My Favorite, New-to-Me Words of the Year

I do love words,

and I bet you do, too.

I would like to thank Mareli of Elza's Reads for hosting Wondrous Words each month.

Wondrous Words, a meme where participants post once a month about words that interest them, affords me the opportunity to celebrate words.

Here are my favorite, new-to-me words from 2022.

BEJAKA

Swedish (bay-AH-kah)

"A word that frequently recurs in Swedish and is quite untranslatable outside the Scandinavian and Germanic languages, it encapsulates a whole philosophy. Livbejakelse consists of liv, meaning 'life,' and bejakelse, meaning 'saying yes,' hence 'affirmation of life.' Bejaka means an enthusiastic, optimistic, or joyful attitude, and, when applied to life, signifies far more than just agreeing to live. Within this one word we sense a greeting --- a welcome to all the vicissitudes that life may bring and an understanding acceptance of people and things as they are."

SELAH...

a quiet, reflective pause.

HUGFANGINN...

enthralled, absorbed, captivated.

RECIPROCITY...

As evidenced by the monarch and the milkweed...

"We are all bound by a covenant of reciprocity: plant breath for animal breath, winter and summer, predator and prey, grass and fire, night and day, living and dying. Water knows this, clouds know this. Soil and rocks know they are dancing in a continuous giveaway of making, unmaking, and making again the earth."

from Braiding Sweetgrass

OXYMORONICA (OK-se-mor-ON-uh-ca)

Any variety of tantalizing, self-contradictory statements or observations

 that on the surface appear false or illogical, 

but at a deeper level are true, often profoundly true.

Did you discover any new words in 2022?

Do you write about words?

I encourage you to consider posting Wondrous Words

on the last Wednesday of the month

at Elza Reads.

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered, or spotlight words you love.  Feel free to get creative! It was first created by Kathy over at Bermuda Onion and is now hosted at Elza Reads.