word of the month: splendiferous

we all know kids pick up on what we say. sometimes, we'd rather they didn't ("i'll get aggravated at you, mom"). other times, we feel that twinge of pride in our short-one's astute grasp of the English language when she correctly uses the word "mysterious" in a sentence (even if it did come out as "mysterio"). so here is a new monthly feature (ok, our first monthly feature) that focuses on building our kids' vocabulary with the finer if sillier words in life.

background from schnitzgeli1

splendiferous.
splen·dif·er·ous adj \splen-ˈdi-f(ə-)rəs\
: extraordinarily or showily impressive
— splen·dif·er·ous·ly adverb
— splen·dif·er·ous·ness noun
Origin:
splendor + -i- + -ferous
First Known Use: 1843

this is one of my favorite words, gleaned from a high school drama and English teacher. you could pull a Tinker Bell and preschool it up a bit by converting it to 'splendiferific!'

but don't bet on your savvy 4-year-old repeating it right away. like vegetables, good words have to be sneaked into a kid's diet.

splendiferous book tie-in: everybody's favorite fancy girl has a knack for fancy words (especially if they're French). haven't heard of Fancy Nancy yet? try the first in the series, Fancy Nancy (2005, HarperCollins).

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