People love words. Some love them more than others, admittedly, but to all of us language is important. If I was to randomly pounce on people in the street, and ask them to tell me their favourite word, I wager that after getting over the initial scare, almost all would be happy, willing, and able to offer a reply. Like anything where subjective opinion and self-expression are involved, there is no right or wrong answer, and, just as it would be if I asked for a favourite food, book, or film, the words on the list would vary dramatically.
The following ten words are those I currently consider to be my favourites. Of course as soon as I post this I’ll think of others, possibly better, but no matter, these ten are good’uns, be that because of how they look, how they sound, what they mean, or because of something less explicable. For whatever reason, they chime with me.
Brutal, savage, and putrid. These three gems have a wondrously evocative quality, and when used with a simple noun, have huge descriptive potential. Write the old couple survived the brutal winter, and in two words I see iron-hard earth, perishing hunger, and wind so cold it freezes blood.
Tmesis. Stephen fry taught me this odd-looking word in an episode of QI. It’s pronounced ‘tuh me sis’ and it means a word or phrase that is split, and then another word or words inserted between the parts. Tmesis can be used for added emphasis – and this is where it gets brilliant – so that you end up with deformed monstrosities like: anyoldhow, fanbloodytastic, and unbefuckinglievable. Tmesis I love you, but your babies aren’t pretty.
Heebie-jeebies. I get the heebies a lot and I’m glad there’s a special word for them.
Frippery. Oh, what’s not to love about the word frippery?!! It’s frivolous, flippant, flibbertigibbet, fritter and lippy, all rolled into three gauzy syllables.
Miasma. This beautiful sounding word floats off the tongue, but means ‘noxious atmosphere’, and in times gone past Those-That-Knew blamed this foul-smelling air for the rapid spread of disease in filthy areas of over-crowded, industrialised towns and cities. (Those of us who live, or have lived, in a confined space with a man will understand how they arrived at this theory. I often fear I might catch something fatal from one of those smells he produces.) Germ-theory eventually replaced Miasma-theory, whereby bacteria and not poisonous smells were found to be the culprits, but the dullness of the word germ can never compare to the poetic lilt of miasma.
Epic. This is controversial. Many people loathe it, but in a show of strident disregard for snotty attitudes to Pop Linguistics, I’m going to profess my love. As with Pop Music and Pop Art, purists will complain, but epic has burst into contemporary parlance in a pimped up Ford Revival honking it’s horn up the backsides of word-snobs everywhere, and it’s my guilty pleasure. ‘How was your trip to the supermarket, darling?’ ‘Oh. My. God. It was EPIC!!’ This tells us it was no ordinary trip. This trip is one of incident and anecdote. This trip to the supermarket will become the stuff of family legend. At the end of my life I hope they can write on my headstone: Here lies Amanda. She lived an EPIC life!! What more can you ask for?
Elevenses. It’s a shame I don’t get to use this word in everyday-speak because it makes me happy. I could think of little more wonderful than sharing daily elevenses – mugs of hot cocoa and a plate of iced buns – with Paddington Bear and Mr Gruber, in a glorious Antiques shop, as the kindly old man regales us with tales of Hungarian folklore.
Vajaja. I am proud to call myself a feminist, a person who will passionately defend the right to political, economic, and social equality for all women. But I do have hang-ups. One of those is hating the word (whisper it) vagina. Growing up we referred to our vaginas as front bottoms. Dreadful. (Don’t even mention farts being windypops…) Late last year I was introduced to the word vajaja (thanks Annie!!). True liberation! Now I can talk about my vajaja without cringing. I know what some of you are thinking. The word vajaja smacks more of a feather boa-clad, gin-soaked Hollywood has-been, than a fist-saluting, feminist warrior, but hey, let’s be honest, what girl doesn’t like a feather boa? (Or gin for that matter.) ‘This, my friends, is my VAJAJA!’ I will cry from the rooftops. ‘My beautiful, womanly Vajajajajaja!’ NB: if you actually see me doing this – flashing my vajaja on the rooftops – please be good enough to talk me down, then drive me home and pour me a very large gin.
