Words that Shine

A noodling post just for fun

There is a beautiful word that sounds more ancient than any of the words it is usually surrounded by. Vouchsafe. It's a word used often in translations of the Tridentine Mass. It sounds kingly. I looked it up, because that is what I do. And it was quite interesting. It comes from two words:

Safe: Old French, 1300, sauf, "unscathed, unhurt, uninjured; free from danger or molestation, in safety, secure; saved spiritually, redeemed, not damned;" from Old French sauf "protected, watched-over; assured of salvation."

vouch: Old French vocher: to call, summon insistently, invoke, claim

The older the etymology, the more rich the word translated. I found that intriguing. As the years went on, the meaning of the word morphed into something more general and nondescript.

Late 14th Century: "rescued, delivered; protected; left alive, unkilled."

Late 1500's: "free from risk

1600's: "sure, reliable, not a danger"

1800's "conservative, cautious"

2000's free from risk or danger

The word safe was a multifaceted, deeply meaningful word back in the 1300's. Saved spiritually, watched over, not damned, even assured of salvation. Now, in our time, it is kind of a putsy word like 'pretty'. It had a life and death meaning back then when life was harsh and wild and like you mean it. SAUF! Redeemed. Protected, watched over, assured of salvation. And VOCHER to summon insistently. So, we are asking God to summon up the assurance of our salvation. Protect it. Watch over it. Keep it free from danger. And do it with the insistence of His love and mercy.

I read this word several times at Mass this morning and it widened the world in its meaning for me.

I don't want to be a luddite, but I have noticed that dictionaries are not as interesting as they used to be. My father had a three volume dictionary from the 50's that came with a magnifying glass because there were so many words crowding the pages. Now, they are much smaller.

I don't think we often say words out loud anymore, either, just to hear the beauty of them. I think its because we tend to type them and typing is sterile and too fast. Emily Dickinson once said: "I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it, until it begins to shine". Words take on different shades of meaning just by the hand of the person writing. Penmanship can make you look twice at a word you have just written and it does make it shine. Different fonts of penmanship are important to preserve. Look at old documents, marriage licenses, deeds even. They each have a personality of their own. Like you can almost see the people in the room who just signed them.

I have always found it a wild sort of thing - that little scratched symbols on a page carry within them whole thoughts, and sometimes grandiose feelings that have the capability to carry us out of ourselves, wound us mortally, or gather the warmth to our hearts core when caught by our eye and unlocked by our mind. That in the proper voiced gentleman, a Hopkins poem can drip like honey or flutter suddenly in my face as it flies - leaving me dazzled. Words do that. Spoken or written. Meanings cling to them like fairy dust or fire or a puffy sort of breeziness.

It's a miracle of the highest sort built into our nature. From intellect, to imagination, to pen, to paper, to ink, to eye, to thought, to feeling, to understanding. Soul speaks to soul through......words.

These are words that shine for me. Do you have any that dazzle you when you read or say them out loud?

cheeky

Jesu

Dignum et Justum Est

gutted (English slang for completely defeated)

brazen

piquant

gorgeous

lustre

gentled

wisp

balmy

zephyr

Sing, Muse!

dappled

exquisite

So many more!

I do not feel inclined at this time to have a paid substack. But if we were together in a cafe discussing all these thoughts, I would not be opposed to you buying me a cup of coffee - with cream, of course. In that spirit, if any of my posts resonate with you and you feel so inclined, you can donate here: buymeacoffee.com/denise_trull