The OFFICIAL Unofficial Achewood Message Board
Trivial Pursuits => Wild Card => Topic started by: Gimpson on May 26, 2004, 02:56:33 pm
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Merriam-Webster recently took nominations for favorite words, and have released their top ten list (http://www.m-w.com/info/favorite.htm). The top ten:
1. defenestration
2. serendipity
3. onomatopoeia
4. discombobulate
5. plethora
6. callipygian
7. juxtapose
8. persnickety
9. kerfuffle
10. flibbertigibbet
Although I'll agree with defenestration as the best word ever, I'm upset that "quixotic" and "curvilinear" didn't make the list. (Well, quixotic did make the runner up list (http://www.m-w.com/info/fav_archive.htm).)
So what other favorites did they miss?
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sesquipedalian
prolix
otiose
waffles
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abacinate
festive
swimmingly
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shrapnel
By a mile.
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I'm guessing that these are favourite words based on definition rather than the aural pleasure of saying them.
Because the sexiest word in the English language is "twelve."
Say it slowly and immerse yourself in dialectical hedonism.
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For some reason I've always liked ennui.
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Obelisk.
And of course, wombat.
Twelve?
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I'm guessing that these are favourite words based on definition rather than the aural pleasure of saying them.
Because the sexiest word in the English language is "twelve."
Say it slowly and immerse yourself in dialectical hedonism.
No, mine were based on pure speaking pleasure. Prolix.... prolix.... prolix.
If that word didn't mean what it does, you could use it as the name for an oral sex league.
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For actualy usage I've always enjoyed: salacious.
For its' sound quality:squeegee.
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facetious and ubiquitous are my fave's.
they're so _dreamy_, *swoon*.
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Delicatessen
Supplicate
Edifice (or edification)
On the other hand, this is my favorite pronunciation (http://cougar.eb.com/sound/s/sonofa01.wav) on m-w.com (link to term (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=+son+of+a+bitch&x=0&y=0)) - yes, it's direct to the WAV file, but that's because m-w hasn't figured out that flash is better for embedded audio in this type of application than the <embed> tag
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On the other hand, this is my favorite pronunciation (http://cougar.eb.com/sound/s/sonofa01.wav) on m-w.com (link to term (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=+son+of+a+bitch&x=0&y=0)) - yes, it's direct to the WAV file, but that's because m-w hasn't figured out that flash is better for embedded audio in this type of application than the <embed> tag
I did not know that that was an acceptable pronunciation. I am very happy to hear that it is.
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I realize that the thrust is probably English words but I also like
Gazpacho
Salsa (like saaaaals-SA...there is an erotic word)
Also:
Triskadekaphobia
Cantilever
Caribou
Pusillanimous
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My favourite word of all time is "insouciant."
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I've got to go with Umberto Eco and say that the most erotic word is "isosceles." That word is HOT.
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Finagle
Potentate
Recidivism
Good one from mathematics:
Infinituple
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Asymptote
Masticate
Nabob
Spatula
Candelabra
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In no particular order:
1. penumbra (Learned it from Allen Ginsberg)
2. hegemony
3. esoteric
4. sinister
5. quintessential
And a bonus nonanglophone word, "se méfier", basically to be wary. Very useful.
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Bone.
I'm glad to see that callipygian made the list, though.
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Man, so many good words already mentioned. If I make an attempt:
Words I Would Like to Use More But Honestly Never Have a Context For
Ersatz
Pyknic (no, not like eating outdoors, smartass)
Infundibular
Words Suitable for Everyday Use
Magnanimous
Asinine
Vector
Haploid (.. well, okay, suitable for everyday use for me)
Philanthropy
Non-English Words
Geschmacksache
Bikkuri and iraira (among other Japanese onomatopoeia)
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I try to use schadenfreude as often as possible. I also try to create contexts for it, if I can.
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I try to use schadenfreude as often as possible. I also try to create contexts for it, if I can.
My stars, yes, this is important. The Germanism also reminded me of another word that I love and use to ridiculous excess, being zeitgeist.
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unscrupulous
sanguinous
... indecision!
Words I Would Like to Use More But Honestly Never Have a Context For
Ersatz
I use ersatz all the time. Well, fairly often. I guess it's just because of how much I complain about capitalism, corporations and consumerism.
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"Schadenfreude" and "zeitgeist" are both excellent, excellent words.
I also am quite fond of "sybaritic" and "whimsy."
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The German conjunction "trotzdem" is, as far as I am concerned, one of the most pleasurable words I've spoken.
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"Trotzdem"? Ain't that what a trainer does with his hosss?
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German conjunctions are generally wonderful. I've long been a fan of "gegen."
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DOGFU!
Durch, Ohne, Gegen, Fur and (und) Um!
Obviously an effective mnemonic to have stuck those German pronouns in my head for 20 years. If only I could remember why I needed to remember them.
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Durch, Ohne, Gegen, Fur and (und) Um!
Delightfully dissonant though they may be (he said, channelling, somehow, Stan Lee), those are prepositions, babycakes.
Still, I have to echo: the notoriety of the German language as re utility is matched, in a certain light, by its (if not exactly beauty) aural satisfaction / symmetry.
