The OED Online reports this on the word lacuna:
A la-cu'-na [luh-kyoo'nuh] is "a hiatus, or missing portion . . . in a manuscript, an inscription, or the text of an author." It is derived from lacuna, the Latin word for a hole or pit. The word admits two plural forms — lacunae [luh-kyoo',nay] or lacunas — as well as an adjectival form, lacunal.
An Open Letter to Words Worth Readers
Jan. 14, 2008Dear Words Worth readers:
First off, know this, that my love of researching words that I find in some way fetching and then putting them into play in conversation and personal correspondence has not changed one jot, tittle, mote, or bit.
What has changed is the arrival to these quarters of certain disruptive matters, which I choose here to call Imposing Necessities (INs). They are of such a thorn-prickly nature that I must needs tend to them and put off further publication of Words Worth until some unpredictable time in the future.
I view this production stoppage not as a termination, but as a lacuna — a pause or hiatus — in the blog's production, with the prospect ever in my mind of resuming production when the INs are out!
So it's silence from the quarters of Words Worth for the nonce, but not forever.
Until we are reconnected, you could visit other word sites to slake your thirst for new words or try incorporating the word discovery method I have outlined below.
Place a dictionary on your bedside table. Each morning at wake-up, open the book, run your index finger down a column until you find a word that catches your interest — as, for an example, the word beauteous, which a poetic or literary rendition of beautiful.
Speak out the word, write out its spelling and definition in a special pocket spiral notebook devoted to word learning. Then imagine a time or place during the upcoming day when the word could come into play. Picture an object or a person whose name begins with the word's initial letter — here, b — and make some sort of connection. Use your imagination to do this.
If, for instance, you think you will most probably see coworker Betty during the day, think at that moment: "B — Betty — beauteous." Then, when you see her, you might say, "Beauteous hair, today, Betty!"
If you see Betty that day but forget to make the connection or forget the word beauteous, try again the next day. This time you might picture her wearing a button on her lapel that reads: "Beauteous Betty."
Have fun learning new words.
Until Words Worth resumes publication, I wish you all the best.
Bloggin' John
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