The 22nd year of being Ryan Hartley, documented.

Nothing lifts the spirits of the pompous and arrogant like a little bit of verbosity and Freerice.com dishes up platefuls of the stuff. The clever people at the UN Food Relief Place have set up this little website in order to feed hungry people and teach the world new words. The concept is simple: You get a word. You choose from four possible definitions. Three consecutive right answers push you up a level, one incorrect answer lowers you a level.  That’s it. The joys received are twofold; not only do you obtain the intellectual joy of knowing big words, but you also receive a moral boost.  Every time you click, you donate 20 grains of rice. You don’t really know who gets the rice. Presumably it’s some poor African kid. No evidence is provided.  Okay there is a video, but you those things can be doctored. 

Last time I looked there were 60 levels of words ranging from the simplistic to the indecipherable. I’ve managed to work my way up to level 49 (a feat I am immensely proud of) and would welcome any pretenders to the throne.

It’s a useful trick to be able to pick out the root language of each of the words as it provides a useful setting for where the word might have been used. Old English words, for example, tend to describe rural events or objects, while French (the language of the conquering Normans) is reserved for objects more commonly found in the presence of nobility.

I’ve received a little flak for my love and promotion of the English language, but it remains a subject of both joy and pride for me. I love the conflicting rules, the borrowed words and the colourful and often obscure metaphors. Purists may complain about the haphazard way in which words are adopted into the English vocabulary, but it is this flexibility and willingness to absorb that which is around it that has enabled English to take its place as the lingua franca (intentional) of commerce, culture and the entire globe.  Freerice.com offers but a tiny glimpse into the rich heritage of the English language. For those lexophiles looking to delve a little deeper, A Word A Day (or AWAD to the initiated) provides a daily dose of out of the ordinary words or phrases. Each week follows a different theme and the weekend edition contains comments on the week’s words or stories of where they were used or encountered. It’s probably one of the nerdiest emails you could receive, but there is much joy to be had in discovering a new word (or an old favourite).

For those who are wondering, my favourite word is egregious meaning “outstandingly bad”. Much thanks to Terry Pratchett for introducing me to that one. The words meaning comes from the Greek (?)  e meaning “out of” and gregar meaning “flock” (it’s the same place we get the word gregarious from). The word is thus literally, “standing out of the flock”. Well, I found it interesting.

If you have any interesting words you’d like to share, I’m always open to learning new things.