January 13, 2005

• My favorite is MeowMix.
• sextant
• Melatonin
• If words that are not exactly real dictionary style words count, I'd have to say "Recockulous" makes me smile every time I'm able to use it.
• I can't say I have a favorite (although I do like "jaguar"), but I have an unnatural, irrational hatred for "treat" and "toast" (I actually bristle when I hear them spoken).
• Fuck.
• Gnomon.
• flummoxed
• No.
• uncleozzy: I have the same with "panties". Arrggghhhh! Good job I'm not American. As for a favourite word, hmmmm, I'm going to have to think about that one...
• I can't remember, so we'll go with whatever my I submit last to the thread as my favorite. For now, I'll say "Peripatetic".
• These days, my favorite word is MALINGER. Why? Dunno. Maybe the soft and comforting MA sound complementing the hard G sound (or the NG sound) and ending in a purring R sound make this word rich for me. The L sound is delicious, too. It also helps that the definition of the word is a fun one.
• My freshman english teacher was in love with the word "Paraphernalia," and made sure every student he taught knew this.
• Hallucinogens once prompted a friend and I to discove the word "evitable". It's still my favorite to say, for the way it feels in the mouth.
• Gubernatorial.
• paging languagehat! i like "rumpus."
• I'm rather fond of "TRANSLUCENT"...it's a gorgeous word.
• I couldn't come up with an answer (must be my mathematical brain, damn all you linguists!) but my cube-neighbor was right there with "defenestration".
• "Worm," for some reason, is the sweetest little word in the world, particularly when pronounced "wum" by little kids who still can't get their r's quite right.
• Stymie
• Aileron.
• Obstreperous.
• Plinth
• I like "lozenge," because it sounds so much more sensual than it really is. "Throat lozenge" sounds unspeakably dirty. ("Do you want a throat lozenge for that?" Yes please.) On the flip side, I hate the word "moist." *shiver*
• I've always like the sound of "gorgon"
• "Calumny" and "syrup", while not my favorites, are sort of fun. They don't look like real words, somehow. More like typos.
• Flavescent And what is it with moist? So, so many people seem to have a problem with that innocent little word...
• Vortex. I am naming my firstborn that.
• "Aplomb", with "hep", "futtocks" and "disgruntled" close behind. That's if said aloud, of course. Just on the way it looks written down, "zyzygy" is near unbeatable. I have a love/hate relationship with "moist" - I swing between extremes. A good friend of mine hates the word "panties" so much that he winces every time it's said, and will leave the room if people keep saying it.
• Nipple.
• Mitten.
• Shellac.
• Akimbo.
• Fantabulous - slang, but still a word. I like the rhythm of it. I also like "scintillating." And count me in among the "panties"-haters. It sounds cutesy and juvenile to me. Can't recall any other hated words, really. I always thought it was kind of odd that my sister freaks out over "odor," "wound" and "bong," since I don't really have too many hated words. This thread is ...fantabulous.
• Embroglio.
• "Akimbo" gives me the runs, as does "cropped" in reference to hair. Two words that have been ruined by overuse in novels. And J.K. Rowling almost ruined the word "screwed" for me in her latest novel by referring at least 10 times to people "screwing up" their eyes and faces. But that is not the topic of this thread. The topic is favorite words. So here's another: LATITUDE.
• I hate the word slacks, especially when they're moist slacks
• bloviate, but cattywampus is a close second.
• I dunno, I've always been, um, intrigued by the words "moist" and "panties." /Penthouse Forum
• Yes.
• "Moist" and "panties" don't bother me at all, but I simply cannot abide the word "titties". Ye gods, it makes my flesh crawl. There's plenty of other perfectly acceptable words for them: boobs, knockers, tits, fun-bags, ta-tas, etc.
• Luminous
• Lugubrious. It just kind of rolls off your tongue. It's almost a case of onomotopoeia, (also a great word,) since it actually sounds kind of greasy.
• Window
• Quiescent. It sounds really sexy when my wife says it...
• ooh ...unrequieted...very strange word: un-re-quieted? if broken down, wouldn't it mean, not quieted twice? fun fun.
• Clambake.
• Mellifluous, because it's mellifluous.
• I like all the words. (But "mellifluous" is indeed very mellifluous.)
• Gee, am I the only one who likes "titties" and "moist panties" anymore?
• Is that "unrequited"? Ooh, luminous. ...Will be quiet now.
• I'll admit it, I like titties. I also like "titties."
• my ex's fave was "syzygy," which looks rather lovely also. syz
• Wurwilf, I think you're right. so broken down it would mean, not quited twice? hmm...that makes no sense.
• Calipygian.
• I have always thought lathe is too soft-sounding a word to be a piece of industrial equipment.
• lascivious.
• Turgid.
• There is something "lathey" about the feel of the wood coming of the end of your chisel, IMO. Of course, it also screeches like a castrated banshee.
• OFF the end of your chisel.
• I think it's re- in the sense of "reply" or "return" rather than "replay." It's a response, not a repeat, and I have to stop using words that start with re-. It's becoming a reach. Oh no, now the etymology curiosity has kicked in.
• Juggernaut. And on that note, my dad recalls having a conversation with a French exchange student about which word in their new language was most beautiful. My dad offered "les haricot verts" (green beans), while the exchange student almost wistfully stated, "cellar door".
• Exasperate. An English teacher of mine's favorites were "diarrhea" and "penultimate," neither of which endeared him much to a class of eighth graders.
• Super
• Entropy. Why yes, I am loads of fun at parties. Why do you ask?
• Pullulate
• Impromptu.
• I like: grump. I dislike: padded.
• Pioneer. But mellifluous is a close second.
• Oh, and I hate the word "moist." Hate it. Least favorite word. Interestingly, "panties" is my second-most-hated word, followed by "yogurt."
• curmudgeon
• Eschew! That's the word my SO forms whenever she sneezes... it's lame, but I think it's kinda cute... (Even her sneezes are smart... :) )
• Ephemeral is nice my favorite phrase is "crimson velvet" say it! it feels like delicious velvet ice cream melting on the tongue...
• The "moist"/"panties" votes against strike me as interesting. The mere sounds of the words don't stike me as ugly, so what's the deal?
• I'm reminded of the Pythons' Woody sketch.
• Cabingirl beat me to defenestration. So i am left with pith.
• Borborygmus. Or troglodyte. Or other words that, when you say them aloud, it feels like you're moving rocks around in your mouth, and that have a meaning having to do with subterranean or otherwise under-the-surface goings-on.
• Mucilage. It sounds just like it is. Kinda thick and sticky.
• Boobies. Warm, soft, inviting boobies. Not a harsh, hard word. Full of fuzzy happy intonations. Also, it is surprising the number of people that giggle when they hear it.
• "panties" and "vagina" bother me to no end. i'm okay with "moist". "buh-gina", however, is funny.
• ...the exchange student almost wistfully stated, "cellar door". As featured in Donnie Darko, where it's described thus:

