Whenever I see a discussion on lovely English words, I am always left disappointed. For me, because they are pithy and full of juice - not to mention short - the following are particularly gorgeous words:
Lurk
Skulk
Squat
Wry
Quibble
Generally I like "sq" words (as "squaw", "squawk", "squib", "squab", "squelch", "squander") and "wr" words suggesting twisting (as "wrist", "wrinkle", "wrest", "wrong", "wreck", "wring"). Some Yiddish words (as "schmuck", "chutzpah") are wonderful, too, but Yiddish words already have their own thread!
"The smell of the dust they kicked up was rich and satisfying" - Grahame
IIRC, in the 1600s some British scholars attempted to return some ancient Anglo-Saxon words and phrases to common use, for much the same reason you've stated, though they realised that if they were successful, their audience would be that narrow class highly skilled in English beyond their own area. Perhaps Goofy or Z - if he ever reappears - might fill in the details. Or maybe Haberdasher or Shifitz?
Proofreader, I love your "belch" - and put it on my list with unbridled enthusiasm - but the others, with their varying degrees of beauty, don't have enough juice to do it (whatever "it" is) for me. "Puke" gets close, but is still not list-worthy!
"The smell of the dust they kicked up was rich and satisfying" - Grahame
Consider Latin vomitorium, which in spite of what most think was not a special place that gluttonous Romans went to to throw up after one of their hedonistic meals, but rather is the term for those exits in stadiums that are quite large and can accommodate a large crowd of people after the event is over with. It was tied in with the meaning of vomeo 'to spew forth'.
Also reminds me of the device in a Woody Allen movie called the orgasmatron.
That's the one. It was probably the first film (1968) to show someone undergoing an orgasm. I remember Jane Fonda made quite an impression on me as a youth!
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Proof's first link was blocked here at work by our net nanny because of "Adult/Mature Content;Sex Education". Perhaps I should have added mainstream to 'probably the first film'. I'm sure there was plenty of porn available in 1968 (if you knew where to look - I didn't).
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
I hadn't heard of gleet before. In looking it up on the OED, it is from the 1300s:
quote:
1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 459 Thar [in the womb] duellid man in a myrk dungeon..Whar he had na other fode Bot wlatsom glet, and loper blode, And stynk and fylthe
It was exactly this citation, which I came across while browsing the OED in my high school library, which put gleet on my pithiest words list.This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,
Egad, "gleet" is indeed a pithy word, but hopefully I'll have little occasion to use it! As you will have gathered by now, my "pithy" has almost as much to do with the sound and "aura" of the word, per se, as what it means. For me, "lurk" and "skulk" are very hard to beat!
"The smell of the dust they kicked up was rich and satisfying" - Grahame
I've always liked, "gulp." I am realizing, a lot of these are one-syllable words.
Which reminds me, and off subject (sorry!), have you noticed how many potential Republican candidates in the U.S. have one-syllable first and last names?
Jeb Bush Rand Paul Ted Cruz Chris Hill Roy Blunt Scott Brown Matt Mead Mike Pence Ben Stein Paul Ryan (depending on how you pronounce Ryan)
