shakespearemom

Ever sit back and notice how beautiful the English language is? Forget what all the words mean, just for a moment, and relish their magnificence. Even the word “magnificence” is, well, magnificent? 

Let me tell you my favorite words. This exercise actually reminds me of an old movie with Leslie Caron in it: The Glass Slipper. A very entertaining version of the classic Cinderella tale, but with a few twists. If you like musicals, or old movies, or Cinderella, you’ll like it. (Heck, you might like it even if you don’t like any of those things.) In the film, the fairy godmother meets Cinderella at a pond, and Cinderella says she came to say goodbye, and the fairy godmother says, “I don’t particularly like that word, goodbye,” and proceeds to tell her other words she does like, such as “windowsill” and “pickle relish.” So here are my favorites, not in any particular order.

Serendipity. I actually knew a student who named his daughter this, but most people don’t have a clue what it means. But if they just listened to it, they’d know. It’s a happy, joyous sort of word, filled with hopefulness and spirit.

Posthumous. Could you think of a prettier word for after death? It makes a dead person sound regal and stately, as if they were important, even if they weren’t. I hope, when I die, to have something happen “posthumously.” 

Weird. Could a word sound more like what it means than that? Okay, perhaps some other words could, like eerie, creepy, goofy, silly, or LOUD.

Fantabulous. Okay, so it’s not a real word, but it’s fantastic and fabulous put together. And words joined together save so much energy when one is gushing. Other words like this include babelicious, craptastic and uglirific. My kids’ favorite is mooilions (a.k.a. “lots of cows”).

So, what are your favorite words? I hold a soft spot for darker words, like vulnerable and weakening, anything emotionally laden, anything with a dark side. What words move you? 

Trackback URI | Comments RSS