I am a Logophile--are You?
Karen L. Oberst
Like many writers, I have a love affair with words--all kinds of words. I like short, neat words (buzz, hiss), long, flowing words (verisimilitude), made-up words (supercalifragilisticexpialidocious), old words (mayhaps, fust), new words (hypertext), gloomy words (lugubrious), cheerful words (jonquil)...Well, you get the idea.
Let me introduce you to a few of my favorite words, and some of the surprising places I met them.
Of course, anyone who loves words loves Dr. Seuss. Here are just a few from my most recent acquisition, The Lorax. "At the far end of town, where the Grickle-grass grows..." The Once-ler "...lurks in his lerkin, cold under the roof, where he makes his own clothes out of miff-muffered moof." "This thing is a Thneed. A Thneed's a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need!" And so on, and so on. Seuss is a genius at creating words that describe something exactly, which convey feeling with their sounds.
Another obvious author is Lewis Carroll. "Jabberwocky" from Through the Looking Glass would earn him a place in the Word Lovers' Hall of Fame even if he had never written anything else. It begins "'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves/Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:/All mimsey were the borogroves,/And the mome raths outgrabe." Within its few verses we are also introduced to the "frumious Bandersnatch," "vorpal sword," "tulgey wood," beamish boy," and "frabjous day." Many of these of course are portmanteau words--two words put together to make a third, which includes the meaning of both, such as slithy meaning lithe and slimy, and mimsey meaning miserable and flimsy. But whatever they mean, they are a joy to say.
Karen L. Oberst
Like many writers, I have a love affair with words--all kinds of words. I like short, neat words (buzz, hiss), long, flowing words (verisimilitude), made-up words (supercalifragilisticexpialidocious), old words (mayhaps, fust), new words (hypertext), gloomy words (lugubrious), cheerful words (jonquil)...Well, you get the idea.
Let me introduce you to a few of my favorite words, and some of the surprising places I met them.
Of course, anyone who loves words loves Dr. Seuss. Here are just a few from my most recent acquisition, The Lorax. "At the far end of town, where the Grickle-grass grows..." The Once-ler "...lurks in his lerkin, cold under the roof, where he makes his own clothes out of miff-muffered moof." "This thing is a Thneed. A Thneed's a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need!" And so on, and so on. Seuss is a genius at creating words that describe something exactly, which convey feeling with their sounds.
Another obvious author is Lewis Carroll. "Jabberwocky" from Through the Looking Glass would earn him a place in the Word Lovers' Hall of Fame even if he had never written anything else. It begins "'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves/Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:/All mimsey were the borogroves,/And the mome raths outgrabe." Within its few verses we are also introduced to the "frumious Bandersnatch," "vorpal sword," "tulgey wood," beamish boy," and "frabjous day." Many of these of course are portmanteau words--two words put together to make a third, which includes the meaning of both, such as slithy meaning lithe and slimy, and mimsey meaning miserable and flimsy. But whatever they mean, they are a joy to say.
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Ok, and here are a couple of my favorite words...
Kuala Lumpur
temerarious
extemporaneous
voluptuous
How about you? What words do you love to say, or read?
posted by Logophile at
12/18/2005 08:02:00 AM
4 Comments:
My favorite indian words:
aacchhaaaaa!!!! -Ok!
chale jao--- go away! Vey handy in India
yaar- friend
rather fond of pennsylvania dutch colloquialisms such has 'ferhoodled' meaning confused
trini slang 'choonkaloonks' which is a term of endearment for a child
spanish 'ferrocarril' for train.....just kinda rolls off the tongue
my own portmanteau word (portmanteau is kinda cool too!) 'smorgasm' describing the perfect melted union of chocolate and marshmallow
The Lorax is my favorite book from my childhood!!
Hmmmm I like, splendiferous, and craptacular. LOL
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