A Thread of Words

[Alannah]

I thought sitcom was only short for situational comedy. That's interesting Jean.

[Michelle]

My favorite word is copacetic.

[B the BookAddict]

I'm thinking that we all may be word nerds here!

I will confess to be often found in my Thesaurus, flitting from Word to Synonym which leads me to another Word and so on. I can lose an incredible amount of time doing this:P

[LauraT]

I LOVE KIPPERS!!!! Mine are exactly like this!

[Bionic Jean]

LOL! Have you told them the acronym, Laura? I thought they were all quite good :D

[LauraT]

I've not seen them since yesterday night - they're still on holiday and I don't want to waik them up too early. It'll be the first thing I tell them this afternoon when I get home!

[[deleted user]]

I suppose in August I will be classed as a DINKY.

I just hope I'm not a CORGI

[Leslie]

Over in the Monday Poem section, Jean made a comment

"... Others may be more... laissez-faire? manana? There doesn't seem to be an English equivalent."

I think that a good English equivalent might be "lacksidaisical". Anyone got something better?

[B the BookAddict]

melancholy

To me, it's kind of even a sad/pensive word when spoken.

[Bionic Jean]

I remember the occasion Leslie, but not the context...

"Melancholy" is the sort of word where even the shape conveys the meaning to me, somehow.

[Leslie]

Jean wrote: "... "Melancholy" is the sort of word where even the shape conveys the meaning to me, somehow."

Interesting! Sort of like a visual onomatopoeia (which is another great word).

[Bionic Jean]

I know! Maybe we all have a touch of synaesthesia...

[Bionic Jean]

hobbledehoy - Used in conversation by someone in another group.

Isn't that a great word? I'm dying to say, "You...hobbledehoy, you!"

[B the BookAddict]

Jean wrote: "hobbledehoy - Used in conversation by someone in another group.

Isn't that a great word? I'm dying to say, "You...hobbledehoy, you!""

love that one. Can think of many instances when I could apply that; usually during school holidays here:P

[[deleted user]]

Whilst reading the first chapter of Middlesex last night I came across the world "obstreperous" meaning noisy and difficult to control.

I love the way it roles off the tongue as you say it

[Bionic Jean]

Oh Heather!! you have just made me blush with memory. That was a word once written on a school report of mine! (Me? I was a little sweetie!) Fortunately my parents saw the funny side of it, as it was just the one teacher...

[[deleted user]]

Haha, brilliant. It may have been a comment about me as well

[Alice]

A former English boss used to tease me as being "Bolshevik" :)

[Alice]

Heather wrote: "Whilst reading the first chapter of Middlesex last night I came across the world "obstreperous" meaning noisy and difficult to control.

I love the way it roles off the tongue as you say it"

Isn't "stroppy" easier to say? :)

[Bionic Jean]

Alice - Yes it does make one wonder why the teacher chose such a word. I vividly remember my parents looking it up as they weren't too sure what it meant! They did suspect it might not be complimentary...

I suggest your boos was using "Bolshevik" in jest though :)

[Alice]

Jean wrote: "Alice - Yes it does make one wonder why the teacher chose such a word. I vividly remember my parents looking it up as they weren't too sure what it meant! They did suspect it might not be complimen..."

Well, I was always quite assertive and wouldn't hesitate to speak my mind - maybe he had expected a Chinese girl like me to be more docile :)

[Bionic Jean]

;)

[B the BookAddict]

School word memories! Spifflicate - treat roughly or severely; destroy.

The nuns at school always threatened us with this; none of us knew what it meant but it always sounded terrifying:)

[B the BookAddict]

piqued! I am constantly amused how many Goodreaders spell this word as peeked.

[LauraT]

Bette BookAddict wrote: "piqued! I am constantly amused how many Goodreaders spell this word as peeked."

Very latinorigined word. We use "piccato" quite often

[B the BookAddict]

Laura, where words come from really interest me. I'd love to do an Origins of Words course i.e. what the root of a word is etc.

[Leslie]

Bette BookAddict wrote: "Laura, where words come from really interest me. I'd love to do an Origins of Words course i.e. what the root of a word is etc."

I like that sort of trivia too & I find it helps me remember the meaning of the word! My parents used to have an etymological dictionary when I was growing up, which was a real help when I was learning new vocabulary.

[LauraT]

Leslie wrote: "Bette BookAddict wrote: "Laura, where words come from really interest me. I'd love to do an Origins of Words course i.e. what the root of a word is etc."

I like that sort of trivia too & I find i..."

Me too!

[B the BookAddict]

Very happy you mentioned that dictionary, Leslie. I didn't know the proper name. Etymological - I will have to buy one.

