Warm Fuzzy Words

There's a quote that makes me giggle.

"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that the English language is as pure as a crib-house whore. It not only borrows words from other languages; it has on occasion chased other languages down dark alley-ways, clubbed them unconscious and rifled their pockets for new vocabulary."
—James Nicoll, can.general, March 21, 1992

Thus it is that there's little point in wasting energy on loving or hating anything about words. The language is alive and changing on a daily basis. However, under duress (and with a deadline looming) I'll confess to a few mild preferences.

Words that give me warm fuzzies:
Words that aren't words.
Ain't - Not a true word, but it's so expressive and regional, it's a fine tool when applied judiciously.

Words that annoy others.
Whom - I not only like 'whom', I know when and how it ought to be used. It may be archaic, but damn it, I learned it. You can pry my 'with whom?' out of my cold dead hands. Along with my ale flagon. Related? Farther. It is still a word and it doesn't mean the same thing as further. People saying further when farther is what's meant - well, that belongs down in my 'nails on a chalkboard' list.

I'm currently enamored of a group of words from a class I'm taking:
Systems - you build these
Experiment - then you test your systems
Action - what your systems drive you to
Bonus word - Contingency - that which you have in plan in case your experiments prove your system doesn't work
(I like these words, because at the moment, these words and this class seem to be doing the job I hoped they would...)

Words that are nails on my personal chalkboard:
Words that aren't words. Never mind what I said above. There are few words that aren't words that WORK. Most don't. One of the words that drives me to the brink of murderous rage: Irregardless - doesn't exist. You mean regardless. Don't make me break out the pitchfork and torch.

Words that aren't used correctly - Inflammable. This word doesn't mean what lots of people think it means. It means easily burned - easy to light afire. My gnomish fire mage would be happy to prove your socks are inflammable.

My least favorite words ever? Words that take away.
Cancer
Bury
Goodbye

A Halestorm of Words

I saw HALESTORM at the HOUSE OF BLUES in Cleveland last night! (**which is why my post is late...good reason, huh?)













KICK ASS SHOW!









The opening band reminded me of Paramore. The middle act was a solid and tight blue collar rock band with bite. Here's a video for their song BULLET IN MY HAND which rocked. They sound better live than the studio version--that's saying something. Check 'em out.

Alas...I gotta put the rockin aside for a moment and get to the topic.

Five Words I LOVE:

1.) FUCK. * It's a noun. It's a verb. It's an adjective. Fuck wins the multi-tasking trifecta. You can make an entire sentence with this word and it's derivatives. The word 'shit' comes close to having the same power, as does the word 'smurf' but both lack the broad scope of 'fuck.' *Definition is not possible, but inherent understanding is expected.

2.) MAGNILOQUENCE. "Speaking in lofty or grandiose style." (VICIOUS CIRCLE p 129)

3.) MALEFICENT. "Doing evil or harm." Not only the name for Disney's best villianess, IMO, it's just cool to say. (muh-leff-uh-sent) It rolls off the tongue like sweet candy...with a poison center.

4.) LEXICON. Nope. It's not a fancy convention for high-end car lovers. "Inventory. The vocabulary of a particular language, field, class, person,etc. A wordbook." It's the inventory of your language. Your personal lexicon includes the words you use to communicate every day, the dialect of your area or family or religion, as well as the jargon unique to your profession. It is you.

5.) ILLUMINATI. "Persons possessing or claiming to possess superior enlightenment." It's just a cool word. Sounds mystical and menacing at once.

Five Words I HATE:

1.) NO. Don't tell me no. Just don't. If I've not gotten it myself and I bothered to ask you, it's important.

2.) DISEASE. (Including DIALYSIS. CANCER. etc.) Too many good people taken by it.


3.) WHITE CHOCOLATE. Just put the damn cocoa in mine or keep it to yourself.

4.) {insert fashionable non-word of the week here}. You know which ones I'm talking about. Yeah. :-/

5.) PUSILLANIMOUS. "Lacking courage or resolution; timid; faint-hearted." (pyoo-suh-lan-i-mus) First, it looks like it's going to mean one thing and then it doesn't. Second, it sounds off-putting to me. Just saying. And I had to fill the list with something.

CHAPTER 6 of Persephone Alcmedi Book 7 is up and ready at:
www.wolfsbaneandabsinthe.blogspot.com

Why I Love Color Words and Why Whom Should Die

The view out our driveway the other day. This seems to be shaping up to be a snowy winter!

This week's topic is a good one for the annual Word Whores' Holiday Party. We're breaking out the brandied eggnog, mead and cookies this week and throwing out the cocktail conversation challenge:

What are your five most loved and hated words?

So, I have a confession to make.

As usual, huh?

Must be the brandied eggnog.

I started a list of "Good Words" when I was twelve. I know, I know - my best friend made the 7th grade cheerleading squad and had a boyfriend. I was making lists of good words. This might seem like a stretch, but those words and my feelings about them were absolutely tied in with my burgeoning sexuality. Unlike my friend, I wasn't ready to make out with boys at parties, but I thought about, and read about, sex a lot.

This, no doubt, explains a great deal about how I've ended up where I am today.

I've lost that list - I bet there were 30-50 words on it, that I added to over time - but I know that many of my favorite words today were on it. All of them tie into sensual, exuberant feelings. Here are five of them:

Exquisite

Ebullient

Effervescent

Egregious

Voluptuous

Why do so many begin with the letter "e"? I have no idea. Probably some Facebook app personality analysis would return a verdict. My original list also contained a lot of color/jewel-related words. It's no coincidence that my Facets of Passion series has color titles - or that my original title for Rogue's Pawn was "Obsidian." Yes, I have a list of color words I like, as potential future titles for the Facets of Passion. As a hint, the next three I have contracted are Emerald, Adamantine and Amber.

 As for my most hated words?

You know, this isn't a thing for me. Probably this says something about me, too, but I don't really have words I despise in the same way I have words that make me tingle all over. I know a lot of people hate "moist" or "suckle." They don't bother me. In fact, I can think of only one word that I'll never willingly use:

Whom

Right? I mean, enough already. It's archaic. Most of my editors consider it optional and restricted to formal English. Nobody uses it in conversation. (Okay, yes, some of you do. Have some more mead and stop that.)

I am, however, willing to entertain votes for hated words. Anyone got one that makes their skin crawl?