We're all word people right? So which is your favorite word in the whole wide language? Surely you have one.
Mine is archipelago.
Take it away, word people!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
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Nathan Bransford
Brooklyn, NY
United States
Brooklyn, NY
United States
Nathan Bransford is the author of Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapow (Dial, May 2011), Jacob Wonderbar for President of the Universe (Dial, April 2012) and Jacob Wonderbar and the Interstellar Time Warp (Dial, February 2013). He was formerly a literary agent with Curtis Brown Ltd. and is now the social media manager at CNET. He lives in Brooklyn.
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270 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 1 – 200 of 270 Newer› Newest»For sheer strength and shock value and onomatopoetic resonance, if not meaning - RAPE!
I love that all-time f-word, but I guess that's inappropriate here.
I love the word savage. I'm not sure what that says about me but the word gives me tingles.
Wow-I'm starting to see a theme here. (Mine was savage-I just have problems signing in). What does it say about us that our favorite words are related to sex and violence??
Uxorious
Steatopygous.
It means "of or characterized by disproportionately large buttocks." We're not talking about just run-of-the-mill junk in the trunk. It has to be disproportionate to the rest of the body, like the Widettes in original-cast SNL.
I learned the word from a federal judge. In court.
I love the word discombobulated. I like the way it sounds and I like the meaning. I think it's quite a useful word as well.
I most admit that I too love the f-word. It's so darn versatile.
Pandemonium is a fun one.
Bereft.
It has shown up in so many novels in the last year or two that it makes me grin every time I see it.
(Kind of like spotting a VW Bug).
I often wonder how many people in real life go around placing back of hand to their brow, saying, "I am bereft."
I hate to be unoriginal, but the f word, because, depending on what others words I choose accompany it with, it can be used in a variety of ways, i.e, insultingly, comically, invitingly, engagingly, sarcastically, philosophically and, of course, to suggest the anatomically impossible. Name another word that could possibly be that versatile.
bodego
"By the bodegas and the lights on
Upper broadway
Wearing diamonds on the soles of their shoes" -Paul Simon
and hijinx.
I love concomitantly.
Antidisestablishmentarianism-I'm against it but the word's still cool.
I really don't have a favorite word... Something must be wrong with me. But for the past 4 months instead of yelling, "Hey!" to get someone' attention I yell, "Oi!" I never use it in writing, however.
But since you want a favorite word... My husband's favorite word is necrotic.
mulch
Just because it actually is a word (seriously, look it up. It means 'scatterbrained')--
FLIBBERTIGIBBET.
Just to clarify, Pierre. flibbertigibit" is a noun, not an adjective. It means a scatterbrained person.
"Insouciance." Oh, and "languorous"... no, wait -- "limpid"!
An Edward Gorey book features a page in which a writer -- something like "Mr. Earbrass" I think -- is staring wistfully out at sea, thinking of words. It lists a few of them, of which I can remember only one: "desuetude." Always wanted to write a sentence in which I used that word without pretense. It seems to have fallen into disuse.
My favorite is callipygian, followed closely thereafter by defenestrate.
This morning, my favorite word is chatter. By this afternoon... who knows?
There really is no comparison for fuck. (Sorry, I don't do dashes for profanity.) I'm with anonymous: what other word is so versatile? Verb, noun, adjective, adverb, the ever-popular expletive...ok, maybe not as a preposition. It can be a compliment or an insult. It can be sexy or angry. It's truly an amazing word, so simple, so clean, so effective.
I have two:
cacophony
lugubrious
Favorite word (for today at work): *Calgon*
Gobsmacked.
I sounds like what it means.
cmr
Ampersand. I love the word and wish it was more than just the name of a symbol meaning "and". But Mike Doughty managed to use it in a song, which I think is pretty amazing.
Nathan, I can't believe you said archipelago! That's my second favorite word! My first is archetype. I like anything with the "ark" sound.
After blogging about Willy Wonka and publishing a couple days ago, I want to pick "Scrumdiddlyuptious"
But I think I'll go with "thick". I like the self-reflection of the word in its sound.
Moon
I love the way it sounds.
An aside to jake seliger:
Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes) used defenestration in a poem once. It was very funny.
I have to second cacophony
Next comes globular, svelte, filigree, maverick, kinetic, paradigm, metamorphosis, continuum...
Words are just great.
-A
I once saw a college class for "guitarchitecture". Like guitars and architecture. I love the way it sounds.
Even now, I'm sometimes tempted at parties to introduce myself as a guitarchitect. If only I had taken even one music class...
My favorite word would have to be Savage. It is such a savage word, you can use it for a substitute for any adjective.
