No news today - Guest Post - Molly Gaudry

There is no news today. However, there is a word. It is "yen" and can be used as a noun or verb. If used as a noun, yen has two meanings" first, it is "a desire or craving;" second, it is "an aluminum coin and monetary unit of Japan, equal to 100 sen or 1000 rin." If used as a verb, yen is "to have a craving," to "yearn." The nouns are interesting. So disconnected, yet so related. Here's a useful tidbit: "The use of yen to signify a desire, as opposed to Japanese currency, is an Americanism that probably derives from Chinese dialect, yáhn or yin, 'craving.'" Thank you, Dictionary.com. I think we've all learned something today.

Molly Gaudry is the author of the verse novel We Take Me Apart (Mud Luscious, 2009) and the editor of Tell: An Anthology of Expository Narrative (Flatmancrooked, 2010). She is Googleable.