Choosing the Right Word by Karla Stover

                   




I am always fascinated by the words people choose to express themselves or to name something--what writer isn't? And lately I've been looking at the names of housing developments as I drive past them. How a developer came up with Nantucket Gate a couple of miles from me when we are smack dab between Puget Sound and Mt. Rainier is a puzzler. There's absolutely nothing Cape Cod-ish about our neck of the woods. One name that makes perfect sense, though, is Brookdale Greens. It was built on an old golf course (greens) just off Brookdale Road, but just down the street, on the other side is Sawyer Trail. There's no trail because it's built more or less against a hill, and a sawyer is a person who saws wood. Ah, well, moving right along, the reason I saw these places was because I'd made an early morning, quick trip to the hardware store. While in lock-down I decided to paint the bathroom and as long he doesn't have to help, my husband is willing to let me. We even agreed on a color and it has a foo-foo name.

I used to think my ideal job would be to write descriptions for what I call the 'Odds-and Ends' catalogs. Examples in the latest one sent here: The LAWN RANGER TEE; "You might not be fighting outlaws, but your weeds are running scared!" Very fun. The DANCING TIKI LIGHT, "Transform your yard into an exotic paradise." It'd take more than a tiki light to do that in  my yard, and STYLISH COMPRESSION KNEE-HIGHS. That's gotta be an oxymoron. There is nothing fashionable about compression socks. The same catalog also had BOOST OXYGEN in assorted scents, "used by famous celebrities." Isn't every celebrity famous? I'm just asking. Speaking of celebrities, wouldn't 'The Sinatra' be a great name for a cool and classy car?

However, getting back to the paint, color samples, some of the names on the little cards are almost as fun as a tee-shirt for fighting weeds, for example: Bromance Blue or Teal & Tonic. I quite liked Left Bank Blue and Nantucket Fog but New Born's Eyes makes me want to gag.

As a writer, I regularly used the 'synonyms' function on my Word program. Is there a better word, one that gives more punch, one that will eliminate repetitions?

Anyway, the color my husband and I finally agreed on for the bathroom is 'Heaven on Earth.' In the context of a color for a bathroom, I find that funny.