--
D.F. Rucci
http://www.dfrucci.wordpress.com/
Cinnamon.
It sounds nice, and it engages the senses.
Quagmire.
It's not a word I use very often, but I love the way it sounds. I'm not sure why, I just do.
Hi! Longtime lurker, first time commenter.
My favorite word changes every day, it seems, but right now I'm going with "ornery." I was out with a friend last night and he used it in conversation (actually, he said "ornery-ass," which may be even better).
I have two.
1. Interloper it's a great word and I think it should be used more often. I even blogged aobut it the other day. LOL
2. schmegma it has been my favorite word since high school biology. I love the way it sounds and I love the it skeeves people out to no end. yes, I'm sick like that.
archipelago may be my favorite as well, but it's a toss-up between that and defenestrate.
A Word A Day recently informed me that we have a word in English for "characterized by a well-formed buttocks," though (callipygian, already noted above), which is funny in that toddler sort of way.
My favorite non-word is Frak.
Lyrical
Mastication.
There are simply too many good ones to select just one (or, as others have said, the One changes with mood and circumstance).
The one that came to mind first was astonished.
I'm also fond of the word enchanting and encounter.
I often find myself astonished at the enchanting people I encounter.
And one all y'all may not know well, but I knew the person who coined it originally (sadly, he has passed on): shme
(While googling shme, I encountered the phrase metasyntactic variable, which I think would be a great name for a rock band. Anyone want to start it with me?)
FYI: I'm aware smegma is not spelled with a 'ch' but I can't help myself...that's how it's said, so that's how I like to spell it. ;)
and there.
Unconscionable!
No, not the question. That's my word. And I have to add another vote for the f-word, which goes quite nicely with my word if you're struggling for that middle haiku phrase.
My favorite word is a Scottish one: traghairm.
It means to prophesy under a waterfall while wrapped in a bullock's skin.
Damned if I've been able to fit it into either a short story or a conversation.
Jane Yolen
perambulate
It just sounds goofy.
jake! Defenestration is one of my favorite words too!
Others would be "equivocate" and "esoteric".
zephyr
looks and sounds like awesomeness
epiphany
This week? Chiaroscuro.
ooh wait also fun:
inimitable
say it out loud
inimitable
hehehe
"you are inimitable, jeeves"
I have two:
fisticuffs
discombobulate
By far the most used spoken or written word in the English language is "I"... as in, "I am having trouble thinking of the word I like more than any other word I like."
It's usage more than triples "the" and "and"... so doesn't that mean 'I' is really everybody's favorite but we just don't want to admit it?
It's a tie between diaphanous and gossamer.
Kudos to the person who said "zephyr." What a great word.
As for my own, tough choice. I tend to prefer the good, strong, Anglo-Saxon words over those sometimes-musical-but-over-long latinate interlopers.
Doggerybaw is a great word. You just don't hear it enough. But I love it so much I used it for the name of my blog.
Spoon is another great word, and much more useful.
But one of my very favorite words, and the first one that always comes to mind when I'm asked this question, is cloud. In fact, one of my earliest blog entries (http://scottrhoades.com/wordpress/?p=7) was an exploration of that word.
rhythm
quibble
Probably because it doesn't sound like what it is, and it's fun to say.
Kerfuffle.
Makes me laugh every time.
OH.... I'm terrible at favorites, but I do love cattywampus. It just has such a great feel to it.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned a least favorite word.... come on! Two words I hate, not for meaning or anything, just because I dislike the sound of them and the feel in my mouth- moist and girth. *shudder*
I have a few:
chocolate (I like the spanish pronunciation a bit better--choco-latte) :)
chaos
poop (It's funny looking, funny sounding. Substitute it for 'shit' in your daily expetives and you'll smile a whole lot more...)
My favorite word is CHAOS.
vulva
What great words already collected! I'll add one I've spent a long time rolling around in my mouth... groin.
Wait... that didn't come out right. Okay, let's go with grotto. Like groin, it sounds like a fun place to be.
Too many to choose just one, but today's favorite is:
lush
Brouhaha.
Seduction.
Inmodify
cream
@pamala—lush the adjective or lush the noun?
whimsy
For the past year or so, it's been "halcyon". Love the sound, love the root, etc.
Here is one of the ultimate function words on the planet--
ABLE.
You can use it alone, you can stick it at the end of basically anything you want--
talk-about-able, manageable, eatable, f*ckable, rainable, snowable, sleetable, hailable, deliverable, danceable.
Just a good all-purpose word.
