Welcome! You have stepped onto a playground for the love and enjoyment of words.
Written or spoken, sung or recited, strung together in a story or standing alone with nothing but their definitions and phonetic spellings, words give me great joy.
I’m Monica Welch and this is a place where I share my favorite works, whether they’re penned by noted authors, journalists, songwriters or me. I invite you to jump in with your own stories, and occasionally join me in some recreational analysis of the practice of language–because being on the playground alone is no fun, nor is being in a one-sided conversation.
I hope you’ll stick around a while or come back when you are ready for more.
A red pen invitation ~
Since I was a child, I’ve been prone to pointing out rules of language to family, friends and colleagues. In the spirit of humanness and humility, I cordially invite you to edit, critique, criticize or simply comment on my posts. After all, no one is perfect and I deserve a taste of my own red ink.
About Monica
Monica Welch has worked as a lobbyist, a marketing director and a communications consultant for the past 25 years. She grew up in a house filled with humor, sarcasm, music and intelligent debate, some of which rubbed off (Or is it “off of which some rubbed?”). Lacking actual aptitude for playing an instrument or catching a ball, she adopted words as her craft. She is midway through a lifelong quest to get it right.
Follow Monica on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Wordnymph
Word Nymph 
O….M….G
A BLOG IS BORN! I am so very excited for you, Monica. Congratulations!!!
Dear Cousin,
It is a joy to read your blogs. I have decided to bookmark your site under the category of “Science, Philosophy, and Freethought.”
Cooking brisket is tantamount to a sacrament, but the real test of the faithful is knowing at which side one begins to slice it.
Love.
So far, so good!
Now this is a blog I will read … Question: does sherbet work with brisket?
I am fairly sure I am in love with this blog already.
Monica, I missed the birth of your blog but it is a subject close to my heart. Good luck and have fun.
Monica, I only just started reading this brainchild of yours, but so far I love it! Please keep it up!
MONICA –
I never knew!!!!!!!!!
As they say here in California….. “You’re Looking Good , Girl”
It’s wonderful,
Keep it up!
Congratulations on your one-month-aversary (not in the dictionary) !!
I have enjoyed each of your (not on Sunday) articles. Please keep me on your list of fans.
Wow, Monica! I’m impressed! And I thought it was Joe who was graduating!!
Keep me “in the blog”!!
this is YOU! lol Excellent. As an English teacher I focus more on analysis, so I could use a refresher — something to supplement Grammar Girl! LOVE IT!
Hello , I am a french student , and i like your blog, ideas emerge with passion, i love words
Just found your blog (thanks to Freshly Pressed) and love it so far! I consider myself to be a lover of words as well.
All the best,
– Lindsay
http://www.thedailyawe.com
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Hi Monica,
I’m so thrilled I stumbled across your blog. It fills a a prescription for my word deficit disorder. My first and true love has always been language. This English/Journalism major is now a marketing & PR writer for a sports electronics company. Whether I’m writing about weather meters, firefighters or ballistics, concrete construction, or the HVAC industry…as long as I’m writing it’s exciting and fun.
Thanks for loving words and crafting an inspiring blog to fuel word addicts like me.
Monica Devlin
Monica, Thanks for your comments. Please feel free to suggest topics for any things wordish. I have been at this for nearly nine months and always feel like there is finite material on language. Perhaps I need a nudge. Monica
Cool ! Words – different words are interesting in so many ways – sound , feeling , texture , – TeXTURE ? Yeah !
Nice Blog !!
Hi^^
I think ill subscribe to your blog…Its cool and i love words^^ I wanna read ur post.^^
Favorite words?
I love old-fashioned words you find in Dickens or Austen or people writing in that period — pelisse, portmanteau — so much more elegant than (ho hum) suitcase…I also love words from other languages that don’t translate precisely into English as they are subtle and/or reflect a different worldview.
I speak French and Spanish and love knowing other vocabularies — in French, the prosaic “window shopping” (as you might know) is “leche vitrine” — the much more fun “window licking.”
🙂 Ahhh, words. The way you can use exactly the right ones to convey a feeling or an emotion, or that adrenaline rush you get when you lose the ability to find any appropriate words at all. A picture speaks a thousand words, but almost as fun as pushing a shutter down on a camera is writing a thousand words to create a picture in the human mind.
Words can be simple, complicated, short, long, or silly. Words can have sentimental value, or can be tossed to the wayside like a piece of trash. Everyone has their own favorite words to use. Words can be sharp as a knife, or soft as down. Words are tools that people can use to shape the world around them, just like art and science.
Thank you for your blog. You have inspired a whole slew of words about words to come from within me.
A fellow word afficionado,
Heather
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This is good stuff. Always nice to find other word lovers. I will keep following!
Hello, Monica! I am an English teacher from Russia and your blog is exactly what I’ve been looking for. I’ve included it on my blogroll because I feel I’m going to enjoy it.
Thank you, Olga. I hope I will not let you down. I will visit your blog and know I will enjoy that too.
Ok, Monica, I’ll be waiting for you! 🙂 Best regards!
Monica, I wonder if you would be interested in an interview about the English language for my blog? It would make a lot of English-learneres happy. Write to me about your decision, please. I’ll be waiting.
Congratulations!! You have been awarded The Versatile Blogger Award. Stop by at comingeast.com for more details.
Wow! What an honor. I appear to be in good company. I will look forward to choosing my honorees. Thanks, Comingeast!
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I so enjoy your writing I had to nominate you for the Versatile Blogger Award!
Thank you; that’s so nice. I look forward to reading more of your blog. Just took a peek. Looks fun!
I received your latest entry from my friend Farley Bernholz. I had no idea you had a blog but your description of Christmas with your Mother in law, Nancy Welch, touched my heart. I was at the Welch house many times on Christmas afternoon because our families were very close friends. I could “vividly” picture everything you said. I could even hear Nancy’s voice. What a beautiful tribute to her. I know how proud she would have been to read that. Christmas was a magical time for us as kids and our Moms were incredible keepers of the spirit! And by the way, I went back and read several of your blog entries and I loved them!! We had that same Fred Waring album. What a jewel. Wish I knew where it was. Thanks for the memories!
I’ve nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award!
Thank you so much! I received it once some time ago, but maybe I’ll resurrect my answers and try and pay it forward once again. Thanks for reading and for the auspicious nomination. I will look forward to checking out your blog.