Want more? Anu Garg will take you on a fascinating ride into the world of words

When was the last time you heard a lion tamer say, “Ooh, the lion’s ferocious roar gives me horripilation”? If you answered “never,” you’re probably among the majority. Although lion tamers might experience goose bumps when facing a raging beast, most wouldn’t describe it as “horripilation.”

Unless of course, the lion tamers receive daily e-mails from Woodinville resident Anu Garg. In that case, any number of intriguing and weird-sounding words could possibly crop up in their conversation. Words like “horripilation” (bristling of body hair), “pandiculation” (the act of stretching oneself), or even “crapulous” (sick from excessive drinking and eating).

But it’s not just lion tamers learning new and unusual words on a daily basis. Scads of everyday people from all kinds of professions have signed up for A.Word.A.Day (AWAD), a free service available at Garg’s Web site Wordsmith.org. “We have lion tamers, truck drivers, editors, mosaicists, retirees, you name it,” said Garg, a computer scientist and full-fledged wordsmith. More than 607,000 subscribers representing 208 countries open their e-mail inbox every day to discover the new word of the day. This on-line global community of logophiles (word lovers) includes one person in Yemen, over 8,000 in Australia and dozens in Woodinville.

As an example, the word “alexiteric” greeted Garg’s loyal cyberspace community on a Tuesday in August. The AWAD e-mail explained the pronunciation (uh-LEK-si-TER-ik)), meaning (counteracting the affects of poison), etymology (from Medieval Latin alexiterium) and offered an example of usage — “poisons for which there is no known alexiteric.”

Although Garg searches dictionaries on CD ROMs to come up with a new word each day, he said a muse plays a major role in his choice. “In the same way a writer comes up with a story, words come to me,” he said in a refined English pronunciation with Hindu inflection. “I think of a category and a theme.

One week, I might feature words with only surnames. For example, if you have the name Smith, the reason you got that name is because your forefather was a blacksmith. Sometimes I’ll feature unusual words like words with one Latin root and one Greek root.”

When Garg looks at a word, he sees more than a dictionary reference. He sees a mini-production with plot, history, artistry, even poetic sound. “What really fascinates me are the stories of words and how they’re formed,” he said. “Words like ‘stomp’ and ‘clap’ are euphonically formed. The word ‘susurrous,’ means the wrestling of leaves and it sounds like it means. I also find patterns of words interesting like the words with all of the vowels in them like ‘abstemious’ and ‘facetious.’ They not only have all five vowels but they have them in order. Words are something we all use and my Web site is about the magic of words. I find a word’s story by finding the path it took to become what it is today. For example, the word ‘pedigree’ began with a French word for a genealogical chart. The chart [formation] looked like a foot of a bird. So pedigree comes from the French word ‘pie de grue’ which means foot of the crane. On-line, we explore the stories of words.”

Asked if he incorporates his new words in his everyday vocabulary, Garg replied, “If it fits, there’s no harm in using it. But you don’t want to force a word to sound bombastic.”

Garg’s interest in words dates back to his early life in northern India where he was born and raised in the state of Uttar Pradesh. “As long as I can remember, I was always interested in words,” he recalled. “When I was growing up in India, we didn’t have a library system. But my father is a true bibliophile and has tons of books. I think that’s what got me interested in books. When I came to the United States for grad school in Cleveland, I started going to libraries. I was like a hungry child in a restaurant and I could eat all I wanted. I had my own library card and I was truly delighted.”

He began learning the English language in the sixth grade. While his study of English captivated his attention, so did computers. Witnessing a remarkable improvement with India’s railway reservation system once it was computerized, Garg wanted to know more about the technology. “Everything was manual before computers,” he said. “There were long waits at the railway station. But with the computerized system, the wait was only a few minutes. That really made a big impression on me and since it made such a difference I decided I wanted to study computer science.”

A scholarship brought him to the United States at age 24 and he began working toward a master’s degree in computer networking. It was at this time of his life he was inspired to e-mail a new word to some of his friends. He picked “zephyr” as his first word. He doesn’t recall why he chose that particular word, but his choice suited the inaugural occasion. Zephyr means a breeze from the west or any soft gentle breeze.

He continued sending a new word every day. But as others heard of his innovative pastime, Garg’s computer screen began lighting up with subscription requests. His hobby soon grew into a full-time job. “The on-line community started out as a hobby,” he explained. “But then it began to feel like I had two jobs when I started working for AT&T Labs. Finally, I decided to do this job [Wordsmith.org] only. And now I find I’m so lucky that I can do something to touch people in a small way. Sometimes my e-mail [to subscribers] is slow and people don’t get their word for the day. They’ll e-mail me, asking ‘where’s my fix?’ They tell me they’re having withdrawal symptoms.”

In addition to responding to e-mail, Garg spends a good part of his day reading it. “I love hearing from people and hearing their stories of how words affect them,” he said. Researching words, writing about them, updating the Web site and keeping a busy interview/speaking schedule fills his day as well. Publications like Reader’s Digest, USA Today and the New York Times introduced him to a worldwide audience. When he coauthored “A Word a Day,” with his wife Stuti, he gained international celebrity status. The book soared to the number one best-seller spot on Amazon.com in the fall of 2002. Garg’s sequel “Another Word a Day,” will land on bookstore shelves in October, 2005.

With so much happening in Garg’s life, he appreciates the pleasant life he and Stuti and their 8-year-old daughter Ananya enjoy in Woodinville. “We just love Woodinville and found it to be a friendly place with lots of trees,” he said. “It’s the perfect place to do whatever you want to do. In my case, it’s to sit and explore words.”

If you’d like to hop a ride into cyberspace and join Anu Garg in his exploration of words, you can sign up for a free word-a-day subscription at www.wordsmith.org. Premium subscriptions are also offered.