Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Words

Words. Today I've had my emotions flung around the room, batted and battered. And all because of words. Letters and syllables, vowels and consonants put together in ways with the power to hurt, the power to heal, the power to build up, the power to tear down. Words.

Then I got home and wrote words. Said what I had to say. Responded after a period of calm. By the time I finished, I was sick and tired of ...

WORDS.

Then I read an email from Niece Shannon who was telling me about her diving into a new journal. She decided to christen the journal by writing down a list of her favourite words. I loved the image of her hunching over the book with her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth as she writes, with concentration, a list of favourite words. I wonder what they are. I wonder if she will post some of them here, in the comment section.

And because I am me, and am incredibly fascinated by me, I wondered what my list of words would be ... So I got a pen and jotted down some ideas. The list grew long, longer, longest. I've restricted myself to ten here on the blog. This was difficult because it meant culling out words that are juicy like 'slatternly' and words that are just fun to say like 'taradiddle' and words that you paid to learn at the big school like 'tautology' even words that are just simple like 'blue'. I left out some of my favourite British words like 'gob smacked'. Of course I left out my favourite cuss word ' @#$%^\ ' because, after all that's everyone's favourite cuss word. Though that was hard. But none the less after I began working in earnest, I found myself focussing less on the words that hit me today. More on the words that I like to hear, like to feel.

And suddenly I was feeling better. So my list of ten words:

10. Vanilla

09. Cantankerous

08. Convivial

07. Erstwhile

06. Loyalty

05. Faithfulness

04. Constancy

03. Sanctuary

02. Trust

01. Honour

So, I'm a wee bit curious. Do you have favourite words? Crunchy words, Yummy words, or Sweater words (they keep you warm in the cold)?

35 comments:

John R. said...

....between the meaning and feeling, and just plain sound, here are my 10...

10. hearth
9. home
8. feline
7. mango
6. portico
5. obfuscate
4. eulogy (not as morbid as one may think)
3. yule (no connection to eulogy...just sounds similar and who doesn't enjoy a nice yule log?)
2. hope
1. love

thanks for this exercise, Dave. I needed this today....

Deb said...

caribou.

FAB said...

1. Namaste -roughly translated means the light within me greets the light within you- how beautiful is that?

2. Constantinople

3. Happy

4. sniffle

5. Portobello

6. symphony

7. Tyler

8. Savannah

9. Ashton
(7.8.9. my children's names)

10. waffle

11. credo

Anonymous said...

1) cacophony
2) sleep
3) home
4) family
5) love
6) school
7) hamburger
8) chips- crisps and hot deep fried chips
9) friends

Aussie Leis

Susan said...

Not in any order:

1. ponder
2. we
3. papa
4. rest
5. wonder
6. peace
7. joyous
8. reconciled
9. anticipate
10. renew

Thanks Dave, for this few minutes of pondering... It's good to stop and ponder sometimes. Thanks Shannon for getting us going.

Kei said...

I like this... and I'm thinking hard, for how does one limit it to 10, 20, 50, 100? LOL
So off the top of my head... and in no real particular order

10. Love
9. Xenophobia
8. Legacy
7. Faith
6. Laughter
5. Perseverence
4. Sanctuary
3. Omniscience
2. Tranquility
1. Supercalifragilistiexpialidocious

lina said...

Way too much fun not to do, thanks for the diversion. Here's mine:

10. Menofrechista (Sicilian for really don’t care!)
9. Fabulous
8. Delicious
7. Sensuous
6. Idealistic
5. Palermo
4. Ocean-front
3. Vacation
2. Sunshine
1. Stiletto (was there ever any doubt???)

Anonymous said...

Lullaby

Lisa

Jodi said...

harmony
sanctuary
belonging
sunshine
hallelujah
vacation
hilarious
technicolor
hope
brownie

Anonymous said...

Great idea Dave! Here's mine.

serenity
family
ice cream
chocolate
loyal
Amber
massage
friend
forgivness
freedom

I just noticed that four of my favorite words start with f. Of course there is also another f word that must be my favorite because I use it so often!!!

rickismom said...

1 horizon
2.flight
(as flying, not fleeing)
3.harmonious (both music and
personal relations)
4."rechem" the Hebrew word for "womb", which is contained within the Hebrew word for "compassion".
5. sanctamonious (it sounds like what it means, no?)
6. euphoric
7. enchancting
8. cappuccino
9. fascinating
10. awe

Anonymous said...

Totally off point, but, Dave, I thought you might find this article on disability-related hate crime interesting:

http://www.disabilitynow.org.uk/latest-news2/campaigns/no-hiding-place

Ashley's Mom said...

As I sit here at work, wishing I could be anywhere else, I would add the word 'ennui'. I love the sound, the way it looks, and of course, it describes my feelings exactly as I sit here behind this desk on a beautiful summer morning.

