Word Is...

There are words that I like to say simply because I love the way they sound. Words like sangfroid. Coquette. Renaissance. Mercurial. Mellifluous. Shibboleth. Picayune. Echelon. Kuala Lumpur. Istanbul.

The sound of some other words I find irritating. I don't, for example, like the way fatuous sounds. Or regurgitate. Bellow. Horticulture. Phlegm -- ugh; it sounds like just what it is. Effete. Expectorate -- saying it almost feels like you're spitting it. My lips have to work too hard to pronounce the names of some modern countries, like Herzegovina.

Some of the words I'm often required to use at work roll pleasingly off the tongue -- nolle prosequi, res gestae, res ipsa loquitur -- while other are perpetual irritants; e.g., ad hoc (which sounds too much like a disgusting bodily function), habeas corpus, tortious.

There are silly words that make me smile when I say them: Kumquat. Platypus. Rutabaga. Parasol. Wombat.

There are nonsensical sounding words, like bugger and boondoggle, kookaburra and fluke. There are flaky words like croissant and cruller, quiche and flan, biscuit and tart. There are trendy, fashionable words such as haute couture (and haute cuisine) and stilettos and Vera Wang.

It takes a melding of all kinds of words to comprise a complete and comprehensive language. Similarly, it takes an amalgam of all kinds of people to make up a balanced society. Intermingled with the kind, the empathetic, the strong willed, the orators, the sympathetic, the talented, the skilled, and the general movers and shakers are the braggarts, the blowhards, the vulgar, the unlettered, the bellicose (I like that word), and the do-nothings.

In a heterogeneous world, you can't have one without the other. Oftentimes, we wish that it were otherwise but, looking at the big picture, it would be a bland, homogenous society without disparate influences. A herd. Who wants pablum when you can have the spice and fragrance of Jambalaya? One has to take the good with the bad, which is as it should be -- and which can be a fascinating sociological study as long as the bad elements aren't bad enough to kill you.

What words make your lists of fun, silly, loathsome, etc.? I'd love to hear some of them.
3 4
Here are the Words Gone Wild rounded up today. To keep your own Twisted Linguistics skills honed (and to stave off total boredom), why don't YOU all define them today?

aggrevious
homosexually is the enemy
a dis-service
defamitory
decit
trajedy
stubbron
priviledged
unquenchible


What Color Is Your Brain?

Your Brain is Blue

Of all the brain types, yours is the most mellow. You tend to be in a meditative state most of the time. You don't try to think away your troubles. Your thoughts are realistic, fresh, and honest. You truly see things as how they are. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about your friends, your surroundings, and your life.

What Color Is Your Brain?