Use the word of the day in a tweet and include #definethis. Daily winners when 3 or more ppl play. Prize goes to monthly winners.

Try this as a writing exercise. Each word is unusual, not well known. Don't feel less than brilliant if you have to look them up. So many are words I have heard and assumed I understood what they mean from the context they were used in. But, that doesn't mean I really understand the word.

Learn something new every day.

From the Free Dictionary - Dystopia: an imaginary place where everything is as bad as it can be.

Dystopia is the opposite of a utopia. It's a pretty great word if you're a science fiction fan, like myself. I hadn't heard of it before. Or, at least I didn't remember it. My nephew started playing a new game on his PS3, BioShock. It's a real experience into dystopian societies.  Pretty grim in fact. I was looking up more information about the storyline and characters when I came across the word dystopia in a write up about the game. So I had to look up the word. It was self explanatory really but still, I gave into temptation to find out more.

Exploring Dystopia - a forum for science fiction and horror fans. There is an old site too, pretty abandoned and comes with pop up ads and a thick banner on top.  But the site itself is pretty cool if you overlook the ad junk. Too bad they didn't keep it up and move it to a different free host.

Suite101: Utopian/ Dystopian Fiction.

Dystopia -  A cyberpunk game.

"It's time women stomped on a few feet (or inches) and took back our words: slut, bitch, hag, whore and all the rest of them. They belong to us. Words are our power. No man really has the same power with words that women do. I think that's why men have tried to throw words at us like darts. They chip at our glory with our own greatest tool and assets. But, the words are ours, still.

Think, what are women so well known for which men have never grasped? Communication. Men will even admit this if you catch them in a particularly honest moment. I've seen them post it, right here at Adult BW even.

Also, did you know most bloggers are women and the numbers of women rise dramatically when it comes to sex bloggers. Women talk about relationships, passion, sensuality and sexuality. Men are close mouthed. Or, they will talk about the crude basics like how well they nailed her. Sadly, they may be the only one who thinks that way about their skills. Which is another whole column I will write someday. I think I should have that third lover first though. Real versus cyber but still, I've seen some sad fumbling whether on my flesh or virtual.

Anyway, back to the words. I want women to stop thinking being called a bitch is negative. First of all, think how surprised people will be if you take the worst word they can hurl at you as a compliment. If you say "thank you". If you laugh while they stand there red faced, eyes still bugging out and looking amazed that their insult missed the mark so completely.

Don't think of Bitch as a female dog, think of it as a powerful woman. A woman who knows her own mind and is not afraid to use it. A woman who knows what she wants and goes out there and gets it. Ball grabbing and everything, just like those bags of mostly testosterone.

Slut and whore are no longer words to chip at our sexuality. Now they prove our sexual virility, our sensuality and our power over men, especially when it comes to sex. If they call you a slut you know you've done a really good job making him drool. Good for you! Let the dog lie there in his own wet spot and wish he could have a slut like you.

Hag, that's a word meant to hit us right between the eyes. We think of hags as old women, grey, washed out, worn out, wrinkled, ugly and badly groomed to say the least. But, a hag is not actually any of those things. The hag is the wise old woman, the woman of the woods, the witch, the midwife, the wild Earth Mother. Hags are powerful women too. Women of nature and power. Most of the less than complimentary words for women have come from powerful beginnings. The power of these words was drained away as was the power of womankind. As we stopped being matriarchies we lost our best words. I still would not like to be called a hag or a frump or any of those others. There is malicious intent behind the words. However, the words themselves are being unfairly (ignorantly) used.

It's time for us to make the words mean something else, make them positive and powerful. Then we will have all our best tools and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Call us what you will, it's all good. We are Woman!"

Originally posted to Adult BackWash: Saturday May 08, 2004  

I don't say the F word, I just do it. Why is it so bad to say fuck but not so bad to fuck? It's like that whole cock sucker thing which I have written about here before and will probably rehash eventually.

I give up on calling it the F word here. It's easier to type fuck and it does have that lovely shock factor. Are you shocked? Don't you like being shocked. The badness of being the one to shock and the tingling titillation of the one being shocked. Giggle.

No, I didn't just giggle. That would be beneath me. I am a dragon, dragons don't really giggle. We growl and grin a lot though.

Anyway, I've always been a good girl and I have always been select in my vocabulary. Not because fuck is a bad word so much. Mainly just because it's kind of crude and just not me. Or, not how I see me as being me. After all, there are so many words to choose from. Why say fuck when sex or make love will do?

But, there is something about saying fuck to your lover at just the right key moment. No, not eff off, not that kind of key moment. I mean the more flavourful and sensual... 'let's fuck'. The suggestion of doing something naughty, slightly forbidden and downright bad.

Still, I am select in which words I would use. I wouldn't say screw. I don't like tit or cunt. Those just sound so ugly and hard.

I have yet to say fuck in his presence, face to face. It is quite different to type it than to actually speak it. He's also select in his word use. I like that about him. Also, it makes the occasional fuck word extra noticeable, erotic and bad. It's fun to be bad sometimes. I intend to be quite bad on Tuesday when we will be in Ottawa. I expect there will be some doing and saying going on. I'm planning on it.

Even for nice grrls there are times when you just grin wickedly and say fuck it all.

When did you last buy/ get a new dictionary? How about a thesaurus? Maybe you splurged and got a rhyming dictionary too?

I especially like playing around with my thesaurus. But, tonight, I discovered how out of touch my trusty dictionary is. In fact, good old trusty is down right rusty. There is no ergonomics in my dictionary. Sure, I can spell check it with Lotus Word but it's just not the same. If you can't rely on your hand held print dictionary what is life coming to?

It's coming to the point where I will sacrifice a few (few dozen likely) bucks and buy myself a shining new, updated dictionary. Now, the question is which company to choose from. The current oldie is a Funk and Wagnalls I bought for college English classes. At the time it was the best choice between wordiness and thriftiness.

However, I'm not a college student any more. Now, I'm actually making real cash money every other week. I'll stick with paperback. It's easier to transport around and find space for. I can't imagine hauling out some hard, huge book every time I get the urge to look up something.

Another credential for my dictionary will be Canadian spellings. I'm Canadian and I intend to go on spelling like one. If anyone can't understand it they can just pull out a dictionary of their own.

While I'm dictionary shopping this weekend I'll peek at the thesaurus too. It's more fun than the stuffy old dictionary anyway.

So, how old is your dictionary? Can you find ergonomics?