New term

One of my College Comp students had a question about my hand written
comments on her essay. To be fair, she was not alone in the questions.
My handwriting is atrocious. Or at least it has become that way after
reading a commenting on a hundred thousand or so essays over the past 12
years.

But what I was not prepared for was the new word I would be introduced to.

"Mr. Reynolds, what does this mean?"

I walked over to her desk and peered at the essay - a long with about
three other students who were trying to help her decipher my script. "Oh,
it says 'This part sounds clunky and it doesn't do the rest of your essay."

"What does clunky mean"? she asked.

"Well, I want you to take that phrase, which is a bit awkward, and write
it so it sounds better, so that it does the rest of your essay - which is
quite good - justice."

"Oh! You want me to make it more wordable."

Wordable?

There was dead silence in the classroom as we all realized we were in the
presence of a new word. In fact, I was strolling to my white board to
write it down.

Then we began laughing.

But I think it's brilliant.

I have not enjoyed language in the classroom this much since a former
student of mine, Josh, declared "I before you, except after me!" instead
of the standard "I before E, except at C."

Wordable. I love it.

"If you're not learning when you're teaching, you're not teaching."
-- Frank
McCourt