10 favourite words

[Jeff]

Been reading Clifford Pickover's Sex, Drugs, Einstein, & Elves, and came across this:

In 1958, a fan asked Bertrand Russell to list his 20 favorite words in the English language. Russell replied, "I had never before asked myself such a question," and then proceeded to give his list as follows:

wind
heath
golden
begrime
pilgrim
apocalyptic
ineluctable
terraqueous
inspissated
incarnadine
quagmire
diapason
alabaster
fulminate
astrolabe
chorasmean
subluminary
alembic
chrysoprase
ecstasy

Pickover, inspired, asked a number of modern-day authors for their top 10 words. A couple:

Piers Anthony:

honor
realism
sex
empathy
imagination
pantheism
magic
idealism
chocolate
verisimilitude

Paul Krasnner:

change
yummy
afterglow
inspire
melody
laughter
soul
evolve
infinity
delicious

I'll post mine when I have more time. Yours?

[sunny]

Oh I love Piers Anthony!


erotic
sumptuous
peace
love
luscious
forevermore
haunting
fulsome
effervescent
fellatio

(no pattern here folks, move along)

[Jeff]

Okay, my list:

madrigal
chthonic
manifestation
phosphate
hyperborean
ellipsis
aphid
intuitive
higgledy-piggledy
nebula

[Jeff]

(no pattern here folks, move along)

Then I won't feel bad about posting the list Pickover received from Annie Sprinkle:

_______________________clit_______________________
_______________________lick_______________________
______________________moist______________________
______________________grace______________________
_____________________ snuggle_____________________
____________________scrumptious___________________
_____________________titillating_____________________
_____________________snorkel_____________________
_______________________pink_______________________
_______________________fart_______________________

She asked that her words be centered to form "an approximation to a vulva or labia shape."

[monster]

I can only think of 5 right now:

• Copasetic
• Snuffleupagus
• Xanadu
• Hamburgers
• Kinetic

[jingofever]

I have a soft spot for chimney-sweep. It's one word because I used a hyphen. Hyphen... hyphen... nah, don't like it. Geritol is good. Gumption. Jib. I try to use snarf when I can. Sort of like geritol is brylcreem. That's a funny one. Nay, but not in a voting context. Chud, schlub, chach, I find those useful from time to time.

[chillin]

Free
Ineffable
Nature
Ganga
Dread
Twinkle
Sparkle
Laughter
Smile
Love

[Jeff]

Woody and Tinny words

[brownzeroed]

prestidigitator
abhorrent
somnambulist
mesmerize
snollygoster
borborygmic
palindrome
tauromachy
lanyard
anserine
-
*Honorable mention: widdershins



Sounds like a Dickens novel.

From the Victorian classic, The Tool of Yarn:

Young Lanyard stood mesmerized. The prestidigitator set about his abhorrent routine. He spun the effete, anserine, somnambulist moppet widdershins. The Crown stood captivated; the magician holding court like a Spaniard from the golden-age of tauromachy. The old wizard closed the house with an unworldly, 400,000 character palindrome. With that, he promptly exploded.

Sorry. The strike is on and I'm bored.
If anyone has a need for low-key lighting, I'm available...

[Seamus OBlimey]

alabaster
babble
cunt
delicious
elucidate
frig
gurgle
hiccups
irksome
jism

kismet
louche
madrigal
nonsense
olfactory
precious
queer
rambunctious
scintillating
tenacious
ullulate
viscosity
weg
xenon
yes
zen

[§ê¢rꆧ]

Epistemology
Eschatology
Gnosis
Ontology
Anarchy
Concrescence
Hex
Hermeneutics
Exegesis
Cognitive Dissonance

[annie aronburg]

peanut
crepescular
twaddle
quintessence
aurora
juggarnaut
cornucopia
psychedelic
trafuffle
chihuahua

[blanc]

no favs but these quite nice:-
tipple
scuffle
Fata Morgana
hyperbole
heft
erudite
yarely
tad
gypsum
swathe

[brainpanhandler]

equipoise
addled
insouciant
gobbledygook
thingamajig
ineluctable
quiescent
willowy
rakish
psychonaut

[Searcher08]

Cybernetic
Yurt
Purple
Angelic
Anthropomorphism
Susurrus
Adroit
Spume
Gruntfuttock
Tantra