There’s over a million words in the English language and I recently read that it’s estimated that a new word is created every 98 minutes. Now, think about all the abbrevs, phrases and new terminology, like ‘selfie,’ we keep adding to our vocabulary. That's a lot to choose from, yet sometimes I catch myself in conversation thinking, “did I just use the same word twice?” Maybe it's just me, but I feel like a lot of people go through vocabulary cycles, using the same batch of words or phrases frequently until the next 'it' word is coined. Admittedly, I love abbrevs and saying things like, "I can't" when really I can. However, when I hear someone use a great forgotten word, I tend to adopt it and throw it in my own vocab rotation.

Instead of waiting for someone else to inspire me to say something other than "awesome" or "that's funny" (which I realize tend to be my filler words that I repeat way too often), I’m challenging myself to try and use a new word each day. Think you can do it too? To get started, here's a nice list I came across on Pinterest. Dibs on "balderdash!"

My goal is to share my word finds on Twitter @c_allodi. If you hear or think of a good one, holler at me!