Sunday, March 23, 2014

For The Love (and Hate) of Words...

Like all authors, words are kind of my life. Big ones, little ones, tongue twisters and giggle inducers. But, like everything else in life, there are good and there are bad. Not all words are created equal. At least, not in my world. There are the ones I love and there are ones I hate. I thought I'd share a few of each.

Love

1.      Cheesecake. I can’t eat cheesecake. Eggs are toxic to me, and since cheesecake is stuffed full of em, that pretty much lands it on a list of epic ways to kill myself. But I love the word. It might be the fact that the first part starts with cheese (because, who here does NOT like cheese!?!), or it might just be the random weirdness that is me. Even money that its a little of both.

2.      Turtle. Nope. Not my favorite animal—they don’t even make it into the top twenty (Sorry, turtles. Much love, just not THAT much love...). But it’s such a fun word. I know you agree. Just say it with me a few times. Turtle-turtle-turtle-turtle. Admit it. You said it, too. (I won't tell)

3.      Awesome. This word is so amazing, that even when you hate it, you find yourself saying it. Over and over and over and over... *cringes*

4.      Psychosomatic. I love the sound of it, the meaning—everything. This is a word that needs more love. Find an excuse. I challenge you to work it into a sentence today.

5.      Cadaver. I’ll admit that this one’s on the creepy side. But definition aside, it kinda rolls off the tongue. Am I right? Say it. Ca-da-ver.

Hate

1.      Auntie. I don’t know why, but every time I hear it, I want to rip my ears off.

2.      Panties. Why? Again, I don’t know. It irritates me to the point that I want to punch a sheep. Okay, not really. I love sheep. They're adorable. They waddle around, all fluffy and stuff. Seriously though, there’s a good possibility I have a deep seeded prejudice against words that end in IE…

3.      Awesome. Yes. It was also on the love list. But there’s something about it… I die a little each time it comes out of my mouth - which is sadly often.

4.      Yawn. Everyone hates this word. It’s okay to come clean. I mean, come on…what other word in the English language makes you *yawn* do something by simply speaking or writing it? Evil. Pure evil.

5.      Pimpin. I have a friend that used to say this. It was like styrofoam getting rubbed in my ear. You exactly know what I’m talking about. That grating, spine chilling sound that makes your hair stand on end and your muscles twitch.


You’re up. Tell me your favorite (and not so favorite) word!

2 comments:

Kurt Hampe said...

Pimpin. Yeah, Styrofoam on my post-MTV ears.

I quite like piffle, though. It's got piffitude.

Kristin Lenz said...

I'm late to commenting - just got back from vacation. Funny post, Jus. I actually like the word 'yawn.' It makes me think of empathy among people and it's kind of an onomatopoeia word - yes? It can sound like its meaning. Yaaawn. Time for bed.