File: Writing

Jenn asked about favorite words. I posted a comment over at www.milkring.com, but it got so involved, I thought I'd post it here too.

Ilk.

It means 'type or kind.'

Here's the word history, according to dictionary.com: "Middle English ilke, same, from Old English ilca. See i- in Indo-European Roots. When one uses ilk, as in the phrase men of his ilk, one is using a word with an ancient pedigree even though the sense of ilk, kind or sort,” is actually quite recent, having been first recorded at the end of the 18th century. This sense grew out of an older use of ilk in the phrase of that ilk, meaning of the same place, territorial designation, or name.” This phrase was used chiefly in names of landed families, Guthrie of that ilk meaning “Guthrie of Guthrie. “Same” is the fundamental meaning of the word. The ancestors of ilk, Old English ilca and Middle English ilke, were common words, usually appearing with such words as the or that, but the word hardly survived the Middle Ages in those uses."

My favorite moment with this word: When my dad and I wrote his book, I was in charge of the introduction. Dad never read it until the book was in print. The day the book shipped, he was standing in our living room, thumbing through the hardcover fruit of our labors. He starts to read the introduction, gets halfway through, comes upon my favorite word, and swears to the room at large, "What the hell does ilk mean? BRANDI!"

Lesson: Sometimes a little word is a big word. And, it's no fun to be a pretentious word snob because, above all, words are supposed to be the vehicle for communication.

Okay, I realize I'm getting way too dorky with this, but I'm a writer, love reading, and above all, love words. This is my favorite because of its quirkiness.

And now I ask you: What's your favorite word?