From: Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org))
Subject: Happy Birthday Wordserver!
Date: Tue Mar 14 13:35:04 EDT 1995

The wordserver is 365 words old today. It was exactly a year ago that A.Word.A.Day got started. The first word to go out of the wordserver "zephyr" (a gentle breeze) was received by 189 linguaphiles who subscribed on the first day.

Thanks to all the linguaphiles -- 8312, who are registered at the wordserver and few thousand more who get it from other means -- who helped create what it is today. Your email with stories, anecdotes and words of support are much appreciated. The day "quondam" went out, I received a message from Anupa Bajwa (psu.edu). She confided: "My husband, who is not yet on the linguaphile list, would be quite shocked if I introduced a childhood boy friend of mine as my `quondam friend'" ! Getting your little stories such as this one and knowing how the words touch you in ways big or small, makes this whole effort worthwhile.

Recently, I opened my emailbox to discover a message from a father who mentioned that his son (kids! they are so creative!!) had coined a new word and wanted to know how to get it into the dictionaries. So, on this occasion, I invite all of you to be a wordsmith and submit a word(s) (with proper definition), which is not in the English language, but you feel should be. Let your mind run free, let the word be crazy or maybe a little sensible. Just two letters long or twenty. If you think a sentence using the word would help illustrate your coinage, send it along. Doesn't matter if your first encounter with English was only a few months ago or if you are a PhD in English (I didn't know ABCD until my sixth grade). If you wish, send me a few lines about yourself too.

I can't promise that the word you coin will ever grace the pages of a dictionary but it might find a place in a book. If I get sufficient number of interesting responses, I plan to compile and publish them in a book (any publishers around here who might be interested in this project?). Of course the word will be attributed to you and you get full credit for your creation. I hope to receive 8312 responses, if not more. Happy wording!

Wordstruck near Lake Erie,
Anu


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