When listening to contemporary music or watching the last few years of TV and movies, you might be tempted to think that the extent of our ability to express the full range of our feelings, emotions, and circumstances is covered in about half a dozen four-letter words — and I'm not talking "snow," "rain," "heat," "cold." No, not all of our overhyped and mediated culture has been reduced to the lowest common denominator, but any day gives ample opportunity to wonder if we have sunk too low to see the edge of the pit.

Rather than stay on the downbeat run to the basement, check out Wordsmith.org's very clean Web site and sign up for the free A.Word.A.Day (AWAD) e-newsletter. You'll also find a link to the book of the same name, published in 2003.

Once you subscribe to the e-letter, you get a succinct email message five days a week and a once-a-week summary of subscriber responses to the week's selections. Often, readers share additional uses or pithy bits of background information that makes their comments well worth the read.

The e-letter itself is direct and to-the-point. Each day's message contains the word, its pronunciation (both spelled out with appropriate emphasis and in a permanent audio file, so you can hear what it's actually supposed to sound like), one or more definitions (as appropriate to the complexity of the word), one or more examples of the word used in published writings, and (my favorite!) a quirky quotation that may or may not have anything to do with the day's word. No matter; it always offers an interesting perspective.

The Web site also provides links to other Wordsmith services, including an on-line bulletin board and chat room. The Wordlover's Library Project, supported by the Harnisch Family Foundation, intends to put the AWAD book in one library anywhere in the world every day. They did a pretty good job between November of 2004 and its publication in March of 2003.