Here are mine:
Words I love:
"Opprobrium"-- love that word.
"Lilting."
"Phalange." Don't ask me why. It's actually sort of an ugly word.
"Lingering"-- only the participle. I don't like "linger".
"Dusk."
And "darkling," which I bet John Keats just made up. Darkling, I listen.And for many a time...
Oh, and "listen."
I like "L" words. "Laugh." "Lugubrious." "Lily."
"Torch."
"Forget."
"Imbibe."
"Doubtful."
"Salute."
"Snub."
"Anguish."
"Polish."
"Tell."
I think it's a good sentence when I can use one (or all :) of those.
Help! What are words that you love just because?
Alicia
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17 comments:
Oooooh I'm a word geek. Favorite words:
Syzygy
Ostentatious
Luscious
Snark/Snarky
Sardonic
Origami
Awkward (the spelling alone? Awkward!)
Tofu
Mimosa
Duress
Serendipity
Labradoodle
JT
Darkling's been around since the 15th century:
"She wolde not come in mennis chaumbres bi night derkelyng withoute candelle."
Some of mine: Post-prandial, louche, languid, standish, Damascene, Parthian, (so annoys me when people think it should be written "parting")
destiny
Celtic
dusk
hankering
conceed
interject
awkward (agree with Julie-it's the spelling)
I like archaic words and phrases from the 19th century because I was raised in hills of Appalachia. I think many of the phrases the old mountaineers used were poetic, unfortunately I can't think of any now.............
Ah, one: "You are as welcome as the flowers in May."
A word: blow------------stopping your horse to let it catch its breath
What on earth is Syzygy? And how to pronounce? It's always fun to come across words without vowels. (I know the y functions as such, but it's a bastard stepchild of a vowel.)
Erastes, I like "Damask" as in linen.
So why do we like what we like? JT I'd say enjoys kind of funny words-- labradoodle, sort of made up words (serendipity is an invented word, right? From The Three Princes of Serendip?).
Erastes likes words that come from places?
Wes likes archaic words.
Unk... I can't find a pattern there. But I too love "dusk". and "dusky.
Alicia
Erastes, that's interesting about Parthian/parting shot. I guess "parting shot" makes sense (you shoot just as you're leaving), although it's not actually the same as a Parthian shot (where they only feign leaving, right?).
I like the way we kind of try to make words that make sense out of unfamiliar words like Parthian. Oddly, the other example I can think of also begins with "part"-- Emerson, I think, wrote about the soul and "every part and particle," meaning every little bit.
That form exists right along the more common form, "part and parcel," which is (I think) slightly different in meaning. "Part and parcel" is more like an essential element, a natural consequence-- "All nighters are part and parcel of student life."
Other great words? And why do you love them?
Alicia
When I saw the title of your post, my first thought for my favorite words were, "I just sent you the check." :) Ah, I do love those words.
But that's not what you mean. So I guess my favorites are stray bits of legal Latin (pro forma, pro bono, mens rea, in medias res, and similar jargon that sounds high-toned but actually refers to everyday concepts).
And I love some good, creative cussing. Doesn't even have to be all that dirty. I once heard a woman exclaim, "Oh, sizzlefart!" and have held that word close to my heart since.
Theresa
Such fun! We used to do "Word of the Day" when my son was little. His favourite: discombobulated. It sounds like what it means. I like "enervated" as it means the opposite of what people guess. My favourite paint colour is alizarin crimson. It's considered a "fugitive" colour. I'm learning a whole new vocabulary with my piano lessons: fugue, cantata, diminuendo, mezzoforte.
Terry Pratchett has a great passage in the beginning of Wee Free Men with the protagonist mulling over the perfection of the word susurrus:
"Susurrus ... according to her grandmother's dictionary, it meant 'a low soft sound, as of whispering or muttering.' Tiffy liked the taste of the word. It made her think of mysterious people in long cloaks whispering important secrets behind a door: susurruss-susurrus ..."
He's lingered over the word (in other variations, like susurration) in a couple other books too, which leads me to think it's a favorite of his. Me, I don't really have a favorite, except to marvel sometimes over the just-right word for the just-right effect.
Oh! Another one. Snickerdoodle. Come on! Who can say that without smiling? I've always loved that word (and the cookie).
Alicia, Syzygy refers to 3 objects coming into perfect alignment (meaning a straight line, one behind the other). It usually refers to planets. A good example is the earth, moon, and sun during an eclipse.
It's pronounced to sound like siz-i-jee.
Oh! Another favorite word: umlaut.
JT
Some favorites that come to mind:
trifle
seemy
louse
beck
sparkle
tantalus
aphrodisiac
frivolity
kilt
amorous
absurd
toadyism
flirty
glitter
rogue
I get "Word a Day" emails daily, which is fun. And my shorter OED is what I'd grab in a fire (after my boys, purse, and laptop). ;)
Ensorcel
squeegee
cricket
quiet
gush
gonner
quell
verily
Quaalude.
Other than the word 'that' and my love for using it everywhere?
Lambent
Pong (the smell)
Serendipitous
Affluent
Errant
I like several already mentioned:
susurrus
languid
dusk
enervated
I'll add:
ineffable
frisson
gibbous
neap
Theresa, you can take the girl out of law school, but...
Joan, I've always liked "denestrated." I have a book coming out next year where someone is defenestrated.
gj, remember in Diner how the one character kept talking about words.
Modell: You know what word I'm not comfortable with? Nuance. It's not a real word. Like gesture. Gesture's a real word. With gesture you know where you stand. But nuance? I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong.
-
Alicia (nuancedley)
Reina, okay, yes, I like "rogue." But more, I like roguish.
Thea, I can't tell a pattern to yours, but totally agree with squeegee.
L, how about "Vodka"? I do like q words. Q and L. Quaalude hits both!
Addy, what is pong except the first videogame?
Anon, neap? What's that? Neat and cheap?
Alicia
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