Your favorite ten WORDS in the English language

[Ben Lahnger]

Give me a list of your ten most favorite words in the english language, along with a BRIEF explanation for each one. Please do not include profanity, foreign terms, scientific or technical words; just good words for a writer to use. I'll start:

My Ten Favorite Words In the English Language

1) HOKUM

Pleasing to the skeptic in me. It calls a thing into question and insults it at the same time.

2) EMPATHY

Better than any other word at making you walk in someone else's shoes.

3) RAUCOUS

Boisterous and disorderly, which I like to be from time to time.

4) ASTUTE

I would love to have my speech and writing described as being astute.

5) MELLIFLUOUS

A word that describes itself well, it rolls off of the tongue.

6) INGENUE

I just love the way it's pronounced.

7) BURNING

I really enjoy every song I've ever heard with the word burning in it. I don't know why.

8) VORACIOUS

Best word ever for describing an intense desire, hunger or lust.

9) ICONOCLAST

I love rebellion against convention; this is particularly appealing to me considering the madness of crowds.

10) GRACE

In one word, so many definitions ... and each one of them something to be desired. If I were to sum up in one word all the goals and aspirations for what I want to become, this is it.

Okay, your turn!

[WolfMoon]

Damn, I have a hard time thinking of ten.

I tried, can't do it.

[tenet_2012]

Ok...

These are not necessarily my favorite words, but they are the wierdest to say:

1.) Juice

2.) Cake

3.) Anti-antidisestablishmentaryism (the longest word in the english language)

4.) Empathy (I with you, Ben, on this one)

5.) Atheist

6.) Nihilist

7.) Apocalyptic

8.) Pestilence

9.) Beauty

10.) I have always had a strange attraction to the word Gothic. I don't know why.

[JuliaGaltic]

1. Mischievous

2. Sophist

3. Fuck

4. Fanaticism

5. Cuntweasel (coined here by one of my favorite posters)

6. Latter

7. Devices

8. Ravenous

9. Heliophobe (didn't know that word existed, thx blushing!)

10. Abhorrent

These are chosen more for the way they feel when you say them, the way they roll off of the tongue. Something about these 10 (among others) I find physically pleasing.

[FenrisQueen]

I'll try to do all ten, but I might not know that many words.

1) Orgiastic. Enough said.
2) vinegar
3) curry
4) Gin
5) tome
6) Treachery
7) Revolutionary
8) Testicle
9) Stench
10) Voracious

[mortalitas incomitatus]

1. Iguana.

2. Fellatio.

3. Methodical.

4. Deviant.

5. Masochistic.

6. Stupendous.

7. Paroxysm.

8. Pandemonium

9. Fuckity.

10. Indubitably.

[Mr E Nigma]

Originally Posted by tenet_2012

Ok...
3.) Anti-antidisestablishmentaryism (the longest word in the english language)

Actually it isn't the longest.

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (I've actually learned how to pronounce this word although most the time I fuck up) and tied for it is it's plural counterpart

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses (which the i is changed to an e)

and the word you have stated isn't even a word, 2 anti's cross eachother out and as well you misspelled and left out a few letters. (not trying to flame you, just giving you the facts.) I flame with legomen, so you'd know =D

[Mr E Nigma]

Now for my ten:

1- Paradox

2- Roads (due to it's pronunciation in the movie Black Sheep)

3- Resplendent

4- Ataraxis

5- Deoxyribonucleic Acid

6- Eye ( I love everything about eyes, the way the look, how they work, the fact that it's a palindrome, just everything about eyes is remarkable)

7- Penguin (obvious reasons)

8- Fraggle

9- Kleptomaniac (I just think that's a cool word)

10- Somber

[Blushing Heliophobe]

Originally Posted by JuliaGaltic

9. Heliophobe (didn't know that word existed, thx blushing!)

You're welcome. It is so goth of me

[Ben Lahnger]

Okay, I really like some of the contributions here. I am a little disappointed that some folks felt that they couldn't or didn't want to follow my suggestion:

Originally Posted by Ben Lahnger

Please do not include profanity, foreign terms, scientific or technical words; just good words for a writer to use.

The profanity is objectionable not because I'm a prude ... no, far from it. Although, to be honest, I am pretty judicious about when I will use a vulgarity. (My girlfriend's daughter's faces go white with fear when I actually use a word like "fuck" when yelling at them. I do it so rarely that when I do, they know they're really in trouble.)

