PAST: The quality of our thoughts can only be as good as the quality of our language, for words are the very core of thought. How diligent were you at building your vocabulary when you were a youngster?

I ate words. I read so much it was unbelievable, and as a result, by the time I hit later grade school years, I had a reading level of a person more than twice my age - I probably read at that level even before. No one told me what was or wasn't appropriate material for a child, so I would read whatever came into my hands. I guess you could say that, in some ways, it was a case of not knowing better. I even used to read encyclopoedia for fun.

PRESENT: What's the most recent addition to your vocabulary?

Barmecidal: providing only the illusion of abundance.

FUTURE: What word would you like to see added to the general lexicon... and what word would you like to see removed?

Please, for the love of all that's holy, just go ahead and add the word ain't to the dictionary. It really does make some grammatical sense.

I would love it if people would stop using the expression bling bling to denote shiny jewelry. It's one of those things that has a quality of stupid that just bugs the living crap out of me.