Vocab Building

Words serve a purpose.  And like tools that serve their masters well, the good words tend to be put away into a tool box.  We call a tool box for words, a dictionary.  Phonologists call our mental dictionary, the inner tool box of words, our "lexicon".  Have you ever wondered how you know how to say so many words?  How your tongue and lips and glottis "know" how to behave to produce meaningful sounds?  Your lexicon is key. A lexicon is a special tool box.  A lexicon not only contains our tools, but special instructions for their assemblage, and rules for their appropriate use.  Some people must have very tidy mental toolboxes, me thinks.  I would very much like to be one of those persons.  

Vocabulary building is an exercise that I have been doing for the past three nights.  I plan to continue this exercise since it turns out to be good fun.  I do not as of yet having any set rules for the game.  But, last night, I created a kind of story with my vocabulary words.  The story was about a philandering husband, his stolid wife.  In that story, we learned that the husband is semi-religious, atoning for his sins by reading verse from the holy bible.  I'm not sure he will turn up again, but he might.  Anyway, on with the show.

Pecuniary /pɪˈkyuniˌɛri/ (adj) of or pertaining to money 

Beset with pecuniary worry, the widowed mother encouraged her young boy to earn money for his keep.  

Pariah /pəˈraɪə/ (n) an outcast, any person or animal that is despised

The young boy yearned for a sense of belonging; his schoolmates treated him as a pariah.  

Craven /ˈkreɪvən/ (adj) cowardly (n) a coward

The Old Greek Socrates overlooked the craven nature of the guardians of the state; instead of approaching the unknown with strength and openness, they barked like watchdogs.

Felicitous /fɪˈlɪsɪtəs/ (adj) well suited for the occasion as an expression, manner, or an action; appropriate; apt 

A felicitous trainer, the young boy calmed the watchdogs by giving them treats.

Premonitory /prɪˈmɒnɪˌtɔri/ (adj) serving to warn beforehand

His new sense of belongingness ought to have been the premonitory signal for his mother, the widow, who misinterpreted the sign as the blossoming of a butterfly. 

Détente /deɪˈtɑnt; French deɪˈtɑ̃t/ (n) a relaxing of tension, especially between nations, by agreeements or negotiation 

A détente formed between the young boy and his mother; for, she stopped nagging once he had obeyed her commands to provide for himself.  

excoriate  /ɪkˈskɔriˌeɪt, -ˈskoʊr-/ (v) to denounce or berate severely; to remove the skin from 

Gainfully employed as a watchdog trainer, the boy excoriated his youth and would soon be calling himself an adult.  


Beset with pecuniary worry, the widowed mother encouraged her young boy to earn money for his keep.  The young boy yearned for a sense of belonging; his schoolmates treated him as a pariah. The Old Greek Socrates overlooked the craven nature of the guardians of the state; instead of approaching the unknown with strength and openness, they barked like watchdogs. A felicitous trainer, the young boy endeared himself to the watchdogs by giving them treats.  His new sense of belongingness ought to have been the premonitory signal for his mother, the widow, who misinterpreted the sign as the blossoming of a butterfly. A détente formed between the young boy and his mother since she stopped nagging once he had obeyed her commands to provide for himself.  Gainfully employed as a watchdog trainer, the boy excoriated his youth and would soon be calling himself an adult.  

Here we have a story of a young boy and his mother.  I like the first sentence the most.  It's sad.  The second sentence comes in close second, but from there, I do not think they become better.  Still, it's a cool story.  Can anyone take a stab at what happened to the young boy?  Or is it too entrenched in metaphor?