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Durch, Ohne, Gegen, Fur and (und) Um!
Delightfully dissonant though they may be (he said, channelling, somehow, Stan Lee), those are prepositions, babycakes.
I knew that. No really, I did. Aren't they like prepositions that take the dative case or something like that?
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Durch, Ohne, Gegen, Für and (und) Um take accusative case.
Aus, ausser, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu, and (my favorite) gegenüber take dative.
Then there's some that are accusative if they're used involving motion, and dative if involving position. And others that are genetive, but I never use those.
Verrückte Scheisse.
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Aus, ausser, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu, and (my favorite) gegenüber take dative.
The best way to remember the dative prepositions is to sing them along to that familiar passage from the Blue Danube waltz.
Aus Außer Bei Mit! Nach Seit! Von Zu! As far as fuck*ng gegenüber goes, you're on your own.
I've got about a million of these retarded mneumonic devices. Retarded ones being the only ones that actually, you know, seem to really stick. Ernste Zeiten, Hunde.
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My aged German is beginning to fail me!
He's usually so good.
I forgot:
helenic.
Don't rightly know why.
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I forgot:
helenic.
Is this "Hellenic" (like unto the Greeks) or an adjective I did not previously know (perhaps like unto specifically Helen of Troy, or maybe unto Helen Keller)?
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Is this "Hellenic" (like unto the Greeks) or an adjective I did not previously know (perhaps like unto specifically Helen of Troy, or maybe unto Helen Keller)?
Doh.
Like unto the Greeks indeed.
Didn't notice.
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No Slink, don't you see!? You should proudly claim to have created a new term "helenic: likened to Helen Keller, through great struggle to greatness. eg: Slink's attempts to learn to spell were helenic."
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eg: Slink's attempts to learn to spell were helenic."
Well, I was quite impressed by the idea of an Helen Keller noun.
Though Keller is yeat another thing I only know about thanks to American TV.
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My German is rusty and weather-beaten (it is vestigial, as opposed to my Japanese, which is rudimentary -- and have I mentioned that I love both rudimentary and vestigial?) but I still have some random chunks of it rattling around. The mnemonic device which has stuck best for me was the one we learned in first-year for conjugating "sei" -- Ich bin Pfeffer, du bist Pfeffer, er ist Pfeffer, sie ist Pfeffer, wir sind Pfeffer, ihr seid Pfeffer, sie sind Pfeffer... wollen Sie auch einen Pfeffer? Sei ein Pfeffer, trink Doktor Pfeffer!
I have a brain cell devoted to this, while senior-year calculus is entirely gone. There may or may not be a God, but this seems to suggest that if there is one, He's fuck*ng with me.
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Oh, the way of mnemonics is a slippery slope indeed. My bio class was the worst for those. I still get the steps of the Krebs Cycle running through my head thanks to "Cecil Is Ill Since Fanny Moved Out", and then there's my own invention, "King Philip Can Only Fear Gravel Sandwiches" for the levels of taxonomy. Stupid brain, why must you work this way.
Sorry, I'm fairly silly... I just got back from several hours of canvassing politely for a bunch of damned socialists (http://www.ndp.ca/)
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Oh, the way of mnemonics is a slippery slope indeed. My bio class was the worst for those. I still get the steps of the Krebs Cycle running through my head thanks to "Cecil Is Ill Since Fanny Moved Out", and then there's my own invention, "King Philip Can Only Fear Gravel Sandwiches" for the levels of taxonomy. Stupid brain, why must you work this way.
Both of these are gold, and I may want to steal them. I've always been weak with my Krebs cycle, a fact that has caused me great remorse (no, seriously).
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The Krebs Cycle and I got along famously. I have a poster of it in my room, showing where the ATP is produced and everything. Astonishingly, I also have friends.
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My favorite was
"Come Over Some Day Maybe Play Poker - Three Jacks Cover Two Queens"
Anyone know what that one is for?
"Mary Visits Every Monday And Just Stays Until Noon Period" is the other one I can't forget.
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my own invention, "King Philip Can Only Fear Gravel Sandwiches"
My 9th grade biology teacher taught it to us as King's People Come Over For Good Sex.
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Aus Außer Bei Mit! Nach Seit! Von Zu! As far as fuck*ng gegenüber goes, you're on your own.
another word i like to say, out loud like, is "context".
it just rolls off the tounge.
ps- i have A Condition inregards to furry languages.
i have no idea.
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The Krebs Cycle and I got along famously.
I've always been a fan of the Maynard G. Krebs Cycle. You know, the one where you start out with bongos and a goatee and end up stranded on a tropical island.
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Was that a cycle or just a process?
Also, I'm stranded on an island now, with a goatee and a banjo. Is there a name for this?
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According to a study I read by Drs. Nite, Nick A.T. & Land, T.V., these patterns run over and over and over again. Based on their decades of observation, I'd say it was a cycle.
Goatee + banjo = Hipster doofus.
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anecdotal. i think this is a good word.
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I like "malaise." I once told a boss at one of the more stupid call centres I worked at that I was sick and had to go home because I was suffering from work-related malaise. I got the rest of day off.