The wonders of words

So, in honor of this week's "Something New Challenge" Learn a new word everyday and use it 5 times before the day is up! I've decided that in addition to my new word for the day, I would share with you all some of my favorite words. I believe that words are a gift, allowing us to communicate with the world around us, and to unleash the wonders of the mind with spectacular imagery and captivating eloquence. And still, nothing is ever so one dimensional. Words can be silly or serious, confusing or illuminating, complementary or hurtful. There is no limit to the human language, if you have the vocabulary to use, that is.

So, with out further ado, here is my list of "The Top 10 Words Of The English Language"!

10. Zemmiphobia: N. Fear of the great mole rat. "I'm sorry, Professor, I cannot attend your lecture, Rodents and the Joy of Sex due to my Zemmiphobia... Yes, yes I have a doctor's note..."

First, I love this word because of the particular way it sounds rolling of your tongue the fifth time you say it. I also love the implications behind this word. The fact that it exists tells us that there are literally hundreds of people that fear the mysterious and elusive. And, it also makes me wonder, if the thing that you fear is fictional, does that not make the fear itself fictional?

9. Spoon: N. a piece of cutlery with a shallow bowl-shaped container and a handle used to stir, serve or take up food; formerly a golfing wood with an elevated face. V. scoop up or take up with a spoon; snuggle and lie in a position where one person faces the back of the others. "Mother, spoon some of that butter sauce over the pound cake, please."

Say it. Go ahead, say it. Again. One more time. Now tell me you aren't laughing. I ma have to record myself saying "Spoon" a few times, just to fully get this point across. It is a funny sounding word. That is all there is to it.

8. Kludge: N. a system and especially a computer system made up of poorly matched components. "Putting Vista on that kludge will lead you no where but the blue screen of death, mark my words!"

Not only a useful word this todays growing world of technology, but also this word carries perfect imagery. The formation of the word, both on the page and on the tongue, gives a feeling of the hodgepodge, dysfunctional, and "random organization". Personally, I think that it is one of best envisioned words of modern English.

7. Smorgasbord: N. a luncheon or supper buffet offering a variety of foods and dishes; an often large heterogeneous mixture. "Look at all this food, Vera! It's a virtual smorgasbord!"

Ok, who thought to make a word that looks like a bastardization of "Some more gas board" and then attributing it to lots of food? Do I really have to say any more?

6. Lisp: N. A speech defect or mannerism characterized by mispronunciation of the sounds (s) and (z) as (th) and (th). "It's just plain mean to ask a person with a lisp to say 'the sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick'."

I envy the type of evil genius that it takes to think to put an 's' in the word used to describe not being able to pronounce 's'.

5. Androgynous: Adj. Being neither distinguishably masculine nor feminine, as in dress, appearance, or behavior; Biology: Having both female and male characteristics; hermaphroditic. "Some people are saying that Hillary Clinton's claims that her failings in the recent debate were caused by sexism is ridiculous because of her androgyny."

I love this word, I think, because it is one of my favorite attributes. There is something beautiful about androgyny. There is a beauty that a woman possesses and a beauty that a man possesses, and then there a beauty to those who try to imitate the other. I love it.

4. Crwth: N. Crowd, derived from Welsh. pronounced 'crooth'. "A huge crwth of Harry Potter fans are planing to meet at King's Cross Station on September 1, 2017 to celebrate the Epilogue in the end of the series."

There is no Vowel! I love the Welsh, only they could get away with using a w for a vowel or making 'll' roll of the tongue just so. If you ever get a chance, you should have someone who speaks Welsh to say this word. It is a thing of beauty.

3. Malapropism: N. Ludicrous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound. "To say that that the election was won anonymously rather than unanimously would be a grave malapropism."

Based off a character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play The Rivals. Mrs. Malaprop continuously confused long words with other long words that sound similar but mean nothing of the like. Also, the definition has the word ‘ludicrous’ in it- this leaves no doubt that Malapropism is an awesome word.

2. Euphemism: N. The act or an example of substituting a mild, indirect, or vague term for one considered harsh, blunt, or offensive. "If you know what I mean..."

I like the sound of this word. Makes me think of all sorts of things that the rest of the world thinks of as just plain wrong but would be nice enough to say are simply ‘politically incorrect’.

1. Dreamt: V. INTR. To experience a dream; To have a deep aspiration. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, then are dreamt of in your philosophy" Shakespeare-- Hamlet.

I love this word. It is invariably my favorite word in the English language. It is both a beautiful word with a beautiful meaning. I have always believed that dreaming is an essential part of being human- both to dream in our sleep, and to dream fr our future. Even to dream for our past.


And now, our new word for today!
spoonerism: N. The transposition of usually initial sounds in a pair of words. "Mom, pass me that gar of jarlic."

I think I should have sufficient opportunity to use this word today, since I do it all the time! As a matter of fact, that quote up there is an actual quote from me while I was cooking... Oh yeah, this is gonna be easy. ^_^

Check in tomorrow for a list of how I used the word and my new word of the day!