Patuxent (the river)
triumvirate
the self-describing mellifluous
fedora
reluctant
sanguine and consanguinity
Microsoft © Word 2002 (10.6764.6735) SP3
I've always liked "verbatim" as it sounds so assertive, but I also enjoy "superfluous" because of the way it rolls off your tongue
Easy! Lackadaisical has been my all time favorite for forever.
However, I am partial to 'snacktacular'.
1. Ergo
and
*WARNING! ONE OF THE SEVEN WORDS YOU CAN'T USE ON TELEVISION TO FOLLOW!*
2. Fuck
The first may one day be replaced by lascivious, but I so love the second that it will always be at or near the top. (Erm, I so love the word...you know, because it's so powerful and versatile...I mean, I'm not saying that...erm, whatever.)
Oh I've got another one!
perspicacity
As illustrated by this exchange between Lisa and Homer Simpson:
Lisa - Oh my God, I'm losing my perspicacity!
Homer - Well, it's always in the last place you look
LOL!!
Frenetic.
Inadvertent
...because it indicates things gone awry, not according to plan--and that's where the story begins
@ jordan
BOTH!
That's the beauty of it--it's versatility. I love it when someone is described as a lush or when something is described as lush.
My favorite has always been "obsidian" followed closely by "ubiquitous", both because they are beautiful-sounding words.
I like flabbergasted and discombobulated.
And no I'm not old. I just like those words.
peripatetic!
bliss
I enjoy using "loquacious" and "lugubrious" whenever I can.
Oh, and also "existential." It's such a pretty-sounding word with a decidedly unlighthearted meaning. I like the juxtaposition of that.
I like the word "juxtaposition," too.
Basically, I love words.
Deconstructionism
I love the word -spoken in French-
enchanted.
auun shaaannn tey
See me dipping my hand to meet you.
"Auun shaaann tey," I say.
Gobsmack
Stob.
Gregory McDonald crafted an epic joke around it for his book Skylar.
Today I have "Madagascar" rolling around in my head--actually, it bumps majestically along like a tricked-out Caddy with one flat tire.
ginormous
Susurrus, scirocco, mistral, zephyr, breeze--all the wind words.
And love. Love is a fantastic word. You have to open your mouth and your heart when saying it.
Blogtopia - because if it didn't exist, we wouldn't all be here posting our favorite words.
Chopsocky ... how can you not love chopsocky?
Also, mad props to the best of Variety Magazine's slanguage:
Ankle (as a verb)
Boffo
Horse Opera
Natalie, you took my "kerfuffle." So I'll have to go with frisson. And I'm having conniptions (another fave) because I just can't work frisson into my WIP; the tone isn't right.
Discombobulate
Stuff is wonderfully versatile. I'm also fond of guttersnipe.
Tintinnabulation
I've yet to use it in a story though. It's hard to sneak in there.
My favourite words are "Cool" and Though."
I don't know why but I say them an awful lot. Though creeps into my writing too, even though I know it doesn't necessarily need to be there. It just seems cool to me.
My favorite big specific word is ultracrepidarian. It means acting on nonexistent expertise, like reviewing a movie you haven't seen, or correcting the pronunciation of a language you don't speak.
My current favorite non-word: "Bluh bluh bluh."
Bourgeois, just for the tactile sensation of it in the mouth.
I have many, but one of my favorites is "Pooftah" a word that is truly gay and fluffy (though I'm neither)and very comically evocative of the particular type of theatrical person it describes.
Crepuscular - means active at dawn and/or dusk - in twilight.
"Crepuscular shades of night are falling -
It's twilight time..."
Also 'Spastic'.
But not Spastic :
;oP dylan
There are two at the top of my list: resistentialism and twee.
Defenestrate, definitely.
Taboo.
It's just fun to say! "Ta-BOO!"
I like copacetic, both as a word and as a condition.
I am a raconteur, like the moniker, and enjoy all who fit the description.
I aspire to become a 33° curmudgeon and foster an abundance of kerfuffles in my senior years. In preparation for this quest, I take pattern from Andy Rooney.
I am also an aficionado of cacophony and hope one does not arise out of my failure to follow the rules and choose just one word. If it should, I'll not feel a scintilla of regret.
Well, my editor seems to think it's the word grinned, but I'd like to argue for loquacious.
I have yet to use that in a novel, however.
roustabout
Serendipitous.
Macabre
It somehow looks and sounds like its meaning. It's also fun to say.
Cash
Wherewithal... It's one of those words that just doesn't make sense. I mean, I know what it means, and I know it's from "where" and "withal" but how do those two words together come up with "means by which"? It nearly keeps me up at night...
