The Dictionary of Lost Words

by Pip Williams

Some words are more important than others—I learned this, growing up in the Scriptorium. But it took me a long time to understand why.

“Words change over time, you see. The way they look, the way they sound; sometimes even their meaning changes. They have their own history.”

“Some words are more than letters on a page, don’t you think?” she said, tying the sash around my belly as best she could. “They have shape and texture. They are like bullets, full of energy, and when you give one breath you can feel its sharp edge against your lip. It can be quite cathartic in the right context.”

Do words mean different things to men and women? And if they do, is it possible that we have lost something in the process of defining them?