What If? Writing Prompts: Holidays I
Happy December! To start off the season, here’s a new batch of “What If?” Writing Prompts for you, set to the theme of holidays. Enjoy, and Happy Holidays to all!
What if… it were your favorite holiday every day of the year?
What if… Christmas were “cancelled” one year, and it were up to you to bring it back?
What if… time froze for you at the turn of the new year, and the only way to get it back to normal was to fulfill your New Year’s resolution from last year?
What if… you came downstairs late on Christmas Eve to find Santa Claus placing a gift for you under the tree?
What if… Christmas weren’t about giving and receiving presents, but only about being together as a family?
Have fun writing stories about the holiday season!
If you have any “What If?” writing prompt suggestions (for any theme), please feel free to share them in the comments below. Ideas I like may be featured in future “What If?” posts, with full credit and a link to your blog (if you have one)! Also, if you’ve written a piece based on an idea you’ve found here, be sure to link back to the respective “What If?” post. I would love to see what you’ve done with the prompt! Thank you!
Word of the Week: Anhedonic
Word: anhedonic
Pronunciation: an-hi-DAH-nik
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: unable to feel pleasure
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
Marshall: (during a sword fight with Ted) Ted! If you wanted to be married by now, you would be, but you’re not. And you know why? Because you’re irrationally picky, you’re easily distracted and you’re utterly anhedonic.
Ted: Anhedonic?
Marshall: Anhedonic. It means you can’t enjoy anything.
Ted: The hell I can’t. I’m enjoying this!
Marshall: I know, this rules!
– How I Met Your Mother (Season 1, Episode 8 – The Duel)
The only time I’ve ever heard the word “anhedonic” was in the above dialogue from an episode of How I Met Your Mother. While sword-fighting with Ted to decide who should keep their apartment (it makes sense in context, trust me), Marshall calls him out on his inability to take pleasure in activities normal people enjoy. Perhaps Ted’s counterargument is invalid, given that a sword duel in the middle of a New York apartment hardly counts as a “normal activity”, but that just makes the scene all the more fun to watch.
An “anhedonic” person is someone who is unable to experience pleasure in normally pleasurable activities. The word is the adjective form of the noun “anhedonia”, a term in Psychiatry for the inability to feel pleasure. This noun traces back to the French noun anhédonie, which consists of two Greek roots: the prefix an- “without” and the noun hēdonḗ “pleasure”.
“Anhedonic” may be a good word to describe people who are constantly unhappy, regardless of whether or not it’s an actual psychiatric condition. As for dialogue, because the word “anhedonia” is a Psychiatry term, it would most likely be used by characters of high intellectual achievement. If you write about miserable people or characters such as psychiatrists or doctors (or even lawyers, as is the case of Marshall Eriksen), you may be able to get plenty of use out of this word. Just try not to be “anhedonic” when it comes to your writing!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
Thank You
Thank you for the laughter
That brings me close to tears.
Thank you for the gentle words
That wash away my fears.
Thank you for the memories
Of such a happy youth.
Thank you for the values
You have taught me through the truth.
Thank you for the pride you show
In all my works of art.
Thank you for the love you give
That’s always in my heart.
I don’t know who I’d be today
Had God not given me
The gift for which I thank Him most:
The world’s best family!
Thank you to my wonderful family for everything you do for me! I’m thankful for all of you every single day! Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! I love you with all my heart!
Four Words That Originally Meant Something Else
Remember those four words I once mentioned that people sometimes use incorrectly? Well, today’s post briefly continues on that topic to discuss four words that originally meant something different from the definitions many people use today. If you can think of more words that fit this category, please feel free to share. I’d love to write about them in the future! Thanks, and enjoy!
Egregious meant “outstanding” before it meant “horrendous”
“Egregious” was the second Word of the Week I ever shared on my blog, and I still think it’s as fun to say now as it was back then. Interestingly, this word used to mean something positive before sarcasm turned it into something negative. The original definition of “egregious” was “remarkably good”, while today it means “shockingly bad”. It’s likely this newer derogatory sense from the late 16th century arose as a twist of irony. Speaking of which…
Ironic meant “paradoxical” before it meant “sarcastic”
I know I’ve already mentioned this word before, but it’s worth bringing up again here. Many people seem to think that “ironic” is synonymous to “sarcastic”, but while this use is widely accepted nowadays, that wasn’t always the case. An “ironic” event is when something happens that’s the opposite of what would be expected, often to a humorous effect. There’s no harm in pointing out the irony in your life, of course, as long as you understand what it is!
Peruse meant “scrutinize” before it meant “scan”
“Peruse” is another word I’ve written about before in my vocabulary segment. What caught my attention about it was the fact that many people think it means the opposite of what it really does. Over time, the verb seems to have become a go-to word for “scan” or “read through quickly”. However, according to its dictionary entries, “peruse” actually means “read in a thorough or careful way”. So the next time you’re asked to “peruse” an important document or other written work, make sure you do it right!
Virtual meant “almost” before it meant “digital”
Perhaps you always assumed “virtual” meant “digital” from the first time you heard about “virtual reality”, and it came as quite a shock to you when you learned that this word originally meant something different. Or maybe that was just me. Either way, “virtual” wasn’t always the pervasive adjective for computer simulation that it is today. What it has always meant since late Middle English, though, is “almost as described”. There are a few other definitions for “virtual” as well (such as in optics and physics), but since you’re most likely to see it in references to computers these days, the rest may be “virtually” irrelevant!
Have you misinterpreted these words before? What other examples can you think of?
Word of the Week: Mendacious
Word: mendacious
Pronunciation: men-DAY-shəs
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: not telling the truth; lying
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
Here’s a word you’re probably not likely to use much, but that I still think is worth knowing. When I first read the word “mendacious” on a flashcard, I couldn’t even begin to figure out what it meant, because it was one of those words that didn’t sound like any other I’d heard with the same definition. Still, I decided it was worth sharing when I recently came across it again. If it comes up in standardized test prep material, it must be coming up in advanced texts too, right?
“Mendacious” refers to that which is untruthful in nature. The word comes from the Latin adjective mendax, which means “false” or “deceitful”. This adjective is related to the noun mendum, meaning “fault”.
There isn’t much else I can say about a word that I’ve only ever read on a flashcard. I imagine that “mendacious” must have been used much more in the past, but has since fallen into the gray area of purple prose. Or maybe I’m just that far behind on my reading. In any case, I’m sure you can find a good place for this word in your writing if you try. As for me, the best I can do with it for now is a poetic description of my craft: What is fiction if not a “mendacious” account of reality?
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
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