  "This famous linguist once said that of all the phrases in the English language, of all the endless combinations of words in all of history, that "Cellar Door" is the most beautiful."

  There's a little debate as to who originally made that suggestion: some think it might have been Poe, while others suggest it was Tolkien. Either way, I think they've got a good point. (Just so long as the cellar door isn't moist.)
• Was it here, someone had the screenname Ethylene?
• Can't stand vagina. Like some rubbery, protruding, awful, scientific device. I can't think of a word I really like in isolation though. Silt? Cunt? Spacker?
• I like the sound of "aquamarine" and have always been fond of "impromptu" and "ameliorate". Not sure what my all-time favourite is, though. And as for "moist", hm... it doesn't bother me, but I don't particularly like it, either.
• changed my mind, I like "fall"
• rebarbative.
• Oh my god, Wedge! Whenever I hear buhgina I totally lose it. No clue why.
• Lattice.
• You are all Booboisies :)
• meredithea: Radiohead have a song called "Lozenge of Love" <g>
• My favourite phrase is: "the fucking fucker's fucking fucked ..."
• "ta-tas"? WTF!!!!
• Metaxy: nice! I knew I liked Radiohead. As for the word "vagina," I've always liked it. It sounds like a girl's name: "This is my friend Barbara, and this is my other friend Vagina." A soft and inviting alternative, however, might be the ever-popular "hoo-ha."
• Fuckstick - old chicago insult
• Languid. With blithe a close runner-up.
• "The word itself makes some men uncomfortable. Vagina. " -Maude Lebowski 'Defenestrate' is totally sweet, and I'm quite fond of 'Eschew Obfuscation.' Favorite word? "Antidisestablishmentarianism"
• Oh, and the phrase "ubiquitous iniquities", from the play The Real Inspector Hound by Tom Stoppard.
• I once met a girl named Regina And mistakenly called her Ragina Soon she was to teach me the difference between a vegina and a vagina(true story)
• Sphincter. Nuff said.
• queue. it's just so funny.
• napping
• Sorry, Warrior,I don't have a favorite word. Nor a favcorite number.
• "Blithe! I feel blithe!" (From the Anne of Green Gables book where Anne marries Gilbert Blythe.) /dork
• I'm going to have to add the phrase "sanguinary ambuscade" to my list. Can't recall exactly where I read it, but it's quite possibly from True Grit.
• I'm with Bees--all words are wonderful. I will admit that some are fun to get your mouth around--like plume. And some always crack me up--like weiners, bodacious ta-tas and nincompoop. I taught my two year old granddaughter to say the last two just to humiliate her mother. /GramMa takes revenge
• Ubiquitous!! I also like to masticate hummus.
• Ratatouille. And limpid, which makes me think of Nabokov.
• Quff. Also, "fortnightly," as in "I polish my quff fortnightly."
• Influenza, as in "I opened the window and influenza". And antimacassar.