TRUTHINESS barely beats out MISUNDERESTIMATED
"thrip."
Moonlighting
I guess
makes all sorts of thoughts
Salivate.
Badger.
Bastard.
squashy
iguana
shitfuck
fuckshit
Alioli.
Plethora.
Love that word to bits and pieces.
Hey, this is fun. Thanks, Nathan.
Ooh, and discombobulated.
Oracle. I just love the mythical origins and it's fun for me to say.
My eleven year old daughter's favorite word is nonplussed. She uses it to make her older brother react because he hates it when she uses words he doesn't know.
I agree with Polenth: tintintabulation is a great word.
The only time I've ever seen it used in literature, though, is in Poe's "The Bells."
My favorite word in Spanish is "Trabajaba" (s/he used to work) because it's just so dang fun to say.....
Whimsical. It's fun to say and to read!
Sam Hranac, you crack me up!
My favorite: delicate
(who knew so many people liked discombobulated?)
"Clandestine", and "mendacious". Actually, since I began studying Latin, any words that are rare in English, but have Latin roots, I tend to love. "Mendacious" comes from "mendax, mendacis", meaning "lie".
There's a lot of fun to be had with a Latin/English dictionary.
Okay, do phrases count?
Just saw Bernacke testifying before Congress yesterday about banks, price of gas, etc. - so good - "must-watch TV" - the phrase is "consolidated supervision."
As in: There is a need for consolidated supervision of banks. I mean, everything old is new again, right? Parents have to be on the same page in disciplining their children, i.e., consolidate their supervision - and same thing goes for banks.
Yes, I guess there are aspects of "wonkspeak" that I just love. "Moral hazard" is another one. Also "unintended consequences."
fescue: because the f reminds me of the graceful bend of a stalk of red switch grass.
fescue: Any of various grasses of the genus Festuca, often cultivated as pasturage
Fustigate.
Bereft.
gossamer.
evanescent.
cacophony.
immemorial.
Bimulous. It's not an officially recognized word, but it's used in one of my favorite books to describe those magical summer nights of your childhood when anything can happen.
Carapace
Tintinnabulation
Serendipity
Niveous!
and...
It has a past, a present, and a future. It is a team player. It cannot stand alone.
I do like the way vulva rolls off the tongue though...
I second Fiticuffs!
Also have a soft spot for Smeg (ok technically not a real word but used often enough to be one).
Also, being an Aussie I have to say thong and fanny, just for the multiple meanings & confusion they cause.
My husbands favourite word is Titlate.
There are some "words" that make me angry though:
"Chillax" (Cross between chill and relax)
"Possimistic" (It's OPTImistic people!)
Sorry, I will go back to my corner know, just had to get those off my chest I get so frustrated whenever I hear them.
sussuration.
hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia
*It's a real word* I'm so smart, I remembered how to spell it correctly. hehehehehe!
:-)
Insouciance. It just sounds so gracefully, carelessly insouciant.
Carpathian
As in the mountains.
I just like the way it feels on my tongue.
fuck
cunny
there are a ton more, but those two I use a little too often.
Horsefeathers.
:0)
My all time favorite is SAVVY. It's cool, slick and has two Vs.
Hope Clark
Is this post feckless?
Folks.
I'm 21-years-old and it never fails to make people look at me strangely. Yes I know a lot of seniors supposedly use it, but I love it too!
Haute Couture.
Just beause I love fashion and runway, almost as much as I love reading and writing.
How do you come up with these awesome topics?
Crinkle.
I know it's only got two syllables, and it's not profane, but it's just so cute!
Well, I am not as original as I thought. I am a teacher so I love to freak the kids out and give them Antidisestablishmentarianism on a spelling test.
I also love to teach them to use discombobulated. When people walk by we sound extra smart.
I think my favorite word though is a toss up between moist and seductive.
Moist because my friend Leigh HATES it and I started saying just to mess with her.
Seductive for obvious reasons.
Filmy is another fave.
Lately though I've had to say frik instead of the f-word because I'd lose my job, so that's become a common word as well.
Snarky!
Christmas! I wanted to move to Victoria B.C. and live on Christmas Ave. Ended up in the USA on Ransom Street. Can sing great songs using either word!
Sojourn. It promises so much.
From you, Nate, my favorite word would be Yes. But I'll take Partial.
Gloaming is a favorite, but tonight I will choose amnesty
oooh, archipelago is a good one.
for me, replete or ineffable.
Obstreperous, definitely, followed by defenestration (variations of which seem to be popular).
Conundrum. I'm often involved in one.
Shillelagh
payday
real word: Havoc. I just love the simplicity of the word and the true terror of the meaning.
