Right on! Bump. I love it.
I went through a period during which I collected words. They were less expensive than antique tools and took up less space than Indian motorcycles.
The cost and space savings permitted me to continue collecting guitars, so it briefly made sense. That is, until I had to make room for a bookshelf of dictionaries devoted to bizarre or unusual words (and a few devoted entirely to words that are insulting or disgusting).
I have a mental checklist of my favorite words and a life goal of being able to use them naturally in a sentence in general conversation among friends.
'Defenestration' and 'defenestrate' came easily. With 'callipygous' and 'callipygian' it was matter of finding the right group of friends.
I'm still working on the 7-10 split of vocabulary: "sporabola."
How frequently do your friends engage in a conversation in which you need discuss the path than a fungi spore takes on its way from the fungi to the ground?
But I persevere.
That'd be my dream library. I read a lot of Simon Winchester. I aspire to achieve his vocabulary someday.
I have a mental checklist of my favorite words and a life goal of being able to use them naturally in a sentence in general conversation among friends.
Simon, is that you?
We should buddy up and start a polysyllabic sesquipedalian ping list. :)