For week seventeen in Scribbled Lives, we were asked to find and illustrate with words a vocabulary curiosity. Which is what, I thought? Then I reached out to Google and found there are soooo many, too many to choose from. So when I read this one I had an idea of how to illustrate it, sort of. I provided this closeup to show the meaning of the curiosity. Below is the full piece:
I had fun trying to figure out how to show the overwhelming task of writing out all the numbers in order, realizing very soon that I was indeed proving this one correct. One Billion is the first time the letter “B” would be written…and No! I did not write them all out, that would have been insanity!
Strange how we utilize words to express ourselves, yet there are so many things we do not know about the language we use. And once we think we know what a word means and how to use it, a new meaning is applied and WHAMO! we are out of date and incorrect. Like when the generations talk around the dinner table, and a word or expression comes out, and the blank stares abound. What did they say? I’m not sure that word means what they think it means…and confusion or laughter, or both abound! What was once a word we never used, is now a ‘hip’ word and it has taken on an entirely different meaning. You know you’re “in” when you can hang with your teenage great nephews!
My thoughts after all this was that a vocabulary curiosity is a great reminder to choose and use our words wisely. They have power, their meanings vary depending upon the audience, and we can gain respect or lose it quickly by letting our vocabulary skills falter. So today. choose your words wisely. They have the power to change things when utilized properly.
Ann Art Gallery Blog 