Apr
17
When I was a little girl learning to spell my dad would say, “How do you spell ’syzygy’?” I never knew it was a real word. I just thought he made it up. Then I found it one day in the dictionary. It is the word used to describe when all the planets line up in a straight line.
Suzanne
Pittsburgh, PA
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I learned the word in botany, although it is also an astronomical term. It is the genus of the clove plant, Syzygium aromaticum. The curious thing about it is that when written in cursive, five of the six letters are below the line.
I actually learned this word the exact same way, Suzanne. My father told me it was the one of the only words, that for it’s length, had more tails, letters like “g,j,p,q,y”, than any other.
Then he quizzed me on how to spell it.