Larsen Idealog

Larger-than-life verbs!

What a great way to label a big brown box of a building. Everyone knows exactly what’s inside.

Those five verbs march down that REI wall full of energy, calling out to the motorists on the nearby freeway. C’mon. Let’s Camp, Climb, Cycle, Paddle, Ski!

REI, have you considered an exclamation point?

Not only are the verbs perfect, they’re in the perfect order, and there aren’t too many of them. Who would read a list like this?

Camp
Hike
Climb
Cycle
Kayak
Canoe
Ski
Snowboard
Snowshoe
Workout
Travel
Rent Equipment
and More!

The economy of five categories is satisfying, even if all the REI merchandise doesn’t neatly fit within those categories. Plus, the verbs are active — full of fresh air and exercise. How much more dormant is a list of gerunds?

Camping
Climbing
Cycling
Paddling
Skiing

I like to imagine those five verbs snapped off that wall and set down on a big conference table. Then I could rearrange them like so many giant scrabble tiles. Funny thing is, when I start to mix them up, they just don’t work:

Paddle
Camp
Ski
Cycle
Climb

Nope. How about backwards:

Ski
Paddle
Cycle
Climb
Camp

Nope. The Camp, Climb, Cycle, Paddle, Ski order is just right. Yes, it’s alphabetical, but I don’t think on purpose. We’ve all seen the alphabetical list that simply doesn’t work, that buries something essential just because it starts with, say, the letter m. Remember those early nav bars that offered every possible category presented in alphabetical order?

Let’s take a closer look at the word order: Camp feels like the first step of a vacation, rather than, say, Paddle or Climb, so naturally it goes first.

Clmb precedes Cycle because, like Camp, it's monosyllabic. Once all the c words are grouped, only Paddle and Ski are left to jockey for position.

Paddle comes next because if it were to follow Ski, it might sound like some newfangled type of equipment, a “ski paddle.” Plus it’s nice to end with the shortest word with the longest “drawl potential.” Say skiiiiiii as though you’re schussing down Blue Sky Basin at Vail.

Can you tell I’ve been stuck in traffic too long staring at these fabulous larger-than-life verbs?

— That’s words on words