Hello,

A friend asked me last week what writing I’m doing currently. I explained that I was supposed to be working on formatting “Words the Weather Gave Us” for proof printing but had in fact cheated on my main book by working on the candidate word list for the next book “Words Stories Gave Us”. The list currently runs from allegory to zine, in case you’re curious, but I’ve many more words to gather. In fact, if you have a book/story/publishing related word you’d like included, please comment below.

She loved the idea of my having committed an infidelity on my writing projects but any writers reading this will know that we often do this. While you’re promoting one book, you’re writing another, or editing one, or simply dreaming of one.

Anyhow, here’s a word from my “bit on the side” – battology. Battology is defined as the wearisome repetition of words in speaking or writing. This can be because somebody has a limited vocabulary, or memory issues, is seeking to make their point forcefully (politicians and salespeople love a good slogan or catchword for example), or is distracted. Our brains notice battology and generally dislike it. The members of my writing group pull me up if I echo a word in a paragraph. Although sometimes it’s there deliberately for emphasis.

Related words are battalogical and battologist. I hope I’m not the latter.

Battology joined the English dictionary around 1600, with the same meaning it has today. It was borrowed directly from Greek battologia but the meaning in Greek is different. There it refers to somebody who speaks stammeringly. In that case repeating a word is because the speaker is trying to enunciate the word and should, of course, be waited for patiently by the audience. I’ve covered the various ologies before on the blog, so I won’t repeat myself, but battos means stammerer in Greek and is believed to be imitative in origin (i.e. a word that sounds like what it describes, like slither, for example).

Until next time happy reading, writing, and wordfooling,

Grace (@Wordfoolery)

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