I'm looking at my old copy of "The Book of Lists," which has a list of the "10 Most Beautiful Words in the English Language" and a list of "The 10 Worst-Sounding English Words." (The lists are from different sources, in case you're wondering about the lack of parallel titles.)
10 Best: chimes, dawn, golden, hush, lullaby, luminous, melody, mist, murmuring, tranquil.
10 Worst: cacaphony, crunch, flatulent, gripe, jazz, phlegmatic, plump, plutocrat, treachery.
With the exception of "jazz" -- which just doesn't belong on the "worst" list -- all of these words align sound and meaning. That is, the words that sound beautiful mean something beautiful, and the words that sound ugly, have a negative meaning as well.
So here's the challenge: come up with words that sound beautiful but mean something ugly, or sound ugly but mean something beautiful.
२५ जून, २००५
याची सदस्यत्व घ्या:
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पोस्ट्स
३५ टिप्पण्या:
Workaday word that is extremely beautiful: "cellar door"
Deleteria -- sounds like it might be a combination delicatessen/cafeteria.
She might have a sister named Diarrhea. That's quite lovely now, isn't it?
"Macabre" is a nice enough word, despite its morbid connotation.
"Plump" doesn't sound ugly to my ear, at least not the way 'flop, 'plop,' and 'plunk' do. Plus, I think there's nothing more beautiful than a ripe juicy plump peach unless it's a pair of ripe juicy plump lips.
Okay Sippician, except that when "parties" are announced for birthday parties or for most events, last names are used most often. DeBrie seems a rather normal French surname.
Goulash is an excellent response to the challenge. Foods should sound appetizing, but sometimes we give them a funny name for fun -- and sometimes it's just a foreign word that has a strange connection to English. Goulash sounds like galoshes.
Lots of medical terms for bad things sound pretty, like diptheria, which reminds me of ethereal.
Antonym of abyss = precipice? pinnacle?
Not exactly on topic, but I love the made up word from the Simpsons: "cromulent"
"I'd never heard of 'embiggen' before coming to Springfield."
"I don't know why; it's a perfectly cromulent word."
It sounds questionable, but apprently means "acceptable."
I'd offer the word 'arrogance' as a negative, but beautiful sounding word, but Ann Althouse and all her regular commenters embrace arrogance as if it's their life's goal. So, I'll decline.
Now don't everybody pile on...
Sippican,
Hmmm, I assume that "prefect" in quotes is a clue, so last guess for today: zenith? heaven?
I love word games and find it fascinating how people who seem similar in intelligence and verbal expression can relate very differently to word games. My wife can beat me at Boggle 9 times out of 10; I am much better at crosswords. She solves the Jumble clues one at a time; I look at the cartoon and guess the answer.
Anyone here familiar with Quiddler?
I've never liked the word, FETUS.
What could be more beautiful than a developing human infant, but when described in this medical terminology the word conjurs up thoughts of the little monsters in the movie "Alien".
Hmmm.... what would you think if you knew that two of the commenters on this post are actually the same person? Guess how I figured it out.
"Pancreatic" sounds like it has to do with being creative about everything.
Sippican,
Thanks for the compliments, but I'm not feeling very smart. Abyss apparently comes from Greek (where we picked up the a- prefix meaning "not" or without"), abyssos, meaning bottomless. I did study Greek in seminary, but I used some help for that one (Online Etymology Dictionary). I still don't get your clue. I'm just slow today.
Back on topic: Not to be crude, but "orgasm" has always sounded harsh and ugly to me.
Sippican is pretending to be a normal human while also posting words like "byss"!
I will have to look that one up in my unabridged dictionary.
I've always thought the word "placenta" was gross (anyone else remember the "Placenta Helper" commercial-spoof from early SNL?), but that must have something to do with its meaning, because "placebo" is very similar-sounding but doesn't bother me in the least.
And get this--a commenter over at Dave Barry's Blog says that they knew someone who named their daughter Placenta! (Scroll down to the comment from 8:01 a.m. today.)
Sippican: I'm a jazz musician, so the original definition of the word (which may have come from the Dutch word "jass" and then been vulgarized later) doesn't bother me.
If you do accept the vulgar meaning of the word (which is not universally accepted; go here for one look at its origin), it still makes sense as to how it came to be applied to the music. Jazz is considered to have gotten its start in New Orleans' red-light district known as Storyville. Because of discrimination, black bands were not allowed to play in white clubs, so many of them had to resort to playing in brothels. From there, it's easy to see how the word and music became connected.
Osculate my derriere.
I think osculation sounds painful, but sometimes it's quite nice once you put your lips to the task.
And derriere, in the way it rolls through the mouth as you say it, sounds much better than what it really is.
Of course the phrase osculate my derriere cuts both ways, depending on whether it is your boss or the milf next door employing the phrase, and how literally they mean it.
Oh, and when milf eventually enters the dictionary, it will be one of those unpleasant sounding words with a tasty meaning (sorta, depending on one's testosterone count).
Somebody's gotta say it... "Ejaculation" is a word that sounds much worse than what it really is....
And now that I have digressed....
A rather euphonious word that has mostly a negative connotation could be 'effluvia'
How about a word that is both euphonious and harsh sounding, with both harsh and pleasant connotations.
Row as in fight sounds harsh, but row as in row, row, row your boat has a pleasant sound.
Along the same lines, sow for female pig, not so nice, but sow as in sowing seeds, pretty.
And speaking of musical terms as some have, Funk sounds harsh, but is a terrific musical genre (yet funk as in depression matches the harsh tone of the syllable)
With the exception of "jazz" -- which just doesn't belong on the "worst" list -- all of these words align sound and meaning.
For my theres no beautiful word in the world.
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