It's just that it's too easy and doesn't require any work. Like a standup comedian working blue, it's just the easy way to get to the goal, but doesn't require any work or creativity.

But I understand that I can only suggest the rules for this thread. And it is possible that you feel very passionately that a profain word really is one of your 10 favorite words. In which case, who am I to argue.

And Wolfmoon, I'm not asking you to spontaneosly spit out a list. I've seen this kind of thing done before and have been shuffling words on and off of my list for years. In fact, my list will change from time to time throughout my life.

I spent 48 hours running the list and my explainations over in my mind before starting this thread. I expected this to be a slow exercise, with people replying after giving some thoughtful contemplation to their list of words, and the explanations of why they like them. So give it some time ... pick up a scratch pad and write a word or two down on it ... thumb your favorite book or a dictionary ... and consider this a bit. And after a while I feel confident that you will come up with a list of ten words that (while not etched in stone as the ultimate list of ten) you will feel comfortable as representing a list you are happy with.

And to the few people who just posted a list of 10 words ... I feel like you owe me something.

[Ben Lahnger]

After going to your website and being pleased by what I read there, this is disappointing. It was supposed to be a fun exercise for people interested in literature.

Okay, when someone belittles an idea of mine twice and I'm sure it was a good idea in the first place, I no longer take it personally. It's just a sign of the critic's own weaknesses and foibles.

And TStone, what are you talking about? Harsh? Bah ... I'm just beginning to study at the feet of the flamemasters here.

[Ben Lahnger]

Tenet, I like your list; apocalyptic and cake in particular.

Julia, I like sophist a lot, and could have replaced voracious with ravenous ... in fact, I like the way that sounds better.

Santerea, I like the whole list. And there's a musical rythym to it, a poetry to those words being ordered like that.

Fenris, what's not to like about orgiastic? And oh yes, revolutionary has a place dear to my heart.

Mortalis, iguana; reading that made me realize I like the way it sounds. And fellatio ... well ... Mmmmmmmmm! ;-) As long as I never see "iguana fellatio" in a list, it's all good. And deviant, pandemonium ... yep, like those too!

E Nigma, yep ... paradox is cool. And resplendent could have made my list.

[JuliaGaltic]

Originally Posted by Ben Lahnger

Julia, I like sophist a lot, and could have replaced voracious with ravenous ... in fact, I like the way that sounds better.

Your list was an inspiration Ben.

Ravenous, I think that's my favorite word on the whole list (if I had to pick). It really describes those moments of animalistic hunger. The way it rolls on the tongue too, almost seductive. It's also a close cousin of ravage, which is just a fun word.

Most of the lists on here are an give me hope that we're not completely surrounded by idiots. Although some posts on this site in general have brought me close to tears... *sigh*

[Ben Lahnger]

Originally Posted by TStone

Erg, you would think that someone would call me on using the word alter--when the word I really needed was altar.

Kind of screws up the entire intent, and for that fuckup, I humbly apologize. I shat upon the altar of good intentions, and with that slight alteration; it sounds more better.

ummm ... okay, so 'sands' that little mistake, it's perfekt now!

[Ben Lahnger]

Julia, I like ravage too. I hear you concerning the posts you find elsewhere on this site that make you question the intelligence level. That was one of my thoughts in starting this thread; that it would be a topic that would encourage a more thoughtful conversation. The topic of words made sense because they are the building blocks we use here, and limiting it to ten would require more thought and some self-editing. And yes ... animalistic hunger ... creating that most primal emotional imagery is very powerful.

Eyes, euphoric is a great word both in meaning and in how it sounds. What power it has to make one relive an experience. And orbital, a three syllable word that rolls off of the tongue in a clean, simple rythym. Yes, I like it too.

[Mr E Nigma]

Eeps, knock out roads and fraggle on my list and replace them with Ocular and Halcyon. (Thanks Eyes I forgot about that word).

Honestly my list changes all the time except for a select few. I read the dictionary in the course of a few weeks once. I'll admit I don't remember half the words. But it does brighten up your vocabulary.

[Ben Lahnger]

Originally Posted by TStone

Here’s something to wrap your brains around. There is no numerical representation of how many words are in the English language. It is incalculable (though leading scholars put it around a million) thus far no one’s been able to pen it down to an exact figure.

I'm not surprised that it's a daunting task. It seems to me that new words come into being every day. For example, when did 'snarky' get into the dictionary? Has it been a word for a long time? I look up the word and there are supposed ancient root origins, but I could have sworn it was a recent internet invention.

