I’m proud to admit that I have never, in any of my novels, used the word cacophony. I’ve used lots of words, but this one does not join membership in my club.  Why? Hmm. No one anywhere in my realm ever uses the word cacophony in daily conversation. I’ll bet real money you have never heard your gramma say, “You kids stop that cacophony and quiet down!” I’m quite certain you haven’t heard it spoken on a television commercial or in a radio news cast. I haven’t.

So why am I boastful that I’ve never written the word in one of my novels? Simple. Everyone else does. Maybe not everyone, but a grand majority of writers feel the need to employ this non-conversational word within the pages of their books. This fact is a source of mirth for me. Even renowned and popular writers succumb to the word’s allure. Why? I’m not sure. Perhaps they deem it worthy because it’s long and looks erudite. On the surface, it’s interesting, attention getting, I’ll give them that. Whatever the reason, cacophony populates pages on a regular basis. The one thing I am sure of is this: every time I locate and note the presence of the word on a page, I feel like I’ve found Waldo.

I’m wondering, now that I’ve mentioned it, described the red striped shirt and dark funny glasses of this word, will you start finding it, too?