From the Very Apropos Series

by

Jake Taylor

I’ve lost a word and can’t find it.

Jack:                “Manny, I’ve lost a word and can’t find it.”

Manny:             “Jack, I wish I could help you but, the only thing that occurs to me is to ask you, what is the word you’ve lost?”

Jack:                “That wouldn’t help me because if I could remember the word I wouldn’t be at a loss trying to find it, would I?”

Manny:             “No, you wouldn’t.”

Jack:                “So, can you help me find it?”

Manny:             “Let me see. Let’s analyze this properly, Jack.”

Jack:                “Okay.”

Manny:             “Do you remember what type of word you lost?”

Jack:                “What do you mean?”

Manny:             “Was it a common word, you know, the type of word we use every day or was it a strange, unusual word?”

Jack:                “I think it is neither, it is sort of usual but it is not used as frequently as it should.”

Manny:             “Is it a noun?”

Jack:                “A what?”

Manny:             “Nouns name things, animals, plants, people, Jack. For example, car, dog, cat, tree, man, woman, boy and girl are common nouns. There are also proper nouns, like your name and mine; you know, Jack and Manny are proper nouns. Is the word you lost a noun?”

Jack:                “I’m not sure. Are there other kinds of words?”

Manny:             “Yes, another common group of words are the adjectives. Adjectives modify or help describe a noun, for example the word big in a phrase such as ‘big dog’ would be an adjective because it modifies the word dog. It is no longer just any dog; it is rather a big dog. There are many adjectives, Jack. Do you think that maybe you’ve lost an adjective?”

Jack:                “Is ‘elegant’ an adjective?”

Manny:             “Yes, it is.”

Jack:                “Well, in that case I am not really sure. I do not think that my lost word is an adjective. What other kinds of words are there?”

Manny:             “Another large group of words are the verbs. Verbs describe an action, for example ‘run,’ ‘walk,’ and ‘write’ are verbs. You can say: ‘Jack walks around the main park every day,’ where ‘walk’ is the verb, ‘main’ is the adjective and ‘park’ is the noun.”

Jack:                “And what is ‘around’?”

Manny:             “It is an adverb because it modifies or better describes the action of a verb, although it can also modify an adjective or another adverb. In the example, it tells us that Jack walks ‘around’ the park, instead of ‘across’ the park, for example. In other words it describes how he walks on the park.”

Jack:                “I see. Well, no, the word that I lost is not an adverb. However, the word park has something to do with my lost word.”

Manny:             “You mean to tell me that you lost the word in a park?”

Jack:                “Maybe it was in a garden.”

Manny:             “You know, Jack, there is a garden, a forbidden, gloomy garden, where words go when no one uses them anymore.”

Jack:                “What do you mean, Manny?”

Manny:             “It is a garden where flowers, plants and bushes have withered; where the only brook is made of tears and the reigning king is called Oblivion.”

Jack:                “Why do words go there, Manny?”

Manny:             “They go there because they are sad.”

Jack:                “Why are they sad?”

Manny:             “Because no one uses them anymore.”

Jack:                “Can you tell me any of those words?”

Manny:             “There are many, but right now these two come to mind: kindness and wisdom. The last man that saw them said that they were walking together, holding hands because they were frightened.”

Jack:                “Frightened of what?”

Manny:             “Of never coming back.”

Jack:                “That’s terribly sad, Manny. On the other hand, I’ve just remembered the word I had forgotten.”

Manny:             “And that is…?”

Jack:                “Courtesy.”

Manny:             “Yes, of course, that’s about to go into the garden of gloom.”

© Jacob A. J. Taylor 2012