molly had heard something about Pandora's box in school, but she couldn't quite remember if it was a good thing or a really bad thing.  And she wondered why her teacher seemed to know all about it like it was no big deal.  

            Molly was near to bursting with curiosity.  When Pandora left on her date with that dork Kevin from the bowling league, Molly sneaked into her sister's bedroom and began to search for the box. -- N

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Siren Song: (SYR-uhn song) noun      

            An enticing plea or appeal, especially one that is deceptively alluring.   

[From Siren, one of a group of sea nymphs in Greek mythology who by their sweet singing lured mariners to destruction on the rocks surrounding their island.]

             It was late.  My stomach hurt.  My wallet was nearly empty.  But when the gorgeous dame in the sparkling blue dress slowly moved toward me with the determination of a rising tide, I fell for her siren song before the hem of her gown even swished against my shoes. -- 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