December 09, 2014, 05:10
GeoffFrom the Ministry of Funny Words
Borrowing a line from Monty Python here, I wonder why we don't have a thread for words that simply sound funny? We do now!
Schlagbaum, the German word for turnpike, strikes me as delightfully silly sounding. I found it while searching for German and French loan words in Russian. In Russian it looks different (шлагбаум) but it's the same word. So, while slogging along the snowy schlagbaum, cogitate on what funny-sounding words you know.
December 12, 2014, 21:22
KallehLove the idea, Geoff. I was trying to think of some and then came across this
site. There are some funny ones!
December 13, 2014, 04:50
GeoffYour link leads to "bumfuzzle," which is used in a sentence about the Notre Dame "Fighting Irish" football team. I looked at their roster and found that not one in twenty could even remotely be Irish. That bumfuzzles me! Besides, they pronounce the school "Noter Daym," so it seems they have an identity problem.
December 14, 2014, 20:55
KallehI've always thought
titillation was a silly sounding word.
December 15, 2014, 10:11
<Proofreader>quote:
I've always thought titillation was a silly sounding word.
As is
lallapaloosa.
December 15, 2014, 11:52
KallehI've always thought
cantilever to be silly too because I think of a lovesick Italian saying, "I can'ta leave 'er!"
December 15, 2014, 18:27
GeoffIf your soap is sticking out it's probably a
Cantilever Brothers product.
December 17, 2014, 22:58
bethree5As a poet, I note that many silly-sounding English words have the "ih" sound. In writing pootry, one tries to be aware that the English 'ih' sound generally suggest narrowing, constraint, diminuation (as opposed to English sounds suggesting deeper emotions, such as 'oh', 'ah', 'ow').
I love 'persnickety': just pronouncing it causes one to purse the lips and raise the nose, reflecting the meaning of the word.
December 20, 2014, 21:49
KallehYes, "persnickety" is a great one, you are right!
Also "Wabbit," meaning "exhausted" is silly to me because it seems like it should be "rabbit."