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EN KO VI NE KM ID

lect/leg

lekt / leɡ

An election and neglect are decided at the same fingertip

The picture Eyes choosing one thing out of many and a hand picking it up. Gather what you pick and it's a collection; lift one person up and it's an election; never pick it up at all and it's neglect. Picked out and lifted up is se-lect; never picked up at all is neg-lect.

Word roots

Where the picture shows up in lect/leg

  1. Picking one of several

    Please select a size before you pay.

    pliːz sɪˈlekt ə saɪz bɪˈfɔːr juː peɪ

    Please choose a size before you pay.

    A fingertip landing on one of the sizes laid out in a row.

  2. Picking and gathering

    I collect the keys at the front desk.

    aɪ kəˈlekt ðə kiːz æt ðə frʌnt desk

    You collect the keys at the front desk.

    Keys scattered about being gathered into one hand.

    col (together) + lect (pick): pick things and bring them together — a collection.

  3. Picking someone out of the crowd

    The election is next Tuesday.

    ðiː ɪˈlekʃən ɪz nekst ˈtuːzdeɪ

    The election is next Tuesday.

    One person out of the crowd lifted up above all the rest.

  4. Never picking it up

    Don't neglect the safety check.

    doʊnt nɪˈɡlekt ðə ˈseɪfti tʃek

    Don't skip the safety check.

    The safety checklist sitting in a corner, untouched by any hand.

    neg (not) + lect (pick): what you never reach for is neglected.

  5. Letters you can pick out

    His handwriting is barely legible.

    hɪz ˈhændraɪtɪŋ ɪz ˈberli ˈledʒəbl

    I can barely read his handwriting.

    One letter barely picked out of a tangle of strokes.

All of it in one picture

lect and leg are the hand that picks one out of many. Pick just one and it is a selection; pick and gather and it is a collection; pick a person up out of the crowd and it is an election. Never pick it up at all and it is neglect; be able to pick the letters out of a scrawl and the writing is legible. So a lect or leg word always leaves a record of what the hand took and what it left lying there.

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