Day 12 – L is for Lexicon

Lexicon

(noun) the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge

 

I am especially pleased to include this word in my monthly “word-a-day” challenge because it is so deliciously relevant. If you’ve been following me this month, or are hastily catching up right now (see my A to Z Challenge 2016 category; I’ll wait!), then you and I have been actively expanding our own lexicons together. Isn’t blogging magical?

I first heard this word, oh, I have no idea where. Let’s be honest, it was probably in some vocab test in English class that I hastily memorized and promptly forgot as soon as the test was over. But thanks to a Jason Mraz song that uses the phrase “double-sided lexicon,” I came into contact with this word some years later and it stuck.

 

I like to picture my mental lexicon as a grungy ol’ scrapbook that I’ve had for ages and that I just stick words in all willy-nilly. Some of them are glued to pages on fancy, typed note cards all in a row. Some are tucked in like bookmarks, and occasionally fall out of the book entirely. Some are scribbled on post-it notes in handwriting so poor that even I can barely read it. Yikes, this is sounding more and more like my real-life desk…

In short, I love my lexicon and am always looking to fill it up! Feel free to tell me about your mental lexicon in the comments. Is it messy or orderly? Do you have an index of favorites? Or do you just plain make-up words when you need them?