Lots of good words begin with W. Some of them you can use starting today! Others you had better keep under your hat.
1. Wizened
Wizen means to dry or shrivel up. I bet you didn’t know that. Chances are you mistakenly used it, thinking it was “wisened.” You probably thought you called your dear granddaddy a “wizened old man with a heart of gold.” But you actually just called him a shriveled up old man. Shame on you. To think, he’s been sending you those $5 bills on your birthday all these years and this is how you thank him.
2. Widget
Web designers know widgets as those fun little mini-apps that line the sidebars of websites. English schoolboys know them as something not to be toyed with. “Stop playing with your widget, or you’ll go blind!” Mammy used to say.
3. Woot
Woot signifies a cheer, unless it has a period after it. It has to be followed by an exclamation point; otherwise it seems snarky. Here’s an example:
You: I just won the lottery!
Your friend: Woot!
OR
You: Hey! I just got that promotion!
Your frenemy: Woot.
4. Wedgie
To a child, a wedgie signifies horrors beyond imagination. To an adult at a pizza party, a wedgie is just one more way to enjoy Italian pie.
5. Wamus
There are some really good words that you just can’t use. Although a wamus is a legitimate word for a heavy cardigan, if you use it in real life, you might get punched in the nose.
You: “Your wamus feels really warm and fuzzy.” Ker-pow.
6. WYSIWYG
Okay, I cheated. This isn’t really a word. It’s an acronym that means “what you see is what you get.” I just like it because it’s actually pronounceable. You say “wizzywig,” which is really fun to say out loud.
7. Waffle
A delicious breakfast food, but also not a great thing to do. How is that possible? “He can’t make up his mind. He keeps waffling between ordering the waffles or the eggs.”
8. Wellborn
If you are wellborn, it means that you have upper-class lineage. So, where does that leave the rest of us? “Dirtpoorborn” probably means your ancestors lived paycheck to paycheck.
9. Wing It
To wing it means to throw caution to the wind and just figure it out as you go along. It carries with it a sense of carefree, happy-go-lucky attitude that I personally embrace. I like to wing it with a side of hot sauce and celery sticks.
10. Waitron
I might have made up this word. The way I see it, I need a waitron. A waitron would be a personal robot that waits on me hand and foot at home. It would vacuum the carpet, pay the bills and clean out the fridge. If you like, I can put you on the waitron list and notify you when they become available for purchase in your part of the country.