One of the best job applications ever written came from the hands of Robert Pirosh in 1934. Here it is:

Dear Sir:

I like words. I like fat buttery words, such as ooze, turpitude, glutinous, toady. I like solemn, angular, creaky words, such as straitlaced, cantankerous, pecunious, valedictory. I like spurious, black-is-white words, such as mortician, liquidate, tonsorial, demi-monde. I like suave “V” words, such as Svengali, svelte, bravura, verve. I like crunchy, brittle, crackly words, such as splinter, grapple, jostle, crusty. I like sullen crabbed, scowling words, such as skulk, glower, scabby, churl. I like Oh-he...

I like the word screenwriter better than copywriter, so I decided to quit my job in a New York advertising agency and try my luck in Hollywood, but before taking the plunge, I went to Europe for a year of study, contemplating and horsing around.

I have just returned and I still like words.

May I have a few with you?

Yours,

Robert Pirosh

MGM loved his pitch, took him on and in 1949 he won an Oscar for the movie, Battleground.

Well, I like words, too. Here are some of my favorites:

I like words that fizz and pop, such as effervescent, tingle, zip, and zowie. I like words that loaf around in slippers, such as dawdle, mosey, loll, and putter. I like words that stand tall with shoulders squared, such as stalwart, steadfast, and indomitable. I like words that curl up like smoke, such as wisp, waft, linger, and evaporate.

I like blunt, hammer-heavy words, such as clunk, thud, slam, and wallop. I like sly, sideways words, such as insinuate, slither, connive, and wink. I like words that taste good when you say them, such as marmalade, pumpernickel, molasses, and plum. I like words that sting, such as nettle, barb, zinger, and jab. I like words that soothe, such as hush, lull, murmur, and balm.

I like words that get up early, words like cockcrow, dew, brisk, and bustling. I like words that stay up too late, such as smolder, shadow, nocturne, and hushabye. I like words that complain, such as kvetch, bellyache, grouse, and grumble. I like words that never complain, such as plod, endure, carry-on, and stoic.

I like stage words that strut and gesture, such as harangue, soliloquy, bravado, and bombast. I like kitchen words that clatter and steam, such as sizzle, simmer, stew, and spatter. I like porch words that lean on railings, such as reckon, ain’t, folksy, and fiddle. I like attic words that smell of mothballs, such as gewgaw, knickknack, trinket, and bauble.

I like words that rhyme for no reason at all, such as fiddle-faddle, harum-scarum, hocus-pocus, and helter-skelter. I like words that are no bigger than they need to be, such as yes, no, if, and why. I like words that puff themselves up beyond necessity, such as grandiloquent, sesquipedalian, magniloquent, and supererogatory.

I like words with whiskers on them, such as dapper, gadabout, swell, and spiffy. I like words that wear boots, such as trudge, stomp, clomp, and gallop. I like words that sneak barefoot, such as tiptoe, creep, sneak, and sidle.

I like words because they do the heavy lifting of the soul, and can even build bridges between people. They clutter up drawers and then leap into poems. They sit dusty on shelves until someone blows them clean and puts them to use. They fail, they fumble, they betray us—and yet we return to them, because what else do we have?

So yes, I like words. Fat ones, thin ones, pretty ones, ugly ones. I like words that make trouble and words that make peace. And above all, I like words that keep me company when the house is quiet, the clock is ticking, and I sit here rambling—just me, my pen, and the marvelous dictionary of life.

RAMONA JAN is the Founder and Director of Yarnslingers, a storytelling group that tells tales both fantastic and true. She is also the roving historian for Callicoon, NY and is often seen giving tours around town. You can email her at callicoonwalkingtours@gmail.com.