Words I Love

Does blogging about my homework make me a nerd? Possibly. But I got really excited about this English assignment today and thought it was worth sharing. We were supposed to write about how these words make arguments more effective... but I misread and started writing about why I love them. 

So, here's the window into my mind for the day:

1.      Petrichor

I love petrichor because the Doctor said it, and because it gives a name to the smell of something I love: rain.

2.      Amorous

Amorous is a cool word because it sound like “amour” with a tail at the end. It makes me think of a love fish swimming around the word it’s modifying.

3.      Façade

Something false, or the front of a building, sounds so much cooler when you say “façade.” It’s like you’re giving humanity to an object or a situation by giving it a ‘face’.

4.      Felicity

If I am lucky enough to have a daughter someday, I would want to call her Felicity. She would forever be someone whose company would be desired, for her very name would mean happiness – and I couldn’t exactly name her happiness, could I?

5.      Abhorrent

Guttural Germanic words don’t usually appeal to me, but abhorrent just sounds cool. It’s like harbor, but with a completely different meaning (unless you hate the sea).

6.      Verdant

Verdant is more than just green. It’s something living, moving, eye catching. It’s something that seems crystalized in time, subject to the past, the present, and the future.

7.      Glistening

Glistening sounds like it looks: light sparkling across of surface of something.

8.      Equivocate

Switching the meaning of words? Trying to be sneaking in an argument? You’re probably equivocating. Isn’t that better than saying you’re deceptive? I think so!

9.      Soliloquy

Sol-il-o-quee. What a wonderfully soft and squishy word! It feels good in my mouth… Whoops, am I talking to myself again?

10.  Vacillate

Vacillate sounds like equivocate, and it also means to go between two things. The difference is that vacillate sounds like you’re making vassals do things for you, which is cool - unless you know a vassal.