Hello! I'm experimenting with blogging every day. Because I'm very new to this, I need your help. Please take a minute to drop me a line and let me know what you think. I will post stories, thoughts, and possibly recipes (if I'm having an off day). Here's the post for today.
I'm a sucker for words. English is my second language, so I think I may give myself more permission than native speakers to ask what a word means, even if I'm only asking my dictionary app. But I also love understanding where do words come from. When I look for the meaning of the word, I never stop at the dictionary.
For example, as I was reading The Creative Habit (in which Twyla offers a whole exercise on metaphors and words, which is what I'm doing today), I encountered the word draftsman. At first, I thought it was a typo of the word craftsman, which also fitted within the context. But then I saw it again, and I thought maybe it's a different word. So I looked.
A draftsman is someone who makes technical or mechanical sketches, but also an artist who is exceptionally skilled at drawing. It's also someone who draws legal papers, particularly ones that are based on ideas (so, basically, a patent lawyer of sorts). It's related to the word draught (beer) because one of the meanings of the word draught is to draw a drink into one's mouth. A craftsman, on the other hand, is someone very skilled at a particular trade, an artisan, or an artist. So basically, you can draught your handcraft draft (don't forget to say cheers!), but it may impact your draftsmanship. It may promote, however, your craftsmanship, because we all know that the most celebrated writers were basically drunk.
The word draftsman got me thinking about the word draw. It's such a fantastic word. It originates from drag which explains the motion we associate with drawing water from the well, the idea of drawing as dragging your brush on a canvas, and the pulling of a drawer to open it.
And that's my word exercise for today! :)