As a writer, it's imperative that I like words (or else I wouldn't be much of a writer!) When I saw this article for the first time today, I was simply and utterly in love. I still can't stop gushing about it! This piece is something that truly inspired me as a writer and makes me re-fascinated by vocabulary; eager to pick up a dictionary, discover some new words, and do that whole learn-a-word-a-day challenge that I did during Writer's Craft class in 11th grade. Robert Pirosh describes the sound and use of words perfectly, something that we often take for granted when speaking or writing.
So from one Robert to another, thanks for the inspiration! Check it out, gang!
When copywriter
Robert Pirosh
landed in Hollywood in 1934, eager to become a screenwriter, he wrote
and sent the following letter to all the directors, producers, and
studio executives he could think of. The approach worked, and after
securing three interviews he took a job as a junior writer with
MGM.
Pirosh went on to write for the
Marx Brothers, and in 1949 won an Academy Award for his
Battleground script.
(
Source: Dear Wit.)
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-Heavens, my-gracious,
land's-sake words, such as tricksy, tucker, genteel, horrid. I like
elegant, flowery words, such as estivate, peregrinate, elysium, halcyon.
I like wormy, squirmy, mealy words, such as crawl, blubber, squeal,
drip. I like sniggly, chuckling words, such as cowlick, gurgle, bubble
and burp.
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, contemplation and horsing around.
I have just returned and I still like words.
May I have a few with you?
Robert Pirosh
385 Madison Avenue
Room 610
New York
Eldorado 5-6024
