Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru
Fellow vocabulary aficionados know that October 16th was Dictionary Day—a sacred holiday that should be celebrated with reverence and gratitude for the late, great Noah Webster. And in the Winston household, it was. For those of you who are ill acquainted with my favorite holiday and have not yet realized why it should be enthusiastically celebrated, Mr. Webster was born on the sixteenth day of October in the year 1758 and is widely considered to be the Father of the American Dictionary. He began writing his dictionary at the age of 43 and it took him 27 years to complete. Now that’s a man who understood the value of patience. The objective of this revered day is to emphasize the importance of dictionary skills and to encourage good vocabulary.
I started the day by reading a couple dozen pages from my well-worn dictionary and memorizing at least three new words, which I worked into every conversation, email correspondence and IM I had that day. After breakfast, I played Scrabble online for a few hours to get my word juices flowing and prepared me very well to play a few live games with the kids when they got home from school. While I waited for the school bus to arrive, I worked two and a half crosswords—and not the easy ones—the NY Times Sunday crosswords are my favorite. When they finally arrived, we played Scrabble—tournament style—and then, at dinner, everyone chose a “favorite” word to expound upon. Whoever’s word is deemed ”the best” wins a special prize. This year, I had a special Organic Cotton Washed Twill Cap imprinted with “Lord of the Words.” I can’t wait to wear it to my next crossword contest!
I hope all of my readers had as much fun celebrating Dictionary Day as we did, and if you missed it this year, then mark you calendars for next October 16th. Until next time remember, “An apple a day will keep the doctor away, but a word a day will keep stupidity at bay.”