Today, I have worried.
I want to write. I really do. I just can't find the sentences that don't begin with I. I know that it's not bad to use my blog to write about me, indeed, I start every entry with an "I have" but you know, there's a limit to how interesting that would be. Once you find out all of mememe there is to see, why would you want to listen anymore?
I worry. Too much. About stupid stuff and the rest. About things I have no control over. I worry about what people think of me, I worry that people don't think of me. I worry about whether I'm making the right decision, if it's really because I'm being sensible and can rise above the instinctive feeling to make a path for a happy time, or because it's too much hassle to choose otherwise or, well, any number of other reasons.
I want to write. I really do. I just can't find the sentences that don't begin with I. I know that it's not bad to use my blog to write about me, indeed, I start every entry with an "I have" but you know, there's a limit to how interesting that would be. Once you find out all of mememe there is to see, why would you want to listen anymore?
I worry. Too much. About stupid stuff and the rest. About things I have no control over. I worry about what people think of me, I worry that people don't think of me. I worry about whether I'm making the right decision, if it's really because I'm being sensible and can rise above the instinctive feeling to make a path for a happy time, or because it's too much hassle to choose otherwise or, well, any number of other reasons.
There are almost one million words in the English dictionary. It is predicted that the one millionth word will be created in April 2009 sometime. Meanwhile, the average person uses approximately 14,000 words. Even a linguistically gifted person will use only about 70,000 words. Now, I wonder if these are the same type of words that people are using, how much would our 14,000 words correlate with other people's 14,000? Which words in particular would you say you use often, despite the fact that they might seem unusual to other people? I rarely write anything of a creative nature anymore, therefore I have little need to think to extend my verbiage beyond a purely perfunctory sense. So to try to use more interesting language seems futile.
Well, that's where an unplanned mind splurge takes me. Beyond the rigid confines of structure whilst upholding the pompous tone and pretentious manner. Half the time I'm not sure that I use complex words in the correct context, but chances are the people I converse with wouldn't be certain of the appropriate usage either.
Well, that's where an unplanned mind splurge takes me. Beyond the rigid confines of structure whilst upholding the pompous tone and pretentious manner. Half the time I'm not sure that I use complex words in the correct context, but chances are the people I converse with wouldn't be certain of the appropriate usage either.
A friend of my Mum's quoted that statistic today! Was it in a newspaper or something? Interesting fact though. And what proportion of those words do we use on a day-to-day basis?
ReplyDeleteWe all talk about ourselves on blogs so don't worry about it! We'd be hard pressed to chronicle each other's lives...
"how much would our 14,000 words correlate with other people's 14,000"
ReplyDeleteNow there is a nice thought.
You should blog more often, don't worry if it's all mememe. I know that's rich coming from me, considering i've not written for ages, but shhh :-p
And we all worry about silly things.
I was considering the 14,000-word-correlation thing again today, trying to remember some of the words that I've said without thinking about it and that people at university either haven't understood or have just commented on that they never use themselves. Not particularly Brummie words, either - of course people from Surrey don't go about calling each other 'bab', but you'd expect that.
ReplyDeleteI do remember some confusion over 'dustcart'...
I get those frustrated moments sometimes. I don't know if I was ever writing in a creative way per sé but I know I had certain moments of creative genius.
ReplyDeleteI realise now that sometimes blogs are just great places to ramble. Who says rambling is a bad thing? Blogs are a great form of therapy.
It's sometimes annoying if you see your blog turning into a me me me sort of place but then that's what we have our perception of things, our eyes on the world. Besides, there's always something new about a person to find out if not they must be stuck in a vaccuum.
Truth be told, I miss you when you don't blog...
xxx
Blogging is, by it's very nature, a bit self-absorbed. It can be difficult to write about anything else apart from your own life and experiences. Unless you count those celebrity gossip blogs.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, part of the reason why people with a 70k+ vocabulary don't seem to increase beyond that point is because their everyday speech becomes too complex. Their friends and family would need to carry dictionaries to have proper conversations with them.
That said, I'm fond of popping in a bit of "sordid" or "mellifluous" every now and again.
Oh and you have a Gide quote in your "famous quotes" thing! La Symphonie Pastorale is one of the few novels that really left me questioning the point of life.
ReplyDeleteello you. good to see you're still around.
ReplyDelete