Relax under your bumbershoot for a spell before things go all cattywampus.

One word we should all embrace: ‘Activity.’ ‘We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing,’ warned writer George Bernard Shaw.

What I was reminded of is that a stagnant language can become an impediment to cultural change.

In a Word: The first portable word processor caught the attention of no less than Mark Twain, who then couldn’t get rid of it.

In a word: While it’s debatable if Shakespeare is the ‘be-all and end-all,’ he did offer many words and phrases that are used to this day.

Then there’s the 1631 edition of the “King James Bible,” which tells its readers “Thou shalt commit adultery.” Most of them were burned.

‘Doc, I realize that you’re at the pineapple of your career, but you don’t have to be so blaze about the whole thing.’

Coming in a somewhat distant second at 36 letters is hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, a coined word for the fear of long words.

Collocations come in handy in telling the inspirational story of the woman who went from rags to riches after becoming tired of wearing mix-and-match clothes . . .