Word of the Year

While various news outlets, journalists, and dictionaries offer their words of the year, usually at the end of the year, we decided that it’s better to look ahead, to use our vocabulary in a more forward-facing perspective. For the coming year, we have chosen the word perspicacity as our Word of the Year.

The word perspicacity is a noun that means “having a clear insight”. Its adjective form is perspicacious – the synonym of the word insightful.

To have perspicacity means to have a more pressing perspective, to be able to read people, to understand how to connect the dots with actions or events whether they are historical or current. Perspicacity can be a gift that some people have, but it is also a trait that can be learned. Taking a hint from the fictitious detective, Sherlock Holmes, we just need to study a situation a little more closely, and use the art of perception to hone our skills.

Years ago, we were visiting France, and decided to walk around its most famous city. We were enthralled with the sights and didn’t mind the crowds. I noticed a man walking beside us who wore American clothes – including blue jeans and white tennis shoes (or trainers as they call them in Europe) – but he was not American. He kept up with us, even though he was tall and had a much larger stride than we did. While I had noticed him, I didn’t make the connection that he was staying with us for a reason – and that reason most likely wasn’t a good one for us.

Luckily, we were with my sister, a veteran traveler, and she too noticed the man. “This guy is following us,” she said. “Let’s make a detour to this bridge.”

We turned abruptly onto one of the many bridges that crossed the River Seine (It was the Pont des Invalides, where Napoleon’s Tomb is located), and, sure enough, the guy followed us. There were hordes of tourists on the bridge, so we were still safe. Deciding to let the encroacher know we were onto him, I turned and faced him with one of the coldest stares I could muster. He never looked directly at us, but he soon saw my glare with his peripheral vision. He got the hint and left us. From that day, I was determined to be more observant of my surroundings, and attempt to practice more perspicacity in everything I do, in anything I might encounter.

Perspicacity not only protects us, it can help us enhance the lives of others, or even aid in the course of history – as was demonstrated often by the insightful Abraham Lincoln. By better noticing body language, speech patterns, and the way a person either interacts or avoids interaction, we can be more aware of times when a person might need help. When a perspicacious person asks, “How are you?”, he or she really wants to know the answer. We can be more aware of a person we might know well, or don’t happen to know. We might even save a life.

One afternoon several years ago, my husband and I were in Hanover, Pennsylvania, purchasing a photo from the historical society there for an article. We had to park a block away, and needed to cross the street at a busy intersection. While waiting for the light, a youth on a bicycle rode up to wait beside us. I saw that he was clearly distracted, and wasn’t paying attention to the traffic signal. When the light changed for the cross-street vehicles to go, the traffic light faced us diagonally, and he mistakenly thought it was for us. He stepped onto the pedals, and began to ride into the intersection. A car was approaching, exceeding the speed limit (which was no surprise). I grabbed his arm as he prepared to cross and shouted, “No!” just as the car zoomed past. It was one of those tense moments that could so easily have turned into disaster.  

After we crossed safely, and the cyclist went his way, my husband said, “Wow, that was a close one.” I don’t know how I knew it, but I knew that youth was going to be hit even before the light changed, even before the car approached, and it was why I was alert, and watching.

Sometimes we might get a feeling, and it’s important to act on it. It’s impossible to explain that insightful inner voice, but we can always, absolutely, define it as perspicacity.  

Perspicacity not only works as we go forward, it is a good trait to have when studying the past. We can’t possibly know or grasp all that has happened in history – the Battle of Gettysburg alone has so many volumes written, with so many alternate remembrances of events that it is sometimes difficult to piece it together to get a definite perspective. To read and study with some insight is always helpful.

We appreciate the axiom that “good information leads to good inspiration”. In studying any subject, it’s important to research and study all aspects, and explore all avenues open to us before making a careful conclusion. Even experts on the Battle of Gettysburg can barely grasp the three days of war that occurred there and the impact it still has on the lives of the millions of people connected to it.

Generations later, we are still recovering from the ramifications of the Civil War – and what happened at Gettysburg was the most significant battle of that war, with terrible consequences.  

The perspicacity of Abraham Lincoln, in his speech given at Gettysburg on November 19, 1863, provided a true tipping point that cemented the Union’s determination to see the war through to a victory for the nation. His insights into what happened to us as a country and as individuals at Gettysburg proffered the reason the people needed to press forward and not surrender. The deep message of The Gettysburg Address made all the difference to the survival of our nation.

Lincoln was definitely perspicacious. It is one of the traits of a good President.

As the new year begins, it is a good time to step up. Perspicacity is a trait to strive for in 2024.

Pass the word!