Originally Posted by TStone

And here’s a word from a long list of a million or so that I rather like.

Supine.

I’ve only ever used it the once, “The cool waters rushed past her ankles and paused briefly--a change of inclination--and the flow reversed. Now it drew outward, back unto the dark mass of swelling supininity, to that great berth of liquid night-dream…the ocean.”

Though I had to create a new form to use it, I’m still quite fond of it.

Yes, it is rarely used. I do like it, but I think I would have a hard time finding a correct context to use it. Unless I was saying "Frankly my dear, I'd prefer you if you were more supine."

And this all serves to remind me why 'porcine' didn't make my list!

[Ben Lahnger]

Originally Posted by TStone

Too right! We were neither hurling horse shoes, nor lobbing the hand grenades, and I thank you for calling me on the fuckup.

Sans it is.

I was actually hoping only you would get that. I was trying to be subtle, but 'perfekt' was probably a bit broad for that. I never thought of hand grenades or horseshoes, or even spitwads for that matter. But I was hoping something better would come of the discourse.

I really do like the essay on the front page of your site. Open mindedness is an elusive goal, and when you most think you've accomplished it, you're probably wandering away from it. And how broad can anyone's vision be? This human experience limits our perception so. Not to mention the amount of time we spend putting our own blinders on. Shades of grey, indeed.

If I had thought much longer and harder about this thread, I might have titled it something like "words we love and why we love them" or "let's discuss words, the building blocks of literature" or something like that. But every idea I came up with sounded a bit pretentious. So I settled on this as an easy starting point and figured the conversation would evolve.

And I expected that everyone's list will ebb and flow. I've already changed my list based on reading the lists of others. So I suspect that future posts here may concern a single word, or updates on previous lists. And change is the only thing truly worth writing about. At least that's my opinion.

By the way, when are you going to have some fiction on your site? I'm curious because I would like to read it.

[Ben Lahnger]

Originally Posted by Mr E Nigma

Honestly my list changes all the time except for a select few. I read the dictionary in the course of a few weeks once. I'll admit I don't remember half the words. But it does brighten up your vocabulary.

That's a good thing! *insert martha stewart stepford-wives-like smile here*

I foresaw the changes and was hoping for them to be honest. On a website where too often we ask seemingly illiterate posters to pick up a dictionary (or "The Elements of Style" for that matter,) I wanted not just a literate conversation, but one that evolved. So, as I mentioned in my previous post, updates and changes are expected and encouraged.

[ennui]

i think my favorites change pretty frequently, but here are some that come to mind right now.

ennui - an all time favorite of mine
lascivious
somber
smarmy - (that one makes me giggle)
embrace
bewitch
languish
lucid
nettles
envelop

[tenet_2012]

Xng, I love your list.

I also love your spirit.

[ennui]

Originally Posted by Ben Lahnger

And yes ... animalistic hunger ... creating that most primal emotional imagery is very powerful.

*applauds Ben's pairing of words*

Primal is definitely a favorite of mine. Rrrawr!

[sensuous0mar]

my words are:

sensuous: I am sensuous0mar, afterall.

fantastic: Nobody really realizes how big of a word this really is. It's huge, awe inspiring, something that will knock your socks off and people just use it so lightly. Every person, every structure, every story explaining my history that I got to experience in Germany, was absolutely fantastic. Of or like a fantasy.

Awesome: Also used lightly. Like socks or hotdogs. "Those socks are awesome. Those were awesome hotdogs!" No. The universe, the fact that there's something connecting us all, now that's pretty awesome. You can go into space and look back at earth, truly inspired, and say "that's just awesome" and you would be correct. But the world today knows awesome in terms of socks and hotdogs, and it makes me sad.

Shoe: I love everything about the word, the item itself, and the happiness it brings me

Underpants: Much funnier than "underwear"

Undertrousers: Even funnier than "underpants"

Comfort: It makes me think of mommy and round squishy things that are good for hugging. Who doesn't love being comfortable?

Radical: It can be a noun or an adjective and it really makes me happy. Like totally radical! Or That man is a Radical!

Dilettante: Because so many high brow men and women are...such transparent liars

Amongst: Only because I am always amongst greatness and it's the best word to use in such a place

[Wise Child]

deviant
intellect
apocalypse
ravish
jewel
seraphic
pastoral
elvish
scarlet
enchanted

[JuliaGaltic]

Deviant! *slaps own forehead* Great word.. wished I would've thought of it earlier..