Eight Awesome Words
It’s time to resurrect my list of awesome words.
8 – Haboob
I only learned the word haboob after a big one blew through downtown Phoenix last year. As soon as I learned it, I gloriously hooted the word over and over around the house. I guess it’s because it has “boob” in it.
7 – Hobo
Derelicts, the homeless, and crazy people aren’t funny. But hobos? How can you not love them, if only for the way the title rolls off your tongue? When I see someone selling newspapers at a street corner, I point them out to Meg and include the word hobo.
6 – Giblets
What it means: the heart, liver, gizzard, and the like of a fowl, often cooked separately. What it means to me: the bits above Meg’s butt I can pinch. “I love your giblets,” I say. “The upper and lower ones,” I continue, clarifying further. I slide my hands around her butt. “And your niblets, too.” She smiles at me.
5 – Boobscruples
Boobscruples, Meg and I decided late one night, is "having or related to the discerning taste about boobs." You can’t just like anyone’s boobs. You have to have some boobscruples. At least, that’s what I think I remember how we defined it. I don’t know. It was late at night. I scrawled it on my “Awesome Words” list and passed out.
4 – Bamboozle
What it means: To deceive or get the better of (someone) by trickery, flattery, or the like. Why it’s on the list: because when I used it, Meg cracked up so hard I leaned over and wrote it down.
3 – Catawampus
What it means: Askew; awry. Why on the list? It reminds me of cats flopping over. It’s not etymologically related to cats whatsoever, but if you were going to pick a word to describe a cat flopping over, wouldn’t this be a good onomatopoetic choice?
2 – Kerfuffle
What it means: A commotion or fuss. For no reason at all, it reminds me of potato chips. I also like how it makes my tongue feel when I say it.
1 – Snuggle
I like snuggling, so that’s probably why it’s on the list. Most nights that Meg sleeps with me, she ends it by saying, “Turn over and snuggle me, mister.” I turn over on my side away from her and she slides her arm around me. I’m the little spoon, she’s the big spoon. I fall asleep immediately.
Honorable Mention Goes To…
Petrichor
What it means: The name for the smell of rain on dry ground. I have never used this word in my entire life. I just found it on the Internet one day and said, “Hey, I like the smell of rain on dry ground!” I still haven’t used the word, and I’ve never heard anyone else actually say it, so it doesn’t make the list. Also, I live in a desert, so the topic doesn’t come up much.
So what about you? Do any of you have any favorite words?
Cheers,
Oliver
I like the word “superlative” a lot. It’s pronounced kind of the opposite of how it looks. “Macabre,” which reminds me of “macramé,” which is how I pronounced it the first time I encountered it. And “sublime,” which looks like it ought to mean something entirely different. I like “haboob,” too, although Autocorrect doesn’t.
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These words are awesome 🙂
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I didn’t know the word petrichor before…the kind of metallic tang that comes from recently wet dirt. Do you know “skookum”? Meaning substantial, well-built, enduring? It’s a northwest coast word.
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Good words all. > petrichor I don’t know if this justifies putting it on the list, but I talked quite a bit about it in http://www.opendiary.com/entryview.asp?authorcode=D655317&entry=10672 and briefly mentioned it in http://www.opendiary.com/entryview.asp?authorcode=D655317&entry=10062 I do like “kerfuffle” as well– learnt it from a British girl, though I don’t know if its origin is British. > Hobo I tend to use “bum.” > Boobscruples I suggest that perhaps “boobscruples” are what keeps us from fondling the breasts of random attractive enticingly dressed women we see on the street. Those and the desire not to be struck in the face or elsewhere. Davo
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I love the word wanderlust.
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