Accompanying Tweets to The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan: J

jabber, v.: Opposite of banter; the conversational wormhole that leads us to nothing but exhaustion. More often done with strangers.

jacket, n.: We borrow them because we like the idea of something of yours fitting so well on our shoulders.

jackpot, n.: Sometimes you win the lottery. But with love, it’s more like we’re working our asses off to get the prize.

jadedly, adj.: You may be hard, but you’re no gem.

jagged, adj.: When we tear at each other, it’s never clean.

jail, n.: When you find me sitting in the cell I’ve made of my doubts, you have to point out the door isn’t locked, so I can open it myself.

jangle, v.: When we hit against each other, the sound's not too harsh – almost musical. But nothing you’d want to listen to for too long.

janitorial, adj.: I sometimes wonder if you think the dust bunnies and dust buffalo are going to migrate out of our apartment on their own.

jape, n.: All the impractical jokes we play on each other – when will we learn that in love, treats are rarely tricks?

jarring, adj.: To feel the walls around you shaking, and to realize they could break; to understand the limits of your containment.

jaunt, v.: Let’s walk for the sake of walking, pair our steps in a decadent meander through the twinkled city night.

jazz, n.: Its lesson to love is this – the act of finding the music can create the music.

jealousy, n.: It’s not the other person. It’s that I perceive or imagine the excitement you feel in seeing the other person.

jejune, adj.: “Love is a waste of time,” your friend said to us, and I thought, no, only such statements are.

jelly, n.: I don’t think you’re ready for my definition.

jeopardy, n.: There is nothing you could say once that would make me stop loving you. It would have to repeat at least a dozen times, meant.

jeremiad, n.: Back at the table you swear that when you're in charge, all public restrooms will be required to have OCCUPIED signs.

jester, n.: Play this, you’re also playing the fool.

jewelry, n.: An expensive form of advertisement.

jibe, v.: Swing your sails together when the hard winds hit.

jiffy, n.: A measure of time roughly equivalent to how long it takes you to make a coffee run while I stay in bed.

jiggle, v.: I don’t just love the shape of you, I love the way it moves when you jump around.

jigsaw, adj.: We're not given the pieces; we carve them ourselves, then try to make them fit.

jingle, v.: With more than a dash of a peal, you sleigh me every time.

jinx, v.: I feared, early on, that admitting my happiness would guarantee its failure.

jitters, n.: Tiny beasts that live in the nerves; can cause irritation, but are never life-threatening.

job, n.: What you do for a living, as opposed to what you do for a life.

jock, n.: You couldn’t believe I’d never played tennis. I said it had never occurred to me to want to play tennis.

jog, v.: My memory, alas, prefers short sprints.

join, v.: You are not the de facto president of my fan club; instead you get to to point out to me that nobody needs a fan club.

joke, n.: I don’t want to be the punch line. I know you think I can take it, but I can’t. If I want to be made fun of, I’ll do it myself.

jollity, n.: The tipsy tenderness of the walk home together.

jolt, v.: We all have a third rail inside of us – the unspoken truth that’s necessary to keep us running, but a shock when it’s touched.

jostle, v.: I know my head can be a very crowded subway car; the right words need to elbow their way out before we leave the station.

jot, v.: When a momentary thought occurs that I think you might like, I reach for a pen, to make it a little more permanent.

journal, v.: A form of journalism where I am the only subject, even if I’m writing about something else.

journey, n.: We confound cartography, interspersing the real and the imaginary as we make a way together through our world.

joust, v.: Yes, it’s fun to spar with you, but be sure that sword only touches sword, and never hits flesh.

joy, n.: You take me to the height of happiness, and we stay there long enough to appreciate it.

jubilation, n.: It’s part the happiness itself, but it’s also the knowledge that the happiness has triumphed, taking it to a higher plane.

judge, v.: If you don’t mention the amount of income I spend on music and books, I won’t scrutinize your perpetual bar tab.

juggernaut, n.: We are so bombarded by all the advertised notions of love that we have to retreat into each other to find the real thing.

juggle, v.: It’s an imperfect metaphor, because it assumes the objects have no movement of their own, other than what gravity wills.

juicer, n.: The sleeping sentry of our kitchen counter.

juke, v.: Shake it out, get it on, latch.

jumble, n.: I am thrilled by scared of confused about reliant upon the effect you have on me.

jump, v.: You say you’ll catch me, but most of the time, you’re leaping right next to me, so we have to have faith in the landing.

jumpy, adj.:  You say you’re in no rush, but your body is telling me a completely different story.

juncture, n.: We will hit a spot where it seems like everything after is at stake. At this point, we must ask each other for directions.

jungle, n.: Follow the sound of my voice.

junior, adj.: I like it when it's just the two of us, so there's no one else around to make us feel old.

junk, n.: I swear, the baseball cards at the bottom of the closet will be worth enough someday to pay for the shoes they're displacing.

just, adj./adv.:  Sticking by your convictions invariably leaves you feeling alone, but in a just word, this will just be momentary.

justifiable, adj.: I know some friends would understand if I killed this relationship, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re right.

juvenile, adj.:  I am rubber and you are glue. Which means, at the moment, we’re both pretty toxic.

juvenilia, n.:  The note said, I M not going to mary until I M at least 17 yrs old.

juxtaposition, n.:   If you can laugh and cry at the same time, you’re ready to be in love.