*** I you did not quite catch why the words Hyodal and Maraj ended up in yessterday's post, this morning I offered an explanation if you care to go to post #19 and take a look. ;-)

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Showstopper: (SHO-stop-uhr) noun              

            1. A performer or performance that wins enthusiastic or prolonged applause.             

            2. A spectacularly arresting or appealing person or thing.   

[When the term "showstopper" entered English in the 1920s, it referred to a song, an act, or a performance that gets so much applause the show is temporarily stopped.]

             At the grand opening of the newly renovated art house, Maraj was a showstopper in hues of sunset.

            Just before the first film, "Rain Gear in Lebanon" was to premiere, she met a man who looked an awful lot like the mayor of Sonoma. Exactly. It was the man himself. With a forced casualness, she accepted a tour of the projection booth. Maraj knew mayors had a key to everything.

            Five minutes before show time, as they were in the middle of a frantic embrace, the hem of her dress became caught in the Simplex projector. The mayor swore, pushed Maraj aside and began to frantically work on the equipment. Suddenly seeing his nametag, Maraj became very upset.  "Why didn't you tell me you were the film guy?"  

            Ian, who did not respond until the dress was out, the equipment was in gear and the film had started on time replied, "Why didn't you ask?"

            Maraj loved that response and threw herself into his arms once more. – N

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Doublethink: (DUB-uhl-thingk) noun              

            Thought marked by the acceptance of gross contradictions and falsehoods, especially when used as a technique of self-indoctrination.  

[Double + think, coined by George Orwell in his novel "1984" (1949.)]

             I have been thinking and thinking about a way to use the word doublethink in a sentence. -- 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