Thinking of you on your birthday . . .

As a writer and lover of words I consider myself a wordsmith, not a numbersmith.  Well, I guess there’s really not such a word as “numbersmith”!  But I think you know what I mean:  bankers, accountants, financial planners, scientists, engineers, and other people who like to think about numbers.  However, I think I can blow your mind today in the number department–the part of your brain that has a calculator in it.  On second thought, I’m going to ask you to use two brain functions–the verbal or word part and the quantitative or number part.

Pay close attention.  We all know how important zeros can be.  If I’m writing someone a check for fifty dollars, I certainly don’t want to put two zeros after my five, at least not before I write in my decimal point to indicate that I am talking about dollars.

Let me share with you an absolutely spectacular word I discovered in my huge vintage dictionary about a year ago while I was just flipping through the pages for fun.  The feel of actual dictionary pages to me is just about like the experience of the feel of a basketball to a ball player!  I know that sounds strange and don’t think I’m a relic of the twentieth century.  I ask questions of Cortana on my phone on a daily basis, including about words:  how they’re spelled, what they mean, and how they are used.  Anyway, in one of my fun dictionary excursions I stumbled upon the word NONILLION.  Of course, I was immediately attracted to this word as it reminded me of my grandmother name which is Nonny.

Impress your friends, if you care to, by using the word NONILLION or maybe by asking your accountant, your financial planner, or your banker how many zeros a NONILLION has.  Here’s the answer straight from a memo I typed and posted on my office bulletin board.  Enjoy using your new word.  As for me, I need to leave this NONNY’S BLOG post for now since I’ve got a NONILLION ideas for future blogs swirling around in my head!

Essay and Photo Artistry
By Connie Carlisle Polley, 2018
conniecarlislepolley.com