Word of the Week

I'm introducing a new series on the blog today, which I'm calling--you guessed it--"Word of the Week." You can think of it as the writerly equivalent of an improv game, with strange rules and random points that really don't win you much. But I'm hoping it'll be kind of fun, and also build our writer vocabularies with strange and random interesting and very useful words.

To play, just leave a comment that uses the current Word of the Week. It can be a phrase, a sentence, a paragraph, or even a novella, but keep in mind that I've read HAMLET and am a firm believer in the idea that brevity is the soul of wit (which, as we all know, is one of the few worthwhile things Polonius ever said).

Now your comment shouldn't necessarily define the Word; rather, it should use the Word in a creative way. So if the Word were penny loafers (not actually a word, of course, but you get the idea), I might submit the comment, "Bill, your penny loafers are showing," or even, "As she dumped her pocket change into Jerald and Josephina's chubby palms, Liza mumbled under her breath, 'Here's your stupid penny, loafers.'" But then, the real Word of the Week isn't likely to be so mundane. Or recognizable:)

And now for the game's two rules, one of which I care about and the other of which just seemed like a good idea (I'll let you decide which is which): You may submit only one entry, and you may NOT look up the Word's actual definition. Now I realize I can't really police that second rule, but the game will be much more fun, and funnier, if everyone plays along.

On Friday, I'll reveal the Word's definition and award however many points I feel like awarding. And the winner/winners will receive fame and glory immemorial, or at least until we play again.

You got that? You ready to play? All right, here's the inaugural Word of the Week, which is a noun: kris.

Happy commenting.