Post Script: My ten worst words are: moist, firkin, rectum, phlegm (ugly, phonetic disaster zone, and it means infected snot. Bleugh), haitch (there is no ‘h’ at the beginning of the word that describes the letter ‘h’. The word is aitch. Not Haitch. Word-snob? Moi?), abs (I’m not great with unnecessary truncating of words. This amuses my husband who will call an aubergine an aub, and a wallet a wal, just to piss me off. But abs is the worst, primarily because I do not have them. So to all of you reading this with flat, muscular stomachs, they’re called abdominals, OK? Get your abs away from my ears), crux (as in the crux of the matter. A purely irrational hatred of a four-letter ‘c’ word), tissue (when pronounced tiss-yoo as opposed to tish-oo), and the last, the worst, the most HIDEOUS is…
…rumpy-pumpy. This hyphenated word throws one image at me and it’s not a pretty one. A sweaty, lecherous, aristocratic bufty-type, his eyes wide with glee as he claps his hands together, shouting: ‘Rumpy-pumpy. Rumpy-PUMPY! Pumpy, pumpy, PUUUUMMMMPY!’ This is imagery that no woman – or man – should ever have to endure. Rumpy-pumpy is unacceptable. I hereby decree that rumpy-pumpy be struck from the English language forthwith.
No. More. Rumpy-pumpy.
Do tell me your own best and worst words. I’d be fascinated to read them!
How can you not like Rumpy-Pumpy. Having been influenced in my youth by Edmund Blackadder, this word is up there at the top of my list. To be fair, it should always be said in an Elizabethan way, with a certain rool of the R and emphasis of the first P of pumpy. I cannot see it working in a broad Northern accent!
I have two wonderful words to throw in the mix. Both are however, French. I know, I know, don’t judge me too harshly, but biblioteque and parapluie are so lyrical that their nationality must be forgiven.
I must think on the rest of my words before commenting further!
Actually, I used to adore Blackadder, and now you’ve reminded me, it’s taken the edge off my vitriol toward ‘rumpy-pumpy’. No…wait a minute…nope. I won’t be swayed. It’s WRONG!!!
My fave is diddlysquit!! x
am with you re unnecessary truncation of perfectly acceptable words. “hubby” for example . or “cardi”. on the other hand, there are words that deserve more regular outings. i like “schadenfreude” (don’t we all?). or “bonny” – i miss that, living darn sarf. and, by marrying a wrlshman i got to know the word “cwtch”. which isn’t as rude as it sounds…
I LOVE the word ‘schadenfreude’. Bugger it. That’s better than ‘putrid’. Please make appropriate mental note. ‘Bonny’ too. I feel bad because I say ‘cardi’…oh dear!! I also just read a previous post of mine and saw I’d written the word ‘abs’. I am a FRAUD!!!
Oh Amanda this has made me laugh and laugh. so many of those words are ones which I both love and loathe. What a fantastic blog. To add mine:
Likes: tumultuous, voluptuous Sassy and smite.
Dislikes : Perambulation, saunter, tricky, dodgy, clammy.
SMITE – is an EPIC word.
Clammy – is not.
I don’t mind saunter, though if I saw someone doing it, I would probably giggle at them.
My word is unworthy
No word is unworthy. Well, unworthy is unworthy, obviously. But apart from unworthy no word is unworthy they’re all worthy of something. Except ‘rumpy-pumpy’. Which is not.
I’m going to pontificate over this and get back to you, but there’s one of my favourites right there….
p.s. Glad you found your vajaja….;)
I’m glad I found my vajaja too!!
)
And pontificate is a great word.
Rumpy de Pumpy is very funny in Blackadder and in Miranda are you sure you cannot reconsider?
maybe just upgrade it from most vile to less hated but not totally loved?
Oh goodness, I’m beginning to doubt myself…
…however, if I’ve learnt one thing from politicians it’s ‘always stand fast, no matter how bad your decision turns out to be. U-turns equal weakness’. I’ve just had an image of a grotty mp slapping his PA on the ‘rear’ and demanding ‘rumpy-pumpy’… SHUDDER!!!!
My worst word is NO so negative and far to often used
I started reading this leaning against the worktop and then just had to sit down to absorb and enjoy! It’s fanny in our house, as I also do not like the term vagina, but fanny is not the best … I may start the change to vajaja as its much prettier to say.
Manda I would join you for ellevenses anytime ..
… I like The German word entschuldigung (excuse me), always have since learning German at school. Px
That’s a great word! And even better I have no idea what it means. I shall make something up. Does it mean: that feeling you get when you’ve eaten so many iced buns that your tummy might pop so you have to lie down, preferably in a hammock? If so, it moves straight to number 1 slot.
Tilly calls her vjaja her neat bottom, she decided this the first time she saw a boy baby having hos nappy changed, she was revolted by the sheer messiness of boy bits she smugly called hers a neat bottom and it has stuck bless!
