HELLO, AND WELCOME TO YOU ALL

My name is Adrian Stead and let me begin by telling you what I am not in relation to this site.  I am not a Dictionary, Thesaurus, Etymological Dictionary or anything of that kind.  I am not an Academic or University Professor.  “Well”, you might ask, “what is he then?”

I am a writer (see adrianstead.com), lover of the English language, its history, its origins, its foibles and all its seemingly strange variations.  I am a degree holder and qualified teacher of English and Comparative Literature and a possessor of GCE A levels in both Language and Literature in England.

I guess that is really where my love affair with words began.  I remember my English teacher at the time asking, “Do you hear the beauty of the word Handkerchief rather than the prosaic Hankie?” and, you know, I could and do still.

It is with this background that I found it appealing to create this website, for I am sure there are lots of people out there that have a similar love.  Yes, you can go to formal websites and have the cold, hard definitions presented to you, but I want to share the beauty of that “Handkerchief” and the colour of “Vermillion” and the feel of “Verisimilitude”.

From an early age, I used strips of paper and, more recently Post-it notes, to place in books, as I read them, where intriguing words were encountered and then looked up their meanings and origins later.  And I don’t mean just long and obscure words but words that appealed to my senses; words that actually said something.

You know, there are plenty of reference sites and books out there that go into the histories of place names, babies’ names, swear words et al – they don’t readily form part of this site, so sorry if that’s what you’re looking for, you won’t find much of it here.

I now live in Western Australia, having emigrated to this Land Down Under in 1981.  I share my life with my lovely and artistic wife, Brenda, and two cats, Pinot and Merlot, and, yes, you’d be right in assuming what one of my interests in life is.  I sometimes am interested in it more often than I should!  I retain a love for my English football team – Luton Town – (stop groaning, someone has to have the courage to admit it), rugby union, history, music, travel and oh, lots more.

So, please share my journey into this wonderful world of word meanings and don’t be hesitant in letting us all know what your favourite word is and why.

A great place to start on this site is my LIST OF WORDS that I’m continually updating or my latest POSTS.  Have a look around and have fun with the words.

Please also be aware that there are number of links in my Posts page that will take you to other sites that enable you to purchase various items, and I am an affiliate of those sites and will earn commission should you buy from them, so, in advance, thank you.