2 posts tagged “language nerdiness”

I have never resented schoolwork as much as I do currently, sitting in a cubicle in the dreary library, missing the first flurries of snow (that landed on my banana as I walked from the cafeteria to this tomb of books). Perhaps that is not true, as there have certainly been worse times. Alas, poor Yorick. Woe is I, the bard should have said.

Am in the midst of attempting to apply for overseas studies, but must come to terms with the fact that I will never leave the country. 'Tis hopeless, especially with French professors writing my recommendations--how can they support my desire for direct matriculation to a French university when I never spoke in class?

A slight consolation is the beautiful fun that is my wordie.org profile, though I must write to them and ask why they have no included "anaphor" in their drop-down list.

What are your favorite and least favorite words?  Any reasons why?
Question submitted by Byrne.

Let me state, first off, how much I adore this question. I subscribe to Dictionary.com's Word of the Day and Wordsmith Word of the Day in order to learn the most bizarre words which I will most likely never use. But as for my favorite words, they don't necessarily occur in the English language. There is the (somewhat cliché) Japanese word "こもれび komorebi" which conveys the imagery of sunlight filtering through trees. I don't like the way it sounds; I decided when I was studying Japanese that it wasn't very interesting regarding its phonemes and intonations, which is perhaps why I don't regret stopping it. But some of their words are so breathtaking and untranslatable, as I've found with at least sixty percent of Chinese.

Unlike a lot of people (it seems), I think the English language is beautiful because of the ridiculously large (stolen) vocabulary and sibilous sounds that we have. I love to read books about the history of the English language because it's so fascinating and has had so many different influences. But for the most part, I tend to prefer words because of their definitions than how they sound. There are exceptions, of course, such as my ridiculous obsession with alliteration. It is a requirement of most poetry I like that it sound incredible when read out loud, like Paul Verlaine's "Chanson d'automne," whose assonance is breathtaking. But I digress into a topic I already wrote my structuralist paper on for my literature class last semester. One word that has an interesting definition and also describes me frighteningly well is "accismus". Other words I like for one reason or another: sublunary, agog (which I first heard sung by Grantaire--"I am agog; I am aghast"--in Les Misérables and almost died laughing), Schadenfreude and indefatigable.

I absolutely abhor the word "hopefully," because it is never used correctly, and I find myself using it wrongly all the time as well. In fact, I tend to dislike and avoid words that are constantly being abused, such as "moot."

I realize that I have turned a rather simple question into one of my linguistic rants, so I will withdraw with the small amount of composure I have remaining to me.