Returning my paper with a disappointing grade, my eleventh grade English teacher said, “Karen, you’re a good writer but you’re a terrible speller. You must develop respect for the dictionary!” It sounded like a boring assignment to me. I was wrong.
The dictionary not only taught me how to spell words; it revealed their meanings, their roots, their pronunciations, and all their parts of speech. It was a tiny encyclopedia in an inch of type. Who knew? My teacher knew.
And soon I knew, not only the words I was looking for but those I found along the way. It’s called “serendipity.” Which means “Finding valuable things not sought for.” And it comes from a Persian fairy tale called “The Three Princes of Serendip.” Imagine that!
Today, we can look up words on our phones, but they offer answers instead of invitations. The novelist John Gardner said, “Look up in the dictionary all the common words you never use. Good writing is using ordinary words in a beautiful way.”
Good speaking, too. Not to impress others but to express yourself—accurately, interestingly, beautifully. It matters.
