Kevin's Watch

....... (in translation or otherwise).

Lugubrious is a word I like. Along with 'unction' it has an almost onomatopoeic quality that gives it a lovely ..... mouth-feel (for want of a better word/s) as it is spoken. Liquidity works as well. Diverse can be wonderful when used in that slightly odd way that only old fashioned language can achieve, and as a translation word nothing surely can compare to the Japanese translation of gorilla.......... gorira! (I kid you not )

... nut job!

Cracks me up every time.

Glad to be of service .

Example of the use of diverse in archaic language written in 1586 by a traveler visiting Egyptian tombs "Broke of all parts of the bodies and brought home divers heads, hands arm's and feet for a shewe'.

testicle

As in "I went down to Testicles to buy the weekly shop"?

No, just testicle. It zounds funnier.

But does it feel good in the mouth ......errr......?

Filthy as ever. Ciao!

Prestidigitation.

--A

Yes, like it Av! Close cousin to .... Legerdemain

Avatar wrote:Prestidigitation.

--A

I dunno why, but I always want to add several syllables in the middle. Prestidigitidigitidigi...

Susurration.

--A

aliantha wrote:

Avatar wrote:Prestidigitation.

--A

I dunno why, but I always want to add several syllables in the middle. Prestidigitidigitidigi...

A bit like beef bourguignon which I always want to d a load of nononon's on the end

Susseration Av. You've been reading too much Donaldson - even I had to check that one out!

...ononononon...

Ethereal.

There's a game like this in Mallory's, y'know, guys. Although far be it from me to suggest that anybody stop posting in GenDisc, so carry on! Onon. Ononononon...

Yes - salubrious works and calls to mind lubricate: not sure about American pronunciation but in the UK the ..lub... part is spoken as if spelt .. liu ... (lee..you..bri..cate..) and it is this that makes these words so almost sensuous to roll around the mouth.

Actually these words, as well as just feeling nice to say also have euphony - they sound good on the ear and this must add to their charm.

You know, we have a whole thread in Mallory's dedicated to such delicious words, called ABCs of Word That Are Fun to Say.

There are words and names in Nigeria that are always fun to say. Nearby is the town of Bukuru (the 'r' is rolled, and the 'u's are pronouned oo). Marraraba, Lokoja, Nyanya, Maiadiko, Mista Ali. These are all actual places.

This whole song feels good coming out:

Aiee yay yay yanuwa, sai mununa kauna (repeat)
Mu rungo mai juna, mununa kauna
Mu sha hannu da juna, mununa kauna aiee yay (it's a lively song about brotherhood)

I always loved the Native American names that dot New England maps, like Moosalamoo, Pawtucket, Narragansett, Wallenpaupack, Bomoseen, Moodus, Ompompanoosuc, Saugatuck, Skaghticoke.

I think I liked French class in school because those words like "quelque chose" felt so good in the mouth too.

peter wrote:You've been reading too much Donaldson - even I had to check that one out!

Actually, I got it from some other book (or at least, that's where it sticks in my mind from). Damned if I can remember which one though...was a girl saying how much she liked the sound of it.

--A

I was reading yesterday how English is a composite of the short Anglo-Saxon words like I, we, are, do etc and the longer more richly descriptive words introduced by the Norman's from a French - Latin background. This mix apparently makes it the most nuanced and flexible language on the planet, the one capable of describing more shades of form and meaning than any other. Not speaking any other I cannot comment......

I dunno...certainly it is descriptive. But there are languages which have words which simply do not exist in English.

My current favourite example comes from Afrikaans, itself an incredibly descriptive language despite having relatively few words in comparison...they have a word for the mist/vapour that forms when you exhale on a cold morning. Vasem.

It's derived from the word for breath, (asem) but for some reason, English does not have a word for it at all.

--A