Have you ever read a novel so well-written that the characters came alive? This week's words are about those fictional men and women who have walked off the pages of their books and entered the dictionary. Perhaps it's a testament to the genius of the authors that their imaginary creations are now part of the living language. Let's meet five of these words, also known as eponyms, this week.
lilliputian (lil-i-PYOO-shuhn) adjective Very small. noun A very small person. [After Lilliput, a fictional island nation in Jonathan Swift's satirical novel Gulliver's Travels. Everything was diminutive in Lilliput -- its inhabitants were six inches in height.] Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=lilliputian -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "[Chantal] Lacoste is exploring and mapping the chilly Lilliputian world of mesofauna, microscopic creatures living in and under the Arctic sea ice." Peter Calamai; The Next Generation in the North; Toronto Star (Canada); Apr 5, 2008. Sponsors' messages: You're right, most brainstorming doesn't work (find out why), but Productive Thinking does (find out how). http://tenkaizen.com orijinz is a hit! "Great, great, GREAT word game!" "So much Fun" "infectious". A great Mother's day gift! Only $14.95. http://entspire.com ............................................................................ There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life -- happiness, freedom, and peace of mind -- are always attained by giving them to someone else. -Peyton C. March, general (1864-1955) Discuss this week's words on our bulletin board: http://wordsmith.org/board Remove, change address, gift subs: http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/lilliputian.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/lilliputian.ram Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/lilliputian.html This message was sent to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]".
