euphony: a harmonious succession of words having a pleasing sound
crescendo: a gradual, building increase in volume or intensity, especially in music
hablábamos: I’ve traveled and studied in Costa Rica, Mexico, and Spain and while I can’t claim fluency, I do love the Spanish language. Hablábamos (we spoke, we chatted) describes something I do a lot and it’s just fun to say. I love escuchábamos (we listened) for pretty much the same reasons.
intellection: the exercise of reasoning and intelligent thought
parallelism: repeated syntactical similarities introduced for rhythmic, persuasive effect. Example: The right words and the right tone create the right message.
pitch-perfect: sensitive to or having exactly the right tone or style
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sprachgefühl: a German noun that signifies an intuitive sense of what is linguistically appropriate. This is how it’s pronounced.
synesthesia: using one sense to describe another. For example, using your sense of touch to describe something you’ve heard: That song was smooth as velvet.
y’all: I grew up in San Diego, but went to college in Texas, where I inevitably—and, truth be told, willingly—picked up a bit of a twang. The twang has all but disappeared since I returned home, but once in a while I still enjoy a good y’all and, on even rarer occasions, its emphatic plural: all y’all.
Vinyasa: I’ve practiced yoga for almost fifteen years and try to integrate my first teacher’s mantra into all aspects of my life: flexibility is the key to longevity. Vinyasa, which involves flowing smoothly from pose to pose, is my favorite style of yoga. It’s meditation in motion. |