Being a logophile, lover of words, I started following Susie Dent on Twitter, stalwart of daytime quiz Countdown, last year. Her word a day has been a wonderful distraction in a year that has often left me speechless. Discovering lost words, promising to integrate them into my vocabulary and then forgetting about them has been a delightful diversion during these distressing times. However, one word resonated and remained with me: respair.
Every Old Year’s Day (New Year’s Eve to non-Trinis) I choose a word or phrase as my motto for the coming year. This year I chose Respair which can mean the return of hope after a period of despair or to have hope again. Though considered obsolete, I concur with Susie that 2021 is the year for it to re-emerge from the dictionary. In the course of writing this, it has been red underlined by Word and I’ve just added it to my dictionary.
Many of us will know and have used the following phrases which are dichotomous yet show the immense power of words:
- Sticks and stones may break my bones but words won’t hurt me – this was said almost as a spell to protect oneself from the usually negative taunt of a playmate.
- The pen is mightier than the sword – if you’re of a certain age, you’ll remember this phrase from penmanship practise. They’re usually attributed to British novelist and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton from his play Cardinal Richelieu.
The psalmist evokes a compelling image by comparing the word of the Divine to a light and a lamp. And this past year we’ve been all too aware of words that cause division, depression and despair. If ever there was a time for illumination, it is now and if ever there was a word that says that then it is respair.
What’s your word/phrase of the year?
