Words

When I was preparing to take the GRE, I signed up for a Word-of-day e-mail service. Here are a few of my favorites:

ninja: a person trained in ancient Japanese martial arts and employed especially for espionage and assassinations

procrastinate: to put off intentionally and habitually; to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done

kismet: fate

fret: to eat or gnaw into; to become vexed or worried; agitate

Panglossian: marked by the view that all is for the best in this best of possible worlds: excessively optimistic

Some, when they hit my inbox, I knew were meant for me, others I thought were cool, some I aspire to be, and others I'm trying to get rid of. And I just thought ninja was cool, because I doubt that word would show up on the GRE.