We'll post the best of your entries on this site over the next few months, and the best of the best will be included ... in My Favorite Word, a book to be published next year.
\Be*sot"ted\, a. Made sottish, senseless, or infatuated; characterized by drunken stupidity, or by infatuation; stupefied. posted by psmealey at 4:47 AM on July 18, 2005
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia - a fear of long words posted by urbanwhaleshark at 4:53 AM on July 18, 2005
cacophony
or
diaphanous
or
louche
or all three in one night. posted by NinjaPirate at 4:57 AM on July 18, 2005
gobshite.
Friendlier words include apocalypse and besmirch. posted by corvine at 4:58 AM on July 18, 2005
the quidnunc kid writes"We'll post the best of your entries on this site over the next few months, and the best of the best will be included ... in My Favorite Word, a book to be published next year."
I didn't see that. I guess I'll have to start reading the links I post. posted by OmieWise at 5:15 AM on July 18, 2005
facetiously: all the vowels in alphabetical order and it's just a superb word posted by herting at 6:04 AM on July 18, 2005
How marvellous, thans OmieWise. I noticed that oniony was missing from their pages, and have remedied that by submitting it. posted by misteraitch at 6:16 AM on July 18, 2005
I submitted hoi polloi a few weeks ago when I first saw this site.
hoi polloi, n. The common people, the masses. posted by sdrawkcab at 6:21 AM on July 18, 2005
cataclysm
myriad posted by shawnj at 7:37 AM on July 18, 2005
A sequel is inevitable, and I'd like to get in on the ground floor by saying that "moist" is my least favorite word. posted by the_bone at 7:38 AM on July 18, 2005
I dunno, there's so many to choose from. posted by spock at 7:50 AM on July 18, 2005
When in Paris, I used to see 'cafe liegeois' on menus and think it had a wonderful exotic sound to it. I now live in the Netherlands, about half an hour by train from Liege, and have seen what a dump it is. Consequently 'liegeois' has lost much of the magic it used to have.
My current favourite word is 'mellifluous '- especially if spoken by someone with a lilting Irish accent. posted by PurpleJack at 8:35 AM on July 18, 2005
not going to add it, but my favorite word is vespertinal which is (imo) a more interesting vespertine - see also vesper.
a vesper... sometimes an evening prayer. in general refers to things of the evening, night. i am certainly a night person and have always been fascinated by the night and that which occurs during. posted by weretable and the undead chairs at 8:57 AM on July 18, 2005
The first word that came to mind was vestibule although I have many favorite words. Without a doubt, sure is my least favorite word - too sloppy sounding in a sentence although I am fine with it as a one word response. posted by geekyguy at 9:02 AM on July 18, 2005
I suggested 'zymurgy'. After all, it's a word used to refer to beer-making generally, so it describes something eminently important. posted by clevershark at 9:11 AM on July 18, 2005
Ostensibly. And I've always liked autumnal.
And abstemiously also has all the vowels in alphabetical order. posted by gaspode at 9:12 AM on July 18, 2005
It's the only English language word with seven consonants and only one vowel. Playing Scrabble, if you catch a triple word score, it's worth 36 points. With the bonus for using all seven tiles it's 86 points.
It's a goofy word, but has a lovely syncopation. posted by nep at 10:07 AM on July 18, 2005
My newest word, from the book I finished night before last, is wayzgoose.
One of Sumerset Maugham's books introduced me to the word phthisis. Say that 3 times quickly...
Isn't "you're right" also one of our favorite phrases? posted by X4ster at 10:09 AM on July 18, 2005
leftcoastbob,
Isn't there an old joke line that goes along with that? Something akin to; "He was so dumb that he thought innuendo was the Italian word for sodomy". posted by X4ster at 10:13 AM on July 18, 2005
uxorious
traipse
jute posted by Maishe at 10:15 AM on July 18, 2005
idiocracy - a society of idiots.
rebo - retarded bozo.
specimess - what you return to the nurse at the sperm bank.
