Readers,

Have you ever had the joy of interacting with Cairn University’s own wonderful Professor Charlotte Gleason? She is an energetic spirit, a Tigger in her own right, and words tumble from her in such quick succession that sometimes one’s head swims from the pictures painted so quickly and with such skill. Professor Gleason expresses her thoughts with such an extensive vocabulary in her everyday speech. She inspires and amazes me, and I wish to learn and maintain that effortless eloquence for myself when I become a teacher one day.

I am (don’t judge me) an absolute word nerd. I know, I know, a sad thing to admit, but alas, I am an English major to my very core. Since gaining Professor Gleason as an advisor and professor, I have begun a long list in my phone’s Notes app that contains dozens of beautiful words and phrases. My first semester in her class, my notebook margins were hastily filled with these unique words which she nonchalantly dropped in front of her students. Now, they live comfortably with their definitions in this document on my iPhone. Not all of them are large words, nor are they unheard of- but they are terminally underused (in my humble opinion). The hope for this portion of the Scroll is that I can share a few words each week that I find inspiring and would challenge you, our readers, to utilize in your everyday life (and assignments).

The first word for this week is candor. Candor, which means honesty, sincerity (or “stainlessness of character” as the Oxford English Dictionary puts it), was first used in London in 1612 by Benjamin Jonson in The Alchemist. 

Our sentence example for this word comes from author Sarah Fielding, who said that “If modesty and candor are necessary to an author in his judgement of his own works, no less are they in his reader.”

The second word for this week is abhorrence. Abhorrence means a repulsed or disgusted feeling or as the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) calls it “detestation, hatred, [or] repugnance.” It’s first use in writing was in 1592 by Francesco Colonna in Hypnerotomachia: the strife of loue in a dreame. 

A quote, for example, that uses this word is “The abhorrence in which I held the man, the dread I had of him, the repugnance with which I shrank from him, could not have been exceeded if he had been some terrible beast.” This quote comes from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.

The final word I want to challenge each of you to use is beleaguered. This word was first used in Thomas Nashe’s An almond for a parrat in 1590. It means simply, in a difficult circumstance or according to the OED, beleaguer means “To surround, beset (generally with some idea of hostility or annoyance).” 

One quote that includes this word is by beloved Christian author and theologian, C.S. Lewis, who says “they propound mathematical theorems in beleaguered cities, conduct metaphysical arguments in condemned cells, make jokes on scaffolds.” 

What words have you heard recently from friends, colleagues, or professors that have inspired you? Best of luck utilizing these in your vocabulary!