Fake word: squick. As in, when you manage to get someone to do that instinctive twitch of "that's just WRONG!" - they're squicked.
Serendipity.....because I like to live that way...
LynnFC
luminous or linoleum
@blookeer - ! Payday is indeed a good day....and the meaning shoots the goodness of the word up several notches.
perspicacity
Galapagos.
I love the way it sounds and the way it feels in my mouth. I'd also love to go there someday.
Dude.
Because with the right inflection, it can mean almost anything.
I like the word numinous quite a bit!
Hmmm... I do like archipelago... but it's not my top favourite...
schadenfreude
Because I'm one of a select few people who can spell it, pronounce it, and know what it means. ;)
Effervescent
It's what I call a sticky word - it just sort of sticks in your brain. But I'm also a fan of Dynamic and Disingenuous.
I'm impressed that others would choose defenestrate. That has long been my favorite word. It tickles me that someone would have a need to invent that word.
So now I'll up the ante by posting my favorite two word expression. "Mau mau" as used in the Tom Wolfe classic Radical Chic And Mau Mauing The Flack Catchers.
What fun! So many great words.
Mine is foible. Say it five times fast: foible, foible, foible, foible, foible. What can I say: wordplay is one of my foibles.
And for Gwen, who shares my love for words with Latin roots...
pulchritude. I remember my senior year of High School (well, barely) when I was in my 3rd year of Spanish and my first year of Latin and came across this word in both languages and English, too. I think that may have been the start of my love affair with words.
I'll try "penecontemporaneous". It's a geological word, meaning "at the same time, plus or minus 10,000 years." Now that is a time frame that puts human life spans in context.
By the way, I've long maintained that the best way to get a masters in Geology is to invent a word and force it into the literature. PhDs are where you rise above mediocrity and begin to create real concept.
Without a doubt: phantasmagoria.
First saw it in Henry Murger's Bohemians of the Latin Quarter. The only other time I have ever seen it in literature is in Salman Rushdie'e Midnight's Children.
Personally, I try to use it as much as possible myself.
Re: "Galapagos.
I love the way it sounds and the way it feels in my mouth. I'd also love to go there someday."
****
The Galapagos are an archipelago, so that's almost 2 favorite words rolled into one.
Jared X, there must be a story behind learning steatopygous from a Federal judge in court. Please tell.
Until you do, I'll give my version. "Jared X, stop butting in! You is just too steatopygous to do that in court."
Btw, another favorite word of mine is doucheweasel, meaning a person who is both a douchebag and a weasel. Example, "The doucheweasels who have caused the financial system collapse are going to receive a $300 billion dollar government bailout."
I love the word "borborygmus" - the process of your stomach growling. Just think - there's a WORD for that!
I also like the word "swivet" (which is why I used it for my own blog) - it means "perpetual state of agitation - but it's really just fun to say.
On the other hand, I once had a friend who despised the word "panties" - made her absolutely crazy when people said it. I have no idea why.
Having a favorite word would be like having a favorite child.
Pizazz, followed by contemplate.
Ummmm. I have two.
quesadilla
wonky
acquiesce. It has a sensual grace to it. Also, it can be used in about a thousand contexts.
sacrosanct
SPECIFICITY
that's my current favourite.
(If it's not a real word then I feel both stupid and inventive.)
I love words that sound like what they are.
OOOOh! I love that word itself too!
ONOMATOPOEIA!
idiot
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Penitence - said in french
We are a bi-lingual household... I use this one with my children all the time. It sounds so much better to be sent to "penitence" than to be put in time-out.
Facetious or chimera
the
I use it all the time...
Hullabaloo
Pipsqueak.
Love.
It's all we need. :)
Call me negative but my favorite word is 'no' short and simple, but then I can be very belligerent!
DOOM!
That's my favorite
oh and Susan. Check out the comic Y The Last Man. The MC named his monkey ampersand.
Crucifixation. (Hey, I was taught by Jesuits!)
supercalifragilisticexpialidocio
Apoplectic...:-)
Gigglebox.
Always has been. Always will be.
Disingenuous - I love it! Spoken, it sounds like a tennis ball bouncing down the stairs.
Trapezoidal. Say it out loud. It's fun. =o)
I love
Copacetic and numinous
Undulate!
Nefarious, if I had to pick one. No, wait: Lascivious. Paradigm. Bastardize. *shit!*
I can't do this.
Boon.
Misanthropic... or maybe...
Curmudgeon.
Yes, definitely all forms of Curmudgeon.
trifecta
It's used so rarely, but when it is... it's oh so pristinely sweet
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