How does a word become an official word? There is a great book that Kim read to the girls called Frindle. It’s about a kid named Nick who is a little bit of a troublemaker at school. To answer some of his incessant questions, his teacher gives him an assignment to research how words are created. Nick then hatches a plan to create his own word and gets his entire class to start calling a pen a “frindle.” It creates an uproar at the school, and Nick becomes a hero. Eventually the word spreads across the entire country. In the epilogue of the book, set when Nick is a young adult, his elementary school teacher, who had given him a hard time about creating this new word, sends him a new copy of the dictionary, which now includes the word frindle.
The girls loved the story, and it created lots of discussions about where words come from. But today’s newsletter is really about a new word that we’ve created in our family. I’m not sure it will reach the entire country like in Frindle, but it has certainly entered the vocabulary of our family. The word is “clark.” That’s not the name Clark, but rather is a verb: “to clark.” Here is its official definition for when it gets added to the dictionary:
clark verb
other forms: clarked, clarking, will clark
Transitive verb
1: to open a package in order to get at the remaining product left in the bottom, especially shampoo, lotion, sunscreen, etc.
2: to extend the life of an item by repairing, patching, or fixing in some way, often using non-standard methods.
And yes, since this weekend is Father’s Day, “to clark” is a new word that has its roots in a habit that we learned from my dad: use everything and waste nothing. You know when you’ve gotten to the end of a bottle of sunscreen or shampoo and no more will pour out, but you just know there is still about an inch of the product left in the bottle? And you’re left with two options. You could throw it away, but that’s wasteful. The alternative is to clark it. Grab some scissors or a knife if needed, cut the bottle open, and get to the stuff left in the bottom. I’m pretty sure I kept using a sunscreen I clarked for three weeks after no more would come out the spout. Benjamin Franklin said, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Well, there are lots of pennies in the bottom of those bottles! And thanks to my dad, we created a habit, and now a new word, for making sure to use every last drop. You heard it here first. I can’t wait to see it appear in the dictionary.
To my dad, and all of the dads, stepdads, bonus dads, uncles, grandpas, and father figures out there, Happy Father’s Day. Thanks for the lessons you’ve taught us. I hope you have a wonderful weekend getting to do exactly what you want to do.
P.S. 108 Sun Salutations at Kerby’s Nursery, led by Kristen from Keystone Yoga, is getting closer. This class is FREE, we’d love for you to join us at 7:30 am on Saturday, June 22. Click the image to register. Can we get 108 yogis for 108 Sun Salutations?
