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Thursday, April 7, 2011

Are You Human? Fun with Word Verifications

You know those annoying word verifications you have to complete before posting a comment on some blogs? The ones that check to verify that you're human and not some spam bot waiting to clog the poor Blogger's inbox with viruses?

I always picture a green headed alien typing a comment and then deleting it when he is forced to answer that question...

Anyway, how good are your language-building skills? I'll admit, I have no experience with language creation in world building (my current - endless - WIP is set in a modern city). But I find too complex a language utterly distracting when I'm reading. However, if it's well done, and just enough to pull the reader into an alternate world without throwing us into a swirling black hole of "huh?", it adds to the world the author has built.

So, I thought I'd put those annoying WVs to use. Here's where I take a choice WV and use it in a sentence or dialogue. Do you know the meaning right off the bat, without having to guess? If yes, I've succeeded in that little piece of language creation. And that would be frexing brilly.

This week's Word Verification comes from Bethany Robison's blog.



Bethany is also part of the Ink Slingers Girls. Go over and give both blogs a follow. I won a coveted copy of Beth Revis' Across the Universe on Bethany's blog, so of course, she is awesome in my book.

Here is the Word Verification I had to type before I commented this morning: Stinitio

And here is my first attempt:

Kat tried on the shoes. She'd never worn such high heels before. These were a shiny vampire red, matching the hilt of her lightsword perfectly.

"Stinitios are hard to walk in, at first," the saleslady commented. "But they're kick-ass sexy, don't you agree?"

Kat admired the length of her leg and the way the shoes shaped her calves. "Yes," she said. "I'll take them."

Have fun with your Word Verifications today! And for more great information on World Building, head on over to the Wednesday Word Building Workshops at Juliette Wade's Talk to YoUniverse blog.

9 comments:

  1. I love this idea. I've seen people create definitions for the word verifications before, but this idea is so much better. :D

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  2. I love this too! Talk about being creative. Awesome. This words almost sounds like stilletos, the ones you wear not stab someone with. Though I guess you can use 'em for both.

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  3. Word verifications are cool. And I like the way you used yours!

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  4. Ha ha, thanks for the shout-out! Happy to contribute to the cause, however I can!

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  5. Thanks everyone! I had "runbingb" today too, but couldn't make that one work! Unless the 'b's were silent. Then OMG - look, it's almost "running"...And wouldn't ya know Bethany's post was about running :)

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  6. Thank you for finding a practical use for word verifications. Now I have a new procrastination tool. As if I needed more ;).

    Becca @ The Bookshelf Muse

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  7. You have a fabulous blog! I want to award you the Creative Blog Award for all the hard work you do!

    BTW, I am your newest follower.
    I invite you to follow me as we have a lot in common.

    My blog specialize in helping writers get published by learning from agents, editors and authors who I interview.
    Tomorrow, I am having a literary agent on my blog as a special guest. She has some great tips for authors.

    Take care and have a nice day :-)
    Go to http://astorybookworld.blogspot.com/p/awards.html and pick up your award.
    ~Deirdra

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