You will notice, though, that I do not treat [words] as equals, but as pets, to be stroked or kicked according to their desert and my whim. Go thou and do likewise. Housebreak your words while they are still too young to know better. When you take one for its exercise, curb it, or the neighbors will become angry. Be considerate but firm. Teach your words to sit, lie, stay, fetch. Reward them for obedience and cleverness with a dog biscuit or, in the case of catty words, with a sardine.
—Willard R. Espy, American writer, The Game of Words, 1971

Posted on September 29, 1998 at 3:17 PM

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