Words We Really Like
I like words.I know -- shocking revelation for a writer to make. But there it is. I like words.
And some words, I really like...either for their sound, or their meaning, or some strange essence they possess...
Today, words that fall into my "really like" column include:
deciduous
concatenation
lucidity
paraphrase
plethora
soothing
bombast
peregrination
shutters
How about you? What words do you like to say, read or write, due to their inner (or outer) beauty?
All opinions welcome!
Cara
Cara King, author of the soothing and rarely bombastic MY LADY GAMESTER, a book that does not contain the words "deciduous" or "concatenation"
posted by Cara King | Tuesday, March 18, 2008
33 Comments:
I remember reading of a poll done sometime (of poets? English professors? Taxi drivers?) who selected "Nightingale" as the most beautiful word in the English language. It is a lovely word, but I can't help but think that if it described a slug instead of a songbird we might not think it sounds so nice. :-)
Todd-who-likes-the-word-"word"
antepenultimate (Meaning third from last) Not beautiful really, but I do love it.
susurration
crepuscular
cadence
peripatetic
My fave: lugubrious I've always loved that one.
A Disney highlight for me was in the cartoon Hercules. Hades' two minions come racing at his call..."Coming. your most lugubrious-ness!"
Cracks me up every time.
scintillating
roundaboutation
crenelated
cornucopia (when all my cats are present, I say, "I have a cornucopia of kitties.")
fustian
ethereal
(this is fun!)
This is going to require a think, because the list is long, but not in an easily accessibly memory. Have to delete current cache, index into long term database, and pull records into cache. I'll be back. Off to the gym, where thinking on words is good...avoids preoccupation with "oh this hurts."
I'm with Keira! I know there is a whole list of words floating around in my cranial database, but I cannot seem to access them.
I too love the word "plethora." So much fun to say.
And Deb isn't "lugubrious" a fantastic word?
I know I love the word "incandescent"
It shimmers.
As a musician and a linguist words have a rhythm and a musicality to me. I love to read a sentence or a phrase that "sings."
"Amorphous" is another of my favorites.
More later. I need to reboot. Where's that chocolate?
Oh, by the way, since it has been officially posted I can tell you that my novel LOST IN LOVE is a finalist in the Marlene!! I cannot tell you how thrilled I am!
The Riskies own The Divine Ms G critiqued my entry of LOST IN LOVE right before I sent it to the Golden Heart and I have no doubt the changes she suggested and the insight she gave me helped LOST IN LOVE to stand out in the Marlene. Thank you again, O Divine One! :)
actually, it's not a word I like, but a number -- 6.67259x10^-11 (Nm^2/kg^2). Just love that number, god only knows why. LOLOLOLOL :)
Oh, and it's the gravitational constant, by the way. :)
Lois, who just always loved G since Intro to Astronomy! :)
Congrats doglady on the Marlene final!
exogenous
island
orange
farthingale
flummoxed
wondrous
(and I like nightingale and cadence too)
Off to the gym, where thinking on words is good...avoids preoccupation with "oh this hurts."
True, Keira...of course, you may think up great words like
excruciating
desperation
exhaustion
perspiration
Congrats, Doglady, on the final!!!!
Janet, I really like "flummoxed" too -- something about the shape of it, as well as the humor that often goes with it.
Diane, wish I could see your cornucopia of kitties! (Of course, now I'm picturing them all falling out of a horn, looking very cute.)
Suisan, I confess I'd never heard of "antepenultimate" -- love it!
Deb, I've always thought Disney's Hercules was way underrated. Tons of great, sharp comedy.
Cara
6.67259x10^-11 (Nm^2/kg^2)
Lois, I love you. You always surprise me. This was so uniquely you!
O Doggie One!!!!!! The Marlene is my home chapter contest. A critique by me is one of the prizes, which in your case might be redundant.
I am so thrilled. I will be there at the Retreat--Janet, too, I think--for the announcement of the winners. It may be possible for you to attend, too, although it would be a costly endeavor. Email me at diane@dianegaston.com if you want to come. I'll find out about it.
If not, do you want me to accept your award for you?
Greetings, I'm a long-time fan of the Risky Regencies blog...thought I'd make my first post...
I love hyphenated words like moon-drunk, wind-swept, sun-kissed...I also love dappled, harmoniously, cadence, hoopla and cacophony...
Best,
Debora Hosey
Lois wrote:
6.67259x10^-11 (Nm^2/kg^2)
Aw, G, Lois, you're swell!
Diane wrote:
Lois, I love you. You always surprise me. This was so uniquely you!
Technically, this is the constant from Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation, so it's not unique to Lois--it applies to all of us! :-)
Todd-who-has-a-certain-fondness-for-h
I've always liked words that describe themselves. They're not all that common, but here are two:
Sesquipedalian
Sibilant
Though I guess "sesquipedalian" is more sibilant than "sibilant," as well as being more sesquipedalian.
Todd-whose-name-says-it-all
musketry (my battle scenes are always full of musketry--it's evocative of the past in a way gunfire can't be, and it's fun to say)
gloaming
mystery
audacity
delight (my agent actually made me do a find-and-replace on my last ms for overuse of this one)
paradise (far more evocative than heaven for some reason)
velvet
memory
Just to name a few...
chowder. Especially when said instead of read
And geeks all over have new respect for Lois.
