A.Word.A.Day -- AWADmail Issue 1144

I plant and harvest far more vegetables than my husband and I can use, so in the late summer I fill a small wheelbarrow and push it up and down the streets of our 55+ community, offering the extras to neighbors. Sometimes I explain, “I’m Sharon-share-alike.”
-Sharon Smith, Canaan, Maine (mainelyneuropsych gmail.com)

Email of the Week -- Brought to you buy One Up! -- “Uniquely portable travel magic.”

I was notorious among my postdoctoral students and junior faculty for the rigor of my manuscript editing, often returning a draft to the author “dripping blood” as they said, referring to dense editorial comments in red ink. They might say a manuscript had been Hunterized -- reduced 30-50% in length, with spelling, grammar, and logic flow shipshape.
-Hunter Heath, MD, Zionsville, Indiana (calciophile gmail.com)

Because of my name, the Honeydew List in our house has morphed into a Ken-Do List. While I always carefully cross off each item that I complete, I have also been known to just strike one out by adding the note “Sorry, No Ken Do!”
-Ken Kirste, Sunnyvale, California (kkkirste sbcglobal.net)

At work, I was the generalist on a large program. People knew I could answer many questions, or direct them to the right person if I couldn’t. If they needed to learn about a different part of the system than they were familiar with, they would knock at my office and say “Do you have time for a Charlie Chat?”
-Charlie Livingston, Plano, Texas (cliv verizon.net)

For close to 40 years now, my email name has been lucidlucille. I wouldn’t have it any other way! I enjoy alliteration, and more than that, as a former educator (and even to this day) it is imperative that I express myself with clarity/lucidity to be understood. I felt that setting an example would help my students.
-Lucille Dass, Penang, Malaysia (lucidlucille gmail.com)

Sometimes, the term Stormin’ Norman has been applied to me, usually associated with my inclination to cause disturbances. Initially, I did not like the term, however, I’ve become accustomed to it and sometimes appreciate it.
-Norman E Porath, Denton, Nebraska (porathne gmail.com)

A verb from my name: To Scotkruz is to take and state a position on some important current events issue, with the moral and intellectual conviction that all intelligent, reasonable, mature adults must agree with it.
-Scott Kruize, Tukwila, Washington (scotkruize yahoo.com)

I have often moved from one house to another, always lugging about the same heritage furniture, photos in distinctive frames, bookshelves laden with far too many volumes to ever read again -- all the stuff that makes a house a home, so to speak. One of my former students, who usually shows up before I relocate, checks it out and pronounces the look Davidian. Since it’s all about me, of course, I have embraced the term.
-Dave Campbell, Dayton, Washington (museumofdave gmail.com)

There already is one about my name and I am none too happy about it: lukewarm. It is an affront to hot Lukes the world over.
-Luke Hughett, Brooklyn, New York (luke.hughett gmail.com)

Because I have a lot of physical pain which I have learned to endure (though less so in my eighties when it has increased), I have wondered if I am a masochist. No, I am not. I prefer to make up mazeauchist, a person who likes to dwell in her heart rather than focus on physical travails.
-Dominique Mazeaud, Santa Fe, New Mexico (heartistdm gmail.com)

If I were to make a term out of my name, I can only think of a melodious voice, as that of Shreya Ghoshal - singing Shreyatonically. Or if someone tends to give out TMI, they may be called a Sharing-Shreya.
-Shreya Singhal, New Delhi, India (shreya.singhal10 gmail.com)

If someone were to make a term out of my name, it would be Erstwhile Eric, which means the way one used to be before vastly improving oneself. For me, it meant going from being a person so intent on my own thoughts that I would walk down a hallway of colleagues, not hearing the greetings directed at me, to one so outgoing with goodwill that a neighbor called me “the most positive person I ever met!”
-Eric Warner, Hyde Park, New York (eric.warner825 gmail.com)

Bee Barbara: A person who has reached her/his prime, who is totally herself/himself, uncompromising. Bee sounds as Be -- as in Be yourself -- and also connects to queen bee.
-Barbara Trimbach, Paris, France (barbara.trimbach laposte.net)

Trumpledge: A promise based on a lie that even if it materializes, makes the situation worse than the lie made it out to be.
-Milo Grika, St. Paul, Minnesota (milo grika.com)

Dangerous Donald
Terrible Trump
-Dave Horsfall, North Gosford, Australia (dave horsfall.org)

My husband, Greg, is reading a book I gave him for his birthday: The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them by Elif Batuman. Greg mentioned that in the book, Batuman mentions a study finding that in the US, people have a tendency to choose careers similar to their first names (p. 16, paperback edition). For example, the name Dennis is overrepresented among dentists.
-Miriam Berkman, Spokane, Washington (namkrebem gmail.com)