Words are an author’s tools and you should be adding to your vocabulary on a regular basis.  One way to do this is to subscribe to services that provide a word of the day or even read the dictionary. You’d be surprised the cool words you’ll find!

I know I’ve mentioned the book “The Superior Person’s Book of Words” by Peter Bowler previously. It contains a collection of words that are obsolete and thus seldom if ever heard, making many of them ideal for use as veiled insults. For example, did you know an alliaphage is a garlic eater?

I came across one the other day that had me laughing for two days. I kid you not. I don’t know how it escaped me for so long. The word is blivit. Feel free to google it. There is quite a wide variety of definitions, many of which are quite amusing, albeit crude. My personal favorite is “10 lbs of crap in an 8 lb bag”, i.e. an overstuffed sack of you-know-what. If you don’t know anyone (or have a character in one of your stories) that fits that description, then you are definitely missing out.

Personally, I think there should be Blivit Awards, similar to the old Golden Fleece Awards from years past. Washington D.C. and Hollywood are loaded with candidates.