surcease

“surcease” was the word of the day… he regaled us with stories about his life without surcease.

Without relief.

Thinking about expanding my vocabulary. In the Alan Moore BBC Maestro course he mentioned that the breadth of your vocabulary is related to your ability to describe your reality. You need a word for something in order to give it form.

Flashback to me, on a bus, traveling somewhere at night, in Washington DC. I was there as part of the National Peace Essay contest. There was a girl there, we were both juniors in high school, I think her name was Meredith. She was describing how some of her friends made fun of her for knowing more words than them … that she was being a know-it-all. And I still remember this exchange:

ME: But sometimes you need a different word, a better, word, a word that is more… more…

MEREDITH: Precise!

I don’t know why “precise” was evading me, but her properly labeling the feeling with the exact right term has stuck with me ever since.

I’ve thought about it frequently since that day, without surcease.