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The other day, I learned a new-to-me word\u2026<\/p>\n
I was lying in bed watching My Lady Jane<\/a>, when one of the words hit me like a truck: detumescence<\/strong>. The main characters were lying in bed, after sleeping together, and the narrator said, \u201cShould she tell Guildford [some bad news] now and perhaps sour this blissful detumescence, or should she wait?\u201d Have you heard that word before? I googled it, and the definition is \u201cthe process of subsiding from a state of\u2026sexual arousal.\u201d I texted the screenwriter (and my bff) Gemma<\/a> to say that I was into it, and she told me, \u201cI like words, and I think audiences are smart; I use the best words I can think of, always.\u201d<\/p>\n Gemma\u2019s text reminded me of a similar quote I read in a bookstore window years ago, from E.B. White: \u201cAnyone who writes down to children is simply wasting his time. You have to write up, not down. Children are demanding. They are the most attentive, curious, eager, observant, sensitive, quick, and generally congenial readers on earth\u2026. Children are game for anything. I throw them hard words and they backhand them across the net.\u201d<\/p>\n Case in point: Have you ever read The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies<\/a> by Beatrix Potter? The very first sentence: \u201cIt is said that the effect of eating too much lettuce is \u2018soporific<\/strong>.’\u201d The word \u2018soporific\u2019 to kickstart a book for children ages three and up? It works! Kids can handle it<\/a>! Audiences are smart!<\/p>\n One final word I\u2019ve loved recently? In London last weekend, Anton<\/a> was getting ready for bed, and I was chatting away, and he turned to me, deadpan, and said, \u201cBro, I didn\u2019t order a yappuccino<\/strong>.\u201d Hahaha, I laughed for 45 minutes.<\/p>\n What cool words have you learned or used lately? Let\u2019s nerd out<\/a> below\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n P.S. Using big words with little kids<\/a>, hot guys being polysyllabic<\/a>, and my embarrassing vocab blunder<\/a>.<\/p>\n (Photo from Normal People<\/a>.)<\/p>\n