Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Some of my favourite words

Firstly, a big thank you to Polly Pratt and I Purr-Furr to Craft, both of whom have offered their time and expertise to contribute to the Great Apron Gathering. Gals, you rock!

And now to the matter at hand, completely unrelated to aprons of any kind: some of my favourite words.

Words are my life, you see. They're certainly my living - I basically get paid to move words around on the page. Or to say them to other people, who write them down. When it comes to words, what I say goes. (say? geddit? ahahahahaha!!!)

I'm a firm believer in the motif that the pen is mightier than the sword. Words have incredible power, and like magic they can be used for good or evil. They have the capacity to provoke emotions that weren't there a second ago. They can impart strength and structure. And some words are truly beautiful, both in the way they're spelt or in the things that they mean.

So in the spirit of sharing tiny moments of beauty, here are a few of the words that make my life more beautiful:

  • plinth: what a lovely, satisfying word to say out loud
  • pamplemousse: it's French for grapefruit
  • pod
  • liriope
  • oleaginous: another lovely word to say. It's oily in the mouth, just like its meaning.
  • tuckshop
  • lily
  • empirical
  • oubliette: I do love French words. This one reminds me of Labyrinth, another word I love and the film with David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly is pretty good too.
  • cerulean: calm, blue, peaceful. Ahhhhhh.
  • peony
  • turkish
  • ablaze
  • espalier

I could go on, but these are just a few. Even reading them now in list format, makes me happy. It makes me happy just to look at them.

7 comments:

I Purr-Furr to Craft said...

Labyrinth is one of my favourite films too!

Cathy {tinniegirl} said...

Plinth is a great word. You're right - it's very satisfying to say out loud.

I really like oxymoron, obtuse, obfuscate and bedazzled!

Totally agree with your sentiment too. Words are very powerful and important.

Cath @ chunkychooky said...

I like the word chortle. I think it perfectly describes that sound.

Jennie said...

I went op-shopping today at Northcote Salvos, but no teatowels. :-(

Blooming Business said...

I have seen peony spelt like this paeony. do you know which ones is correct?

poet said...

I'm so glad there's more people like me out there who make lists of beautiful words! My roommate and me used to keep one on our fridge, and I have one on my blog now. I've added plinth, oleaginous, and ablaze to that one :) And your blog to my daily readings!

Greetings,
poet

Anonymous said...

Lovely words! I always find that words beginning with P have a certain satisfying ring to them... puddle, puppet, pop, pounce, plip, plop etc...