[LauraT]

Bette BookAddict wrote: "Very happy you mentioned that dictionary, Leslie. I didn't know the proper name. Etymological - I will have to buy one."

When studying in University I remeber discovering a dictionary - don't remember which, I think it is the Oxford one - where, along the meaning of the word, it states also where it comes from.
The one I've on my ereader Sony is something like it, and i like it extreamly

[B the BookAddict]

horripilation = goosebumps!

spell-check here says 'incorrect' but I read it in a book and then Googled it.

[Noel]

Oh man, I have a long list of wordery-nerdery. Here are some favorites!

selcouth - unfamiliar and strange, yet also marvelous
numinous - mysterious, defying understanding, and yet beautiful, almost divine
meliorism - the belief that things can get better, that people can improve the world
Sisyphean - an arduous and seemingly unending task
nubivagant - someone who moves among the clouds
balter - to dance clumsily but joyfully
hypnopompic - the state between sleeping and waking
jeremiad - a long and mournful lament
ululate - to make wailing noises

YAY WORDS

[B the BookAddict]

Shannon Noel wrote: "Oh man, I have a long list of wordery-nerdery. Here are some favorites!

selcouth - unfamiliar and strange, yet also marvelous
numinous - mysterious, defying understanding, and yet beautiful, almos..."

Shannon, I LOVE your list! numinous being my fave. I think that might be my new username, LOL.

[Leslie]

Bette BookAddict wrote: "horripilation = goosebumps!

spell-check here says 'incorrect' but I read it in a book and then Googled it."

LOL!

Shannon -- great list! I must try to use hypnopompic sometime this week :-)

[Dhanaraj]

An interesting article on man's aversion to particular words.
Check this link out: http://timescolumns.typepad.com/stoth...

[LauraT]

Interesting indeed

[B the BookAddict]

Fantastic post, Dhanaraj. I'm happy to see that I am not alone in disliking 'panties' and 'navel'. However, I do love 'betwixt' mainly for the way my mouth moves when saying it out loud:)

[Dhanaraj]

@ Laura T: Interesting indeed.

@ Bette: Lol....

[Alice]

Words that I learned from a British blogger which he used when he's pissed off with some obnoxious Hong Kong politicians:

nematode; limacine

[B the BookAddict]

swoon; what a good word. It's origin is Middle English, 1250-1300AD, a verb, swo (w) nen meaning 'to faint, to enter a state of rapture or ecstasy'.

Swoon is a literary word for 'faint' or 'to become ecstatic'. For me, it's a very heartfelt word, if something makes me swoon, then it makes my heart leap, causes me to draw breath, affects my pulse rate. If Quasimodo said I made him swoon, I'd be putty in his hands!

[Leslie]

Swooning is definitely more romantic than fainting :)

[Noel]

Better BookAddict wrote: "For me, it's a very heartfelt word, if something makes me swoon, then it makes my heart leap, causes me to draw breath, affects my pulse rate."

I know that feeling well. I absolutely love it when books do that to me... *swooning sigh*

[Tonia]

Lovely discussion. I agree with Jean's comment; "Melancholy" is the sort of word where even the shape conveys the meaning to me, somehow."
A word I particularly love is "Whisper" and its Italian translation "Sussuro" (sussurare). In both languages it is impossible to say the word harshly. I set up a word workshop here in Italy to encouage the youngsters I teach sometimes not to be afraid of words. I get them to think of a word they like, then add others around to link to it, and before long they have begun to build a poem. So many youngsters seem truly scared of literature and it is a shame.

[Bionic Jean]

I love that Italian word - it seems onomatopaeic. That's just triggered a memory of something I used to do as a teacher, which was to ask children to think of a word, and make a picture of that word which fitted with the word itself. So a picture for the word "plump" would have plump letters. (Hard to explain without drawing it!) I'm now wondering if that technique has a name.

[Charbel]

A word that I feel is under-appreciated is "incongruous". I feel that it conveys its meaning phonetically as well.

[Alice]

Better BookAddict wrote: "swoon; what a good word. It's origin is Middle English, 1250-1300AD, a verb, swo (w) nen meaning 'to faint, to enter a state of rapture or ecstasy'.

Swoon is a literary word for 'faint' or 'to be..."

I think the first time I came across this word was while reading "Gone with the Wind" - Miss Pittypat was swooning and had to use smelling salt :)

[Alice]

That documentary about our "throw away" society reminds me of the word "oniomania"!

[B the BookAddict]

@Alice How could we ever forget Miss Pittypat!

[Gill]

I've just learnt a new word 'milquetoast'. I'm going to try to find occasions to use it! Here's the meaning: http://dictionary.reference.com/brows...

Do the Americans on here already know this word?

[Bionic Jean]

It sounds a little like the English "milksop" doesn't it?