#atozchallenge: Adjective

A to Z Challenge 1 Minute

Welcome, one and all, to the 2023 edition of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge! As previously noted, my theme this year is words containing the letter J. I did something similar in 2019, choosing words that contain the letter X, in honor of A to Z’s tenth anniversary. Did you realize that the letter J is used even less frequently in the English language than the letter X? The things you learn in this job…

Anyway, we start today with my A word, adjective. Back in grade school, I learned that an adjective modifies a noun, or any word acting like a noun, by describing, limiting, qualifying, or specifying something about it. For example, take this sentence:

The fox jumps over the dog.

A complete thought? Yes. An exciting sentence? No. I mean, so what? I know nothing about the fox or the dog. So, let’s add some words:

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Now we know more about the fox and the dog. We know the fox is quick and has brown fur, and the dog is lazy. That’s the job of adjectives: to tell you something about the nouns, in this case fox and dog.

Say you’re at a kid’s birthday party, and you ask someone which is their child. The person you asked might point at a clump of kids and say "he’s the redheaded boy with the green balloon." Then you know you’re looking for him:

Or someone that looks more or less like him. (I used Wonder, an AI app that takes a description and turns it into a picture.) Now, say there are two kids fitting that description. So you might say "You mean the boy in the green t-shirt?" and the parent might say, "No, the one in the blue golf shirt with brown eyes. The one in the green t-shirt is uglier than a mud fence."

I could go on, but I’m supposed to keep these short because you’ll have a lot of these to get through today. See you Monday!

Published by John Holton

Internet disc jockey, lover of old TV (especially the commercials), inveterate wise guy.

Published

84 thoughts on “#atozchallenge: Adjective”

  7. Pingback: The 8th Anniversary of The Week That Was – The Sound of One Hand Typing

  8. Hi John, I landed on your blog via the A to Z Blogging Challenge website.
    Since I am a lover of communication and language, yours is a topic that I like. I am looking forward to all of your 26 posts in April.
    I didn’t know that j is found in fewer words than x. That’s quite interesting.
    A for Aluminium

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  10. Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs!
    Don’t mind me, just using an alternative to the jumping fox.

    The letter J, huh?
    Did you know… that the name J is supposed to have some superfluous extra letters? And sometimes it’s actually short for something else. Jayee, Jason, Jaymieseson…
    Yeah, well, I didn’t know that. So hi from your buddy J, just J, who is looking forward to a month of posts about my name, but actually a letter, but it’s my name. 🤔😆🤦🏽‍♂️

    Also, I love adjectives. But, no sooner do writers learn them… and then someone says to turn them into verbs instead. So a blue shirt has to be a shirt with shades of despair or something.

    It’s April, so I’m focused on the #AtoZChallenge.
    Proof of Existence, book two in my dark urban fantasy series, is out this month.
    And I’m running a giveaway on my blog.

    J Lenni Dorner (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) ~ Reference& Speculative Fiction Author, OperationAwesome6 Debut Author Interviewer, and Co-host of the #AtoZchallenge

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    1. I’ll have to check out the giveaway!

      It’s the same way with adverbs. After you learn all about them, you’re supposed to not use them, which is BS. Adjectives and adverbs keep your prose from getting too purple…

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    2. This looks like fun. Looking forward to reading the rest of your pieces. I’m impressed. I’m going to try and predict (to myself) what words you come up with for the rest of the letters and see how close I get. Meanwhile, back to my own A to Z.

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  14. LOL off to a good start, John. I had a fear of marrying a redhead because I was afraid all our kids would come out with red hair and freckles. Turns out my brown overruled. We do have one with blue eyes though. Happy A to Z!
    Janet’s Smiles

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  16. I think both those redheads at the party are too cute. My daddy, oldest brother, both sisters, & a niece all had red hair. We’d tease redhead, red attitude … well for the one sister. LOL.

    And we’re off! Great start to the challenge. I’m enjoying your unique theme & can’t wait to see what else you come up with.

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  18. Jumping Jupiter your Adjective post is no Joke! I would jump for joy if I could just use the AI Wonder App…alas…I’m an Alien Android. Great start with Letter A. Thanks for all you do as a co-host.
    CollectInTexasGal

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  20. Excellent word to begin the Challenge. A world without adjectives would get pretty confusing.

    What a great job the A to Z Team has done! Thanks to all of you!

    Lee

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  23. I’m partial to J’s. In my family, words that have a J in them are my siblings and me. Love the name of your blog! Stopping by from Blogging A to Z Challenge.

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  24. Hey John,
    Great start to the A-Z. I’m one of those bloggers that never imagined himself constantly looking up spelling and grammar rules; but now I do, and apparently enjoy it. Thanks for the lesson.
    Signed
    The Handsome and Brilliant Blogger
    Zulu Delta

    (Hahahahahahah- with your help, I can now weaponize the English Language! Hahahahahaha!

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  25. That parent was off. The kid in a blue shirt also has blue eyes. I’ll be interested to see what “J” words you come up with. Now I’m trying to think of some.

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    1. The best thing to do to come up with J words is not to try and look for them. They pop up all over the place…

      As for the kid in the blue shirt: I had asked Wonder to give me a kid with brown eyes. It decided to improvise…

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  26. There were many redheads on my Irish father’s side of the family, including me. One of my cousins had 5 boys and they were all redheads.

    Excellent start on A to Z.

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  28. Funny, I’ve never thought of J as a less used letter. I use it all the time :)
    Your example of the kids reminded me of a time at a conference when somebody asked me to point out a specific colleague. I hesitated, because I suppose at that time there was one outstanding characteristic, but I didn’t want to use that. I decided to mention her tightly braided hair, instead.
    Redheads can be sensitive about that, too. :)
    Jemima

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  33. Happy April and another round from A to Z. Interesting theme and well done. Have you already selected your words for the entire challenge or going on the fly?

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    1. I had come up with a preliminary list, and as I thought of better words I replaced the ones I had. I think I’ve replaced about ten of the original list, and I’ve thought of a couple more. Thanks!

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  35. I have three sons you can see him with those other two red heads…. He’s a man so taller than the other two. Longish red hair and blue eyes pale skin and freckles 🤣🤣🤣🤣

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