Not so much actual mediocrity, though. But the word's got a great rhythm and sound. posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 12:27 PM on July 18, 2005
Somebody just called somebody this this morning: hell-spawn. Well I like that. But my favorite insult is still "Typical." posted by Lady Penelope at 12:31 PM on July 18, 2005
Big ups to painquale for boustrophedonic - one of my favorites, too. I think my current favorite though has to be usufruct, because it sounds filthy, but really isn't at all. posted by kcds at 1:16 PM on July 18, 2005
I give you the champion of monosyllabry: scraunched. posted by pmbuko at 1:19 PM on July 18, 2005
Ungulate
Allure
Effloresce
Hegemony posted by ZaphodB at 4:56 PM on July 18, 2005
So many words, so little time.
xebec
fritillary stravaiging (how I describe my time spent on the Internet)
and one from the site: hemidemisemiquaver.
Usufruct, sesquipedalian, and molybdenum (from this post) are also long-time favorites.
One of Somerset Maugham's books introduced me to the word phthisis.
I just saw that this morning for the first time, in a young adult novel, and thought the author had made it up. posted by LeLiLo at 6:26 PM on July 18, 2005
I just used the word "succinct" and trailed off, thinking that I really like that word. posted by leftcoastbob at 6:34 PM on July 18, 2005
Phlegm. Because that 'g' is just perfect there - even though it's silent, it remidns you of the part of your throat where phelgm comes from. posted by bunglin jones at 6:47 PM on July 18, 2005
proclivity is another favorite. posted by brandz at 8:13 PM on July 18, 2005
silver
oubliette
ululate
i love this link. thanks. posted by makonan at 8:16 PM on July 18, 2005
I've always been partial to burl and, well, calypso. posted by Staggering Jack at 11:00 PM on July 18, 2005
X4ster: strengths has one extra consonant.
Are proper names allowed? I'm totally in love with "Habablab". posted by flabdablet at 11:37 PM on July 18, 2005
Ah yes, so many wonderful words. Has anyone else in the group read "The Madman and the Professor"? It's a great book about words and the initial work developing the Oxford English Dictionary.
Here's a great quote from "The Madman and the Professor":
“No language depending on arbitrary use and custom can ever be permanently the same, but will always be in a mutable and fluctuating state; and what is deemed polite and elegant in one age, may be accounted uncouth and barbarous in another” Benjamin Martin, contributing editor to the Oxford English Dictionary.
And a few words and definitions;
Network- any thing reticulated, or decussated, at equal distances, with interstices between the intersections.
…treated by alienists
…in the sense of chatechizing someone, making his or her arguments stand up to severe scrutiny…
… to whinge…
…diktats
…ashtrakhan-collared coats
atrabilious- gloomy, ill natured, peevish, posted by X4ster at 12:33 AM on July 19, 2005
brandz - "difficult to pick just one" It's impossible for me. I really like your choices; mellifluous, loquacious, unctuous & sycophant.
Among my other favorite submissions; leftcoastbob - succinct NinjaPirate - cacophony herting - facetiously jbrjake – ubiquitous, poignant, verisimilitude The Jesse Helms –behoove gompa - intransigent
I haven't seen grandiloquent listed yet. posted by X4ster at 1:24 AM on July 19, 2005
This has bugging me, because a couple of years ago I heard a word that sounded beautiful and had a beautiful meaning -- the reflection of the moon on water. But I forgot it almost immediately and google searches haven't helped me find it...so yeah that. Does anyone know?
Oh, and I used to like "evanescence" until that lame band appeared on the scene.
OK, how about: distortion and e-bow. posted by Devils Slide at 2:15 AM on July 19, 2005
A lot of these words sound like things Captain Haddock called people who annoyed him. posted by Devils Slide at 2:31 AM on July 19, 2005
Callipygous, for the win. posted by dsquid at 5:52 AM on July 19, 2005
Subscribe
Smock Smock Smock Smock Smock Smock Smock.
posted by cyphill at 4:21 AM on July 18, 2005