spiflicate [humorous]--to treat roughly or severely; destroy [OED]. Love it!
Whether it's because it rolls off your tongue, stops it short, or puts the universe in order, a good word makes the difference, in prose and life. If you're new to writing, make a list of your favorite words, get the Wordsmith word-a-day in your inbox, and begin by falling in love with diction. [One of my former high school students of course put antidisestablishmentarianism on his list. I made him use it in a poem.]
Here's my short list of words of which I like the sound and/or meaning, to get you started and to which I hope you'll keep adding--who knows, one day we might even compile the Lit Bloggers Word Dictionary.
epitome (yes, as a young girl I used to pronounce it ep-ih-tome)
mellifluous (James Earl Jones's pronunciation not figured in)
chatoyant
legerdemain (as in 'prose legerdemain')
swivet (as in 'in a')
gloaming
knackered
Your turn.
PS_Two great word books I've found and often peruse:
Dictionary of Word Origins: A History of the Words, Expressions and Cliches We UseTHE WORD BOOK
18 comments:
Hmm my favourite word is no doubt Success.
besides the obvious meaning, I like how it echoes other words, like excess, and in italian it rhymes also with quite a few other words - process, sex, and more.
Ahh, that made me laugh - which is a good thing when you are in Baghdad. At the risk of being "spiflicated" (which if I recall correctly the the Full Oxford also included the v.i. "to beat") you have opened a can of worms here with "knackered" which might mean "tired" or "pooped" but also means in my grandfather's idiom "castrated". I am here with a bunch of Brits who favour the use of "bollocks" which has a nice ring to it and possible falls into the same colloquial bucket as "knackered." Well, there is a common testicle theme I guess. Won't hog the list by throwing out more than one word (other than bollocks) at this point but "ruminate" is a tasty favourite. OK, I can't help myself. How about "masticate" as well?
Appreciate your blog - there is alot of thoughtand work that has gone into it.
All the best.
You have got me started now. Epitome reminds me of "hyberbole" - I had no idea how to say it for years - looking it up in the dictionary was no help. But if there was ever a word that rolls of your tongue this is it. Now I promise to go away and do something else. A vote for hyperbole.
Cheers (which is a stupid word) but the sentiment is OK. One of my staff needs your web site - he signed off his emails for ages with "chairs" without realising what was doing. OK, leaving now...
Insouciance
I'm not sure how to answer. I guess I'm easy, because I like nearly all of them. You just have to watch how you pair them up if you want them to behave.
Anyway, for today I guess I'd pick desuetude. It has a nice sound, even if some people want to expel it.
Okay, it might have cut a few classes, but I think we should cut it some slack. Desuetude deserves to hang around.
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Desuetude \DES-wih-tood\, noun:
The cessation of use; discontinuance of practice or custom; disuse. From Latin desuetudo, "disuse," from desuescere, "to become unaccustomed," from de- + suescere, "to become used or accustomed."
I've go a few words, but today I'll add: embellish and tangelo
How about 'circuitous' - the path my day normally takes. Never a straight line..........
smithereens
Could be anything.
Today on Take Five Chef we're making Smithereens in Mustard Sauce...
They came over the hills, torches flaring, smithereens blaring...
House Democrats today declared they'd never bow to the demands of Senate smithereens...
heh.
You've just won an award. Dress up --meaning put on your best t-shirt an pick it up!
Hey there,
... here's my favorite word: infinitesimal. It expresses the idea of something so small it cannot be seen or perceived or measured.
Have a good one, great blog BTW.
K
Wonderful responses--I so appreciate you all taking the time to indulge in what for me, is indulgent fun. The list so far:
1. bollocks
2. chatoyant
3. desuetude
4. embellish
5. epitome
6. gloaming
7. infinitesimal
8. insouciance
9. knackered
10. legerdemain
11. masticate
12. mellifluous
13. ruminate
14. smithereens
15. spiflicate
16. success
17. swivet
18. tangelo
Like I said, if I were teaching creative writing, I might challenge students with a poem using as many of the words on the list--perhaps I should challenge you creative commenters, as well as myself. Hmmm
A second vote for hyperbole :)
And adumbrate. Outline.
hi christine,
what a delightful and thought-provoking challenge! there are so many wonderful words to choose from! here are just a few of my favorites:
penultimate
nefarious
snarky
nestle
myopic
quagmire
hubris
nadir
ethereal
thanks, and btw i love your blog!
Thanks Gigi, and All!
I shall be back once in a while with more but here's one for now: when we were kids in our teens, my cousin Gary told me about the word, Fostoogle. It means: to confuse.
Fostoogle, hmmm: not in the OED, but perhaps it should be!
Two or three years ago a very British & rather old man, sightseeing the city where I live, strolled by me, & while pointing his cane at an old building he exclaimed to his wife: 'Ah, look at that! How absolutely imponderable!'
I had never heard the word before, but ever since that day, I've been saying that very word out loud, sometimes as much as three or fours times a day.
That brings me back to my residence in London! Great addition, Occy--thanks.
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