Wednesday Word June 2026: Balter

I cannot promise how, where or when these words were used, if ever. I simply find them delightful, and want to share.

BALTER

To dance gracelessly, without particular art or skill, but with enjoyment.

Ah, “Balter.” I remember baltering. Elementary kids balter all the time. They could give a shit about who may be watching. They just enjoy having fun. To balter is fun. You and your friends just goofing around, letting off steam, making adults jealous because you, a child, have more energy than any adult who has slammed 5 energy drinks after a full night’s sleep.

But somehow, some way, we lose that. We get taught that we don’t know how to dance. To be a dancer, one must have lessons, training. One must spend hours making the moves sexy, or effortless, or preferably both. You.must understand the patterns, the order of the moves. You must be able to captivate with your body language, tell a story to the music with each gesture.

As we get older, baltering is frowned upon, mocked. We are ashamed to balter.

We shouldn’t be.

We should embrace the balter.