I’ve always thought that words were the coolest thing. As a kid (and now as an adult) my idea of a good time was reading dictionaries. For me, discovering new words – the weirder the better – was more fun than a box of bunnies.

I suppose that’s not much of a surprise – I don’t know any writer who doesn’t love words. Readers love words too. There’s a certain magic, a certain power in a well placed word – even if most your friends have no idea what you’re talking about when using it. In fact, maybe some of your friends and family have word shamed you – accused you of using a $20,000 word when a $3 word would do, right?

Following is a list of a few of my favorites:

Discombobulate: Don’t you just love the sound of that word? It conjures up pictures of machines deconstructing…