News from James Kossuth '98, intrepid lexicographer

"A truly enjoyable part of my job is answering correspondence. People write to us about EVERYTHING. I have a letter right now from a convict in Texas who wants to know, among other things, the ZIP code for Plainfield, NJ. I had an e-mail Friday from someone who wanted to know why "spork" wasn't in the dictionary . . . . There hasn't been a single day when I haven't learned something, be it a new word, factoid, what have you. This morning, I had to answer an email from someone who wanted to know why we didn't have "yearnful" in the dictionary. My first reaction was, "because it's not a word, idiot." But, alas, I was wrong. It's in Webster's Third. The call is out for citations, so you can put in the Anso Alumni News. New, interesting, uncommon, out-of-this-world uses and words can be sent to me. Include the relevant (or more) section or passage, along with author, title, page number, year, nationality of author or speaker (if other than American), with the word underlined, to me at James Kossuth c/o Merriam-Webster PO Box 281 Springfield MA 01102, email: jkossuth@m-w.com."