Rob
Lois, I had a huge laugh over your gravitational constant formula. If it had to be a constant, I would've guessed pi (Friday was Pi-day) or phi, but not G.
Suisan's "antepenultimate," brought another chuckle.
My list:
-discombobulate
-flahooler
-archaic
-antediluvian
-hemming and hawing (always reminds me of a donkey)
-emblazoned
-a'a
-iconoclastic
-bombastic
-hegemony
-mitochondria
-ponderous
-nimbus
-equus (horse)
Love these others have mentioned:
-susurrating
-lugubrious
-flummoxed
Todd-who-has-a-certain-fondness-for-h
Planck would be so proud!
At our house, Miss Wee is enforcing Newton's Third Law.
It is a lovely word, but I can't help but think that if it described a slug instead of a songbird we might not think it sounds so nice. :-)
I have to agree, meaning matters! Just think about "diarrhea".
I am the weirdo in this bunch. While I like some words (iridescent, voluptuous, I'm sure there are more) I can't claim to love any of them. To me words are like brushstrokes in a painting. They are important but the overall painting is what wows me.
Are you kidding, O Divine One? I would be HONORED to have you accept on my behalf! Just remember to thank yourself!
One of my CPs gave me the heads up about it being your chapter and about the critique as one of the prizes. Lets just hope May Chen with Avon likes my work.
I would love to attend in person, but as my dearly beloved truck, Jethro, decided to desert me for that big junkyard in the sky I had to get mad and blow my "mad" money on transportation. I really do miss the mass transit systems in Germany.
And no critique by you could be considered redundant by me. However, if I am lucky enough to win perhaps I can send you the next two chapters so you won't be bored out of your mind?
I have heard from several people that the historical category this year was very high scoring and a tough nut to crack. I feel doubly honored to be in the same category as the other three finalists.
How about the word "surreptitious" I like it because it SOUNDS sneaky.
And "acrimonious." Good word from which to drip venom.
This IS fun!
Debora, glad you've come out lurkdom to share words! Welcome.
Hee! Plethora is a great word! I remember the a-ha moment I had when I figured out that "facade" wasn't pronounced "fah-kade" and have loved it since :) The word "luscious" is kind of nice, too! I'll have to think of others that have caught my fancy...
Oh, I do like "luscious"! And lugubrious. And diaphanous, and diminutive, and marmalade. I like "soothing," too--it feels soothing just to say it. "Serenity" is also nice. :)
Doglady, major congrats on the Marlene final!!! I hear you on the vehicle thing--my 12 year old car has been gasping and wheezing lately, but I'd rather spend the money on travel than a new one. :(
Two more: gobsmacked and coruscate. The former sounds to me exactly as it should in describing the hero who is instantly flummoxed, besotted, and head-over-heels with the heroine. The latter is a word I learned from a personal ad in my college newspaper -- a young man was looking for a young woman who could coruscate in both a bikini and conversation. Unfortunately, I could do neither, but I did like the word.
Oh, Susan, Gobsmacked! Love it!
So many good ones!
Congrats again, Pam! I'm so thrilled for you!
I literally never even heard the word "gobsmacked" until a couple of years ago. Then I heard it all over the place.
Technically, this is the constant from Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation, so it's not unique to Lois--it applies to all of us! :-)
Todd, picture me rolling my eyes :-)
Well done, DogLady!
This is a fabulous post! So many captivating words. A few fun ones, to me, are fribble and widgeon. Silly is another word that simply fits its meaning.
~Judy T
Oh! And daffodils and snapdragons... :-) Dragon is a great word and when describing a person, I always think of a woman. Among men, it would be a codger, no an OLD codger. Funny how some words simply must show up together.
Curmudgeon! What a great word!
~Judy T
Todd wrote:
Technically, this is the constant from Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation, so it's not unique to Lois--it applies to all of us!
Diane wrote:
Todd, picture me rolling my eyes :-)
Ooo, two more of my favorite words: ocular oscillation! :-)
Todd-who-gets-that-a-lot
Todd you're certainly seeing something a lot. That must've been an illuminating conference. On planktons, wasn't it?
Greetings, I'm a long-time fan of the Risky Regencies blog...thought I'd make my first post...
Greetings, Debora! Glad you could join us! And I'm with you on moon-drunk, sun-kissed and wind-swept -- and on cacophany! Great word.
Susan, I like "gloaming" too, though I confess I'm not actually sure what it means! (But heck, that never stopped me from liking a word!) :-) And velvet...it is such a velvety word...
Rob, I agree with you on chowder -- chowder chowder chowder.
And I agree with "And geeks all over have new respect for Lois." :-)
And I agree with Keira's discombobulate, Doglady's surreptitious, Fichen1's luscious, Susan/DC's gobsmacked, Ladyhawk's fribble, and so many others!
I guess this was a good topic to choose! Clearly because we all love words so much (well, except Elena)! :-)
Cara
Keira wrote:
Todd you're certainly seeing something a lot. That must've been an illuminating conference. On planktons, wasn't it?
Yes, it was the annual March Meeting of the American Plankton Society. I delivered a lecture on "Plankton's Constant," which is the average number of plankton per cubic mile of seawater.
Todd-who-thinks-that-topic-is-all-wet
Love: Decadence(courtesy of Moscow on the Hudson).
Despise and avoid using whenever possible: Squat(just an ugly word).
Squat(just an ugly word).
I agree with you there, K.A.T.!
Cara
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