Hates: dainty, moist, unctuous, titty, natch (in that journo-short-for-naturally way) and especially ‘little people’ instead of children.
love fornicate, spicy, dazzle and trombone
Vajaja is genius – I get a mental image of a flamboyant gay american stylist delivering a hard message about waxing. Brilliant xx
Mands, you clever girl – if all these choice words don’t get your creative juices flowing, what can? Lucy, thank you for explaining “natch” to me. Can’t believe I’ve been such a dullard (one of my fav words btw) that I have never been able to work it out EVEN when it was written out in context. My choice for this evening – probably because I am one my tod tonight – is “frotter”. I was introduced to it by a modern language student so suspect it’s French. Who hasn’t squeezed in close to the hunk in the bar with the masculine shoulders or mighty fine thighs? Harmless appreciation or frottage??
Why does that make me laugh so much, thinking of you, snuggling up to some hot young thing, with the word ‘frotter’ on your mind as you press against the poor chap?!! Love you foreves, you filthy thing.
And, yes, dullard, what a fab word. xx
BEJEZZAS – titty. That is a VILE word. Hate it. Please replace ‘rectum’ with ‘titty’ in my ten worst words. I love ‘fornicate’…the image of all those uptight, puritan, zealous types, sptting the word as they jab knives into their thighs excites me.
She…She…She..FORNICATES!!! (Love it… xx)
Favourites: hoopla, incarnadine, humdrum, jackdaw, verisimilitude, zenith, ink, darling, gumdrop, belligerent, zephyr and others. I could go on and on and on and on…
I don’t really dislike any words but I do cringe inwardly when I hear/see ‘amazeballs’. It’s a scourge of modern vernacular. Ooh! Scourge! And vernacular! I like them too
Hoopla, belligerent, ink…all super-duper (yuk…super-duper. Not good.) and ‘amazeballs’, or even worse ‘totes amazeballs’ is not good at all. Surely though, and here I bring that beautiful skeleton out of your cupboard, ‘muff’ must be up there in your list of favs?!! Love you chick.
Just think how much more schmexy Pussy Galore would have been is she’d been named Vajaja Galore.
Plus if you chant ‘vajaja’ and conga at the same time it’s rather groovy.
Super to hear you found your vajaja, may you have many happy times together
This comment, all who might be reading, is from Annie, Queen of the Vajaja. Bow down, supplicate (love this word), worship. And, um, maybe do the vajaja-congo in her honour. Annie, in words similar to those used by Abba, ‘thank you for the vajaja.’
Favourite: ‘Tickled’ – not in the literal sense, but when something someone says or does really ‘tickles’ you. Worst: ‘Whatever’ – especially when it comes out of the mouth of my 8 year old!
Love the word ‘tickeld’ when it means ‘you’ve made me smile inside and out’. Whatever, and it’s truncated b’tard offspring, whatevs, aren’t my favs, but I’ll let them live. (In a few years you can say ‘whatever’ back to your daughter. Larks!
Dislikes “droll”. Surely the dictionary is wrong? How can it mean “funny/comical” when it sounds like a mixture of “dull” and “troll”? Then again, does anyone even use it any more? I guess it’s no major shakes to dislike a word that is more or less extinct.
I agree, if you didn’t know what ‘droll’ meant, you’d never guess would you. I do actually still use this word, but only when my husband says something ‘funny’ that’s actually a concealed dig at me. ‘Oh, yeah, very droll, dear…’
Xx
Liked:
1. biblioteque
2. parapluie
3. sorry, but rumpy-pumpy has to be there!!
4. flange
5. bollocks
6. balderdash
7. gusset
8. salamander
9. horlicks (the polite version of 5 in our house, as well as a very tasty hot beverage!)
10. whoopsie
11. Speacial mention for Fruitbat, anyone who displeases me is one of these!!
Dis-liked:
1. melange
2. setee
3. doily
4. See you next Tuesday!
5. moist. Cakes need to be but nothing else does!
6. wha’ever. And if the hand signal accompanies the word, the person should be shot!
7. pardon. Unless relating to a prison sentence!
8. marmite
9. pernickity
10. M25, for very obvious reasons it makes my skin crawl when ever it is uttered!
Get thy ‘flange’ and thy ‘gusset’ AWAY. ‘Gusset’ nearly made my worst list, in fact, if ‘rectum’ hadn’t been bumped off by ‘titty’ then I’d put ‘gusset’ in instead. ‘Crotch’ however is acceptable. Just…
I love the way you have started a war of words with words!! I personally feel you are being very harsh on my choices.
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