Some Words I Love

As I start teaching again and thinking about language, I realize how much fun English is, with its mish-mash of vocabulary and its awesome ridiculous slang. Don't get me wrong; I loves me some Latin and Greek, but English is my mother tongue and she's got some absolutely awesome words to say.

1. Behoove: Is there any way to sound more pretentiously awesome than to use "behoove" (or behove if you're all into British English)??? I'm teaching impersonal verbs next week and I absolutely cannot wait to use this one (its impersonal in Latin and English...yes!). Though it sounds like something God did to farm animals (...and on the sixth day He made the horses and cows and behooved them), its actual meaning is perfect for teacher usage; in fact, my example sentence? "opportet te facere laborem domi" ("It behooves you to do your homework.")

2. Vermouth: I don't actually know what vermouth tastes like, be it sweet or whatever other kind there is, but whenever I say it, I want to say it again. And again. And even again. Until it feels like I have a lisp and its actually 'vermoose,' which is actually pretty fun to say too.

3. Lithe: There was an ongoing discussion at one point in my life as to how this word should be pronounced. My contention was correct; it should rhyme with blithe. When pronounced correctly, 'lithe' feels and sounds just as nice at its definition.... the long, slender 'i', the soft 'th' at the end...its just a nice word.

4. Fuck: Sorry, Mom. There's just no getting around this one. I love the mother of all cuss words. I know others have waxed poetic on its utility (you really can use it as just about any part of speech), but I really love it for the perfection of its sound. Its so perfect when you're angry and you want to say something really really reeeeeeeeeeally bad. I know maybe its not considered as taboo as it once was (overuse does that, and I'm just as guilty of overusing 'fuck' as the next person), but still, is just such a satisfying word to say.

5. Bright: Rainbow Bright. Light Bright. Bright kids. Bright ideas. Bright Lights, Big City. Star light, star bright. Its just such a happy word, but also a just a little dark. In Touch of Blue, the main character is blind and her favorite word is bright because it represents everything good in the world. That's why I love it too.

6. Whence: I always have to fight the urge to put a "from" in front of "whence." That's the beauty of it. It literally means "from where," and we're not efficient enough language users to remember that! English is a preposition-heavy language, especially in place of adverbs, but "whence," besides sounding totally awesomely archaic and educated, is a complete little adverb all on its own. Also, when you pronounce the 'h', "whence" sounds like unicorn manes blowing in the sweet breeze made by the breath of butterflies.

7. Dongle: I'm pretty sure a 15-year-old boy made this up. Or at least someone with the sense of humor of a 15-year-old boy. The vague resemblance to a slang term for male genitalia can't be coincidence. And every time I hear it, I giggle...hell, every time I say it, too. And yet, millions of people every day say "dongle" completely seriously, without any trace of amusement. Seriously, tech people, how do you do it??

8. Doing: Say it a lot. Like 20 times in a row. It sounds awesome!

9. Verboten: Technically, this isn't an English word, but English is such a mongrel language anyway, I don't think it matters if I throw in a German word popularly used in American vernacular. Somehow, "verboten" is stronger than "forbidden", as though the entire formidable strength of the German people were behind it. It also starts with that voiced "v" which is ever so much more vibrant than the silly 'f' of forbidden. Shout it sometime. You'll feel powerful.

Yup, words are awesome.