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The "perfect" word
May 26, 2010, 23:41
KallehThe "perfect" word
Do you have a perfect word?
Our speaker today said that the "perfect word," to him, is "nausea" because it
sounds like nausea feels. I see his point, though I don't think it's my "perfect" word.
I am thinking about what mine would be, and, no, it's not the "e" word.
May 27, 2010, 05:23
Graham NiceI have always liked sesquipedelian for two reasons. This is a long word used to describe the use of long words and any word with sesqui is good.
Polarisation in Chemistry is good as well. It has lots of meanings, one the complete opposite of some others.
By your speaker's criteria, most onomatopoeic words are "perfect." I would agree with that for the most part. A friend in England avers that "spackle" is such fun to say that it seems perfect. I have few friends, and weird at that.
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
May 27, 2010, 13:34
BobHaleronyon
Encountered it in Macbeth around forty years ago. Never seen it since. Never forgot it.
As I recall it was "rump fed ronyon".
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
May 27, 2010, 14:19
<Proofreader>quote:
rump fed ronyon".
You sure it was't Damon Ronyon?
May 27, 2010, 14:20
BobHaleActually it might have been "da doo ronyon"
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
May 27, 2010, 16:54
tinman 1.3
'Aroynt thee, witch!' the rump-fed ronyon cries.
May 27, 2010, 21:25
KallehI am not sure it's my "perfect" word, but one I really like, and I think it implies what it means is: BALDERDASH!
Probably not my 'perfect' word, but I rather like
flibbertigibbet.
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.
May 28, 2010, 05:46
zmježdI've always been partial to the words
gleet (but not the condition) and
qualtagh. I discovered them during my time in high school reading the OED in the library.
—Ceci n'est pas un seing.
May 28, 2010, 10:42
Kallehquote:
I discovered them during my time in high school reading the OED in the library.
Really? I am not sure when I first learned of the OED, but I know it was after high school.
May 28, 2010, 11:17
<Proofreader>We used the OED every day.
Of course, it was to hold the library door open to get some air.
quote:
Originally posted by Proofreader:
We used the OED every day.
Of course, it was to hold the library door open to get some air.
We used Miss Richen, the librarian, for that. She had narcolepsy.
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
May 28, 2010, 18:13
<Proofreader>If she had that ailment, we would have taken more advantage than using her as a doorstop.
June 11, 2010, 20:22
KallehI am not sure it's the "perfect word," but I just read a column using the word "swashbuckle," and I remember how much I like the way that word rolls off my tongue.
I remember what MFK Fisher said in response to this question. Her answer was brilliant. She said, "cellar door". The sound of it is beautiful. The vowel sounds in "cellar" compliment the "o" sound in door. It rolls beautifully off the tongue. Also, look at what a cellar door signifies; mystery, intrigue, forbidden, haunting, treasure, etc. Ahh, and that is just the beginning. There is the obvious female sexual connotation as well, with all of the above mentioned associations. MFK Fisher, I love you...
June 29, 2010, 20:39
KallehOh, Hal, you are a romantic, aren't you?
For me, a cellar door represents mustiness, dankness, darkness, and soon-to-be-released rats. It's all about perspective, I guess.
June 30, 2010, 05:52
zmježdIt has been a meme for over three-quarters of a century. Grant barrett, lexicographer, wrote in the
New York Times "On Language" column recently about the history of the phonaesthetics of
cellar door (
link). You can also read the wikipedia article on
cellar door with profit, i.e., lots of bibliographic pointers (
link).
—Ceci n'est pas un seing.
Hmm, thanks for the link to the article. No mention of MFK Fisher anywhere. I heard her on a Bill Moyers interview talk about this word but she must not have originated the idea herself (my romanticism is shattered). She was born in 1908 and did not write, "How to Cook a Wolf" until 1942. "Cellar door" as a meme was seemingly already around literary circles. It seems to me at least, with all of this evidence, that officially "cellar door" is one of those perfect words.
June 30, 2010, 06:38
zmježdPerhaps you should get it armored.
(And welcome aboard, Hal.) I always wondered if the Harry Potter character of
Dumbledore had something to do with this meme. I realize it's from an old dialectal word for
bumblebee, but who knows.
Oh, and BTW, how about
Luxus Tours or
All Frills Tours.
—Ceci n'est pas un seing.
quote:
Originally posted by zmježd:
(my romanticism is shattered)Perhaps you should get it armored.
(And welcome aboard, Hal.) I always wondered if the Harry Potter character of
Dumbledore had something to do with this meme. I realize it's from an old dialectal word for
bumblebee, but who knows.
Well now, this would be a feat of linguistic gymnastics! I wish there was a way of to find out for sure.
Oh, and BTW, how about
Luxus Tours or
All Frills Tours.
June 30, 2010, 20:51
Kallehquote:
Luxus Tours or All Frills Tours
I like the All Frills Tours, z!