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Favorite Word 1

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CajunCenturion

Programmer
Mar 4, 2002
11,381
US
What word do you like the most? Why?
What word do you like the least? Why?

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I have a marked aversion to "tax" , but I also dislike "imperialist" and "cancer". I have always liked "chaos".
 
Endoplasmic recticulum".

I can't recall exactly what it is, but I remember the name from my school biology lessons. Good to say, and could possibly double up as a swear, if expressed with sufficient venom...... :)

Regards, Andy.
**************************************
My pathetic attempts at learning HTML can be laughed at here:
 
Do you mean The Endoplasmic Reticulum (no 'c' in the first syllable of reticulum)?

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To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
 
A good word: Sesquipedalian, a foot-and-a-half long word, that literally means one and a half feet long.

I just like stupid stuff like that. Words that are easy to make jokes about.

Bad word? Rectify, which sounds more painful than beneficial.

[red]Note:[/red] [gray]The above comments are the opinionated ravings of Mr3Putt. As such, Mr3Putt accepts no responsibility for damages, real or contrived, resulting from acceptance of his opinions as fact.[/gray]
 
simultaneously
I like it but I can't pronounce it so it makes liking it useless, oh, welll
 
...hottentottententententoonstellingspaaltjes....

a Belgium friend is using that...it took me weeks to pronounce it the right way....
 
I tend to like unusual and interesting sounding words, but also words that have a specific connotation. They allow me to say exactly what I mean. I also tend to like or dislike words on their own merits, rather than their meanings. Some really good words have some really bad connotations.

On of my all-time favorite words is "ululate". Sorry, no link, but it means "to make loud wailing noises." It's almost onomatopoetic (if that's not spelled right, blame E[sup]2[/sup], I cut and pasted it from his post so I wouldn't have to try to spell it.)

I'm not really sure I have a least favorite word, but I do not like teenage urban slang. I really hate what urban teenagers do to the English American language.

I think one of my least favorite words lately is any form of "patriot" (patriotic, patriotism). It used to mean that you felt warm and fuzzy and proud of your country (i.e. "father land"). Now its meaning has been corrupted (at least in the US). You can no longer be patriotic and disagree with your government - that's not patriotic (in fact, to some it's treasonous!). Weren't the founders of the USA called "patriots"? They certainly weren't going along with their government, they were rebelling against it and forming their own.


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard. [dragon]
 
CajunCenturion,

I noticed that you have abstained thus far from answering your own questions that started this thread. Mind answering them?

boyd.gif

 
It's spelled correctly. A spelling fanatic like me would have to be quite ill to misspell a big word like that! [smile]
 
There is another word that I like for it's unusual sound (it's French, so it sounds unusual to me). However, I can NEVER remember how to spell it, so I hesitated to put it here, but I'll have a try at it. The word is "Bouquiniste" (I think). It means "bookseller" in French. I did a search on google and that seems to be the correct spelling (at least I came up with a bunch of book sellers).

Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard. [dragon]
 
I'm not sure I have a favorite word, but my least favorites words are cyberspeek abbreviations, and overused slang.

It's like, ya know, like words like 'like'.


Good Luck
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To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
 
u 2?

Good Luck
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To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
 
Don't know why I couldn't think of this word before, as I've always said it's one of my favorite words:

meander:

Pronunciation: mE-'an-d&r

Function: noun
Etymology: Latin maeander, from Greek maiandros, from Maiandros (now Menderes), river in Asia Minor
1 : a winding path or course; especially : LABYRINTH
2 : a turn or winding of a stream
- me·an·drous /-dr&s/ adjective

Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -dered; me·an·der·ing /-d(&-)ri[ng]/
1 : to follow a winding or intricate course
2 : to wander aimlessly or casually without urgent destination : RAMBLE
synonym see WANDER

I like the way it sounds, and I like its definitions in both of its forms. It a kind of peaceful word.


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard. [dragon]
 
A co-worker's re-write of the H.L. Mencken quotation regarding the poor writing of President Harding:

----------------------------
He be scribbin da worse English what I ever see, word. Thang like whole messa wetty-wet sponges, man. Like-a tore-up ol' washin' yo' momma do. Like-a nasty beanie soup, hootin' hollas, crank-ass Rotts crabbing stupid all-all night. Be likes' so bad 'sall cool, so bad. That whole mess like digs up outta nasty ol' sewerpipe o' Pish, an' steps up stupid high like a mutha on Posh. Like-a rumble-bumble-mumble-tumble, my brutha. Flap 'n' double-o doodle, too, na'mean? 's bofe balder 'n' dash, too, yo. y'Got me now?
----------------------------


"He writes the worst English that I have ever encountered. It reminds me of a string of wet sponges; it reminds me of tattered washing on the line; it reminds me of stale bean soup, of college yells, of dogs barking idiotically through endless nights. It is so bad that a sort of grandeur creeps into it. It drags itself out of the dark abysm of pish, and crawls insanely up the topmost pinnacle of posh. It is rumble and bumble. It is flap and doodle. It is balder and dash."
-Mencken
 
Ditto on Meander, TSDragon. Great word.

I don't like words with funky pluralisms that drive the padantic among us around the bend (alumnus/alumni, memorandum/memoranda, etc.)

I do like words that can be played with, even if you end up making up a word (or perhaps especially if you end up making up a word!)

Example: There is a professional American football quarterback named Elvis Grbac. It was my considered opinion that his last name was consonantpated and in dire need of a vowel movement.

THanks,
Tim
 
Yes tsdragon I too like the word meander.

It reminds me of the Cirque du Soleil character Quidam who constantly meanders about the stage and sees "the performance" in her imagination.

Quidam is headless and symbolizes everyone and no one, at the same time.

Great word meander

 
The pedantic among us get driven around the bend by misspellings of the word pedantic! [smile][smile][smile]
 

Arrgghhh!

I can hardly stop laughing enough to respond.
My deepest apologies-- but this is really funny. Erik, thank you for catching that one. Careless, indeed. I really appreciate your sense of humor, and (sorry, I'm still laughing at myself...)

Take care, all.

And what an amazing forum...
THanks,
Tim
 
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