Strange Language is a curious collection of “wordsmithery” in which thinking and writing about culture is cultivated by a man dubbed Joshua Cooper. All things American amuse him; icons intrigue him; nature enthralls him. At any given moment, his mind is a mishmashed composition of literature, pop culture, poetry, land and seascapes, music, linguistic quirks, philosophy, the travails of modernity, and contests of sport. Most of all, he loves the strangeness of language, from its delicious precision to its occasionally bothersome ambiguity.

He continually compiles a list of favorite words, sampled here in his alphabetical lists of interests: amelioration, ballyhoo, catharsis, doodads, epiphanies, flotsam, gusto, hobgoblins, inquisitiveness, jetsam, koalas, lyceums, mojo, neologisms, oxymoronica, (parentheticals), quirks, refutations, smithereens, troglodytes, ubiquity, vivacity, wanderlust, xylophones, yoinks, & zings.

You can follow him on Twitter.

Series I’ve written on Strange Language, the very site you’re reading right now:

Boss Songs – Vignettes, some biographical, some simply observing the lyrical and musical attributes of the songs of Bruce Springsteen, a master of American rock & roll.

Litany – When the velocity of modern life calls for brevity, look to the litany for lists of all stripes.

Poems You Might Have Missed – Imperative poems for decent human beings, poems to handle your heart or bend your mind, and poems you just might have missed along the way.

The Sham – Mock news for those in the know and in need of a laugh.