Anonymous said...

Just 4 of my favorite words:

Quash
Purple
Lazy
Sunshine

Unknown said...

In no particular order... just top of my head....

Constantinople
Sanctimonious
Mommy
Chocolate
Anticipation
Spaghetti
Umbrella
Spa
Daiquri (preferably strawberry)
angel

Shan said...

Ah ha!! This is great! My favourite word list just popped into my head as I woke up one morning last week, fully formed, as if from the mind of Zeus. I'm afraid half of them retreated by the time I had reached out for the nearest pencil and envelope-back, but here are those that remained. All are there simply because I like the sound of them...not necessarily what they represent.

-crenellations
-funicular
-trebuchet
-aspidistra
-abstruse
-wonky
-charlatan
-haphazard
-hackneyed
-penumbra
-coronet

I think I might post this...

Veralidaine said...

In no particular order:

Fascism

Paleolithic

Zoom

Bombastic

Lilliputian

Onomatopoeia

Swarthy

Lecherous

Twirl

Peal

Dave Hingsburger said...

Wonderful lists everyone, words I wish I'd added to my list. Shannon, you had 4 words I didn't know but I've looked them all up. Tell me you didn't know 'taradiddle' ... fib or pretensious nonsense ...

Anonymous said...

May I add a few more?
abscond
alpaca
twilight
mesmerize
fruition
fur (a long and very old story involving a roommate and her bright orange dress)
supercilious
composed
ginormous
busset (southern speak for busted, as in, "dat's all busset up")

That was fun, thanks.
-Janet

Penny L. Richards said...

Zydeco. Cardamom. Comadre.
Muckle. Eclair. Chiasmus.
Aforethought. Aviatrix.
Rasmalai. Gymanfa Ganu.

Ettina said...

"Diploid Triploid Mixoploidy"

Unknown said...

Identical
Twin
Self
Sisters
Paradiso
Sceitimini (sketch-i-me-ni) (Irish word for excitement!)
Spiritual
Seven
Me!
Pip and Pop

Tough one for me!

LinMac

Belinda said...

What fun! Here are mine:
Cherish
Hoot
(as in "hooted in laughter or derision. I just love the thought of hooting at anything. It makes me laugh to think of it)
Friend
Sparkle
Twinkle
Child
Cuddle
Liquid
Limpid
Laughter

Anonymous said...

Oooo something to think about, my 10 favourite words: thrawn, blue, warm, hope, chocolate, Samuel, courage, Jesus, rainbow, Millport, sleep.

Myr

Anonymous said...

That's so random!

My daughters fav word is:

Cheeseparing

She has so much fun trying to get in to her homework in the right context Finding cool words is a good way to spend time. I like this one so much that I think I'll leave here it on its own, to be very cool.

big love
Laura x

Tammy said...

Very cool exercise-
10. Fabulous
9. Beautiful (and I must sound out each vowel)
8. Honey
7. Cooter (as in the turtle:yellow bellied cooter.SO fun to say)
6. Foliage (once again..i like the feel of the vowels on the tongue)
5. Y'all (homey and comforting)
4. Anemone
3. soot..just fun to say
2. mimic (see #3)
1. My all time favorite word- MOMMY!

Anonymous said...

I am a really bad speller but I like the idea! In no particular order:

Hullaballo
Halo
Moronic
Katimavic
Vespers
Pillow
Love
Regal
Shin-Dig
Georgeous

That was fun!
Pat

Shan said...

You know what's interesting? I know the word "faradiddle" in the same context, from books...but now I look it up and there's no such word. So was it a typo or what?

And I have been reminded of some lovely mouth-filling words by reading your comments:

Bombast
Supercilious
Zydeco
Limpid
Vespers

Thanks everyone!

Unknown said...

I love words! Thanks for this exercise Dave.

Reciprocity
Plethora
Onomatopoeia
Preposterous
Ananas (Pineapple in French)
Love
Gnu
Shoes
Sushi
Christopher

Anonymous said...

What wonderful lists! (Penny's is especially worth revisiting)

lovely. open. scent. tranformative. crystalline. aha. trust. relish. excellence. home -

Anonymous said...

faradidddle = taradiddle + farago

Anonymous said...

faradidddle = taradiddle + farago

Anonymous said...

love

mo chroi (Irish for my heart - used same as darling - the Irish seem to have a lot of words for darling)

Neena (2 year old twin grand-daughters' word for Nana - music to my ears)

galato (in Italian - like a song in one word)

peace
baby
human
chimpanzee
Earth
cosmos

Thanks for this - it made for some interesting thinking. I found that I really don't think that I can divorce the sounds from their meanings.

Anonymous said...

10. Waggle
9. Faux pas
8. swagger
7. possible
6. Bubba
5. concise
4. Mumbai
3. flotilla
2. epiphany
1. scrumtrulescent

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