One of the most potent four letter words there is; love is often misused, overused or not used enough.

Sometimes there are better ways of conveying its meaning, and sometimes no other word will do.

Ps I love you.

http://ow.ly/106jP

Adopt a Word gives you the chance to help I CAN by adopting a word for £20.  You are then the proud owner of your chosen word for one year, and have also made a donation to a very worthwhile cause.

I CAN is the children’s communication charity.

One in ten children has a communication difficulty – almost three in every UK classroom.

A difficulty with language and communication impacts on all aspects of children’s lives – making friends, reading and writing, passing exams or finding a job later in life.

Communication difficulties are not life threatening, but they are life limiting:
children who find communication hard,  find life hard.

I CAN is here to ensure that no child’s potential is needlessly wasted because of a difficulty with speaking, understanding or interacting.

I CAN helps in many ways:

• We run specialist schools to help children with the most severe problems whose needs cannot be met in mainstream school.
• We give expert advice to parents and families about what to look for and how to get help.
• We provide assessments for children so that their families know what support will best meet their needs.
• We train teachers and other childcare workers in what a communication difficulty looks like and how to best help children who struggle.
• We are increasing awareness and understanding of the problem.

You can find out more about I CAN here:

http://www.ican.org.uk/

It’s easy to take the ability to communicate for granted, so spare a thought (and some dosh) for the youngsters who benefit from I CAN and adopt a word for yourself.

You can also find Adopt a Word on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/adoptaword

The first word I have adopted is Adventure, because I believe that’s what life is.

Go!

Meaning:

The reverse of the previous statement, with the main items transposed. It derives from Latin, with the translation being ‘the other way round’ or ‘the position being reversed’, but is now fully absorbed into English.

It is usually used to imply the complement of a statement without expressing as much in words. For example:

“Fish can’t live where we are most comfortable, and vice-versa”.

Often mispronounced, as vie-sa ver-sa, and consequently misspelt as visa versa. It should be pronounced

vie-si ver-sa.

1. Inclined to keep one’s thoughts, feelings, and personal affairs to oneself.
2. Restrained or reserved in style.
3. Reluctant; unwilling.

‘Although she professed to be reticent when it came to sharing her most personal feelings,  you could find out pretty much everything you need to know about her on her Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Formspring, Yelp and three blogs’

The term given to someone who used to work at a company.

A productive evening in which you have accomplished something.

E.g.

That dinner was amazing, I can’t believe we didn’t think to just microwave it!

Indeed, what an achievening.

1. To chew (food)

2. To grind and knead (rubber, for example) into a pulp

I’ve noticed how little this word is used by lyricists,  it would work especially well in rap music in my opinion.  All MCs reading this:  try and give a little mastication to the nation in your next rhyme,  yeah?

I’ll leave it with chew… (sorry)

Suburban slang for heterosexual intercourse – with reference to Sir Walter Raleigh’s journey south to discover the  ‘City of Gold’

The art of drawing penises