The "favorite words" thread!

[7rider]

Favorite words?

"Sale"
and even better still...
"Free"

[Wahine]

Where is my vorpal sword??

So I read Brassiere as Brasserie and thought, yeah, I like that word too. Tells you where my mind is.

Another favorite from my Sheffield born Grandma...

"Holy shamilligans, we're going to have a donny brook." Not sure of the spelling, I only ever heard her say it.

[margo49]

"Donnybrook" is one word and Irish for stooshie (see Bruno28's post)
My parents used it in New Zealand, although it was "a real donnybrook" meaning a more serious one I guess.

[RolliePollie]

I hate "R U R A L"; I just can't ennuciate it without sounding like RuRRRRWral Ugh!!

Too funny...I've always hated the work "rural" as well...impossible to say. I used to work for the County Office of Procurement & Contracts...and I can't say "procurement." So I just called it "Purchasing" because that's what we did.

I get a kick out of words that you can accidentally spell wrong but then they become another word. These can be dangerous (and hilarious) words. Example: At work, I once wrote a contract for janitorial services for the Pubic Defender's Office. Spell checker can't tell the difference between Pubic and Public! Unfortunately we also have County departments called Public Health, Public Guardian, and Public Authority.

Another word I just discovered which also has this nightmarish spelling issue is "pines." Switch the vowels...you'll see what the problem is.

[Starfish]

This isn't a real word, but when we were kids, a friend of mine used to hear our family talk about moral fiber. One day, she tried to say it and is came out: morbal fire.

I always felt that the weighty implication of something called "morbal fire" to be much more intriguing!

[Jolt]

This isn't a real word, but when we were kids, a friend of mine used to hear our family talk about moral fiber. One day, she tried to say it and is came out: morbal fire.

I always felt that the weighty implication of something called "morbal fire" to be much more intriguing!

Nice--spoonerisms can make for a good laugh! That reminded me of one my mom did once: she meant to say "if the shoe fits" and it came out "if the foo sh!ts"!! We must have been cracking up for a good ten minutes after that one!

[Starfish]

it came out "if the foo sh!ts"!!

Did she finish the saying with..."wear it!" ??

[Jolt]

And there's always making up big technical sounding terms for everyday things--here are a couple of my favorites: "cerebral flatulation" and "accidentally evacuating the legumes". (Can you figure out what common expressions these mean?)

EDIT: And how about, instead of saying somebody is a jerk, saying they're the third derivative of displacement (or second derivative of velocity)? Wow, this is bad. I may be a nerd, but I don't normally make physics jokes--usually they're more medical!

On a related note, instead of calling someone an @$$hole, they're an anal sphincter!

And then there's what one of my bio professors in college would say: "Feces occurs".

[Jolt]

Did she finish the saying with..."wear it!" ??

No, she didn't finish the sentence. We were making cookies around Christmas time, and I spilled some flour, and she made some comment, to which I replied "are you saying I'm a klutz?", and then she said (or meant to say) "Well, if the shoe fits..." and that's when she goofed it up and we couldn't get serious again for a while!

[Zen]

Hadn't completely caught up with this thread, some funny stuff here.

all I have is willy-nilly and careening

[Mr. Bloom]

OK, it's not a total hijack since others have interjected 'poetry'...but here's my favorite limerick (and Silver will attest that I've known it for years)

A canner exceedingly canny
One morning remarked to his granny
A canner can can anything that he can
But a canner can't can a can, can he?

It makes total sense, which still amazes me 35 years after I first read it...

[Zen]

A canner can can a can if she is a canny canner.
And has a hammer.

[withm]

syzygy. [SIZZ-uh-gee] Hands down my all-time fave. It's a real word. Honest! In astronomy, we use it to describe an alignment of celestial bodies such as when the Earth, moon, and Sun line up during an eclipse. Can be used to describe an alignment of other planets as well.

Wow - that would be a great scrabble word if only I could remember it (and get the right letters) ...

[RoadRaven]

Wow... great thread!!!
Caloo, calay!!!

I think we need to add to this reportoirre though...

facinorous (it means extremely wicked... as in TimTam indulgment )


dasypygal - how do I get this in a sentence? I have been trying for 4 years! It means... hairy buttocked!

Oh, and SGTiger... we have a Pamplemouse Tree - you can enquire after my Pamplemice any time you feel the urge to use 'the word'

[lph]

dasypygal - how do I get this in a sentence? I have been trying for 4 years! It means... hairy buttocked!

heh-heh-heh... if you scoot over to bike journal you'll find just the thread to use this word in

I dare you!