It was an ordinary day. Searching for the perfect word to use in a sentence I had just written. The more I thought about it, the more words I had discarded as not been just the right word. Then I came across a three letter word that I have used thousands of times in my lifetime, but never realized how many entries, or definitions, or space in my Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, the word consumed. So what is this simple word that means so much? It is spelled RUN. The word began on page 1030 and covered almost 3 columns in what appears to be 8 point type that my dictionary uses. These three little letters placed in the same position in the word appear to have hundreds of meanings. Now, I really didn't count them, but I also found a story titled "The Most Complicated Word in English is Only Three Letters Long" which gave me a rundown on the tiny word with more meanings than any other word. I purchased my dictionary in 1990, which is 32 years ago, but those three little letters couldn't have gained that many new meanings in that amount of time. Or could it have done so? Can't imagine what the people at the Webster plant must have to go through to make sure that their dictionary is up to date for ever new edition. Each word in the dictionary has to be checked and checked to make sure how many different meanings it may have gained since the dictionary was last published. Seems that the tiny word "Run" is the single word with the most potential meanings in all of English. And...that's said to be just for the verb form of the word.
 |
|
The first meaning in my dictionary is: to go faster than a walk. Ends with: a narrow platform from a stage into an auditorium. Can you imagine how much time it took to assemble all those definitions that took close to three pages of type-set words. Now, you do have to remember that the word is not only a noun, but a verb, adjective and perhaps other forms of speech. How can one little three-letter word have so many meanings and be so important? I guess context is everything. You can say...He ran bath water for himself...You can run up a bill of $20...She ran a high fever...She used thread to fix a run in her stocking...Did you run over your budget...Did you run through your supply of soda...The story makes dread run through my soul...We didn't buy enough bread during our last grocery run...Don't let your membership run out...Did the last run count in the ball game...Do you want to run for office...The word run didn't always have the run of the dictionary. I did read in another publication that the word "run" is known as the Swiss Army Knife of verbs. As you read this story you can find many more ways to use the word "run" if you have an extra minute or two. Might be another 10 or 20 years before the next edition of the dictionary is published, and I'll bet by that time there will be another 50-100 new ways to use the word "RUN." And, I'm sure there are quite a few other 3-letter words that also have many meanings and uses. But, who wants to spend time searching through the dictionary if they don't have to do so? I have enough things to do before I "RUN" out of time. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
No comments:
Post a Comment