#i love words

chaoschaoswriting:

As a writer, I truly love words - written language is a flowing, living thing that never ceases to amaze me. When I was a child I would read the dictionary in stages, picking out words to pester my grandparents with. They were wonderfully patient, of course, but it must have become tiring. From writing my first book at 8 (it was about a vampire flea, and honestly I may re-write it as a childrens’ book yet) to the present day, I’ve found great joy in discovering a new word - it’s like meeting an old friend for the first time.

These are some of the best and most unusual words that I’ve come across in my literary explorations:

1. Defenestration

A funny and changeable little word, Defenestration is my go-to icebreaker word for parties now. In the most literal, and humorous, sense it means “the act of throwing someone out of a window”. I think it’s just amazing that there’s a word for this. In an informal sense, however, it is generally used to mean the process or act of demoting or dismissing someone from a position of authority or acclaim. For example “the general was subjected to defenestration after his failure in the war”.

2. Insouciant

One of those words that somehow feels like its meaning, Insouciant describes a person who is “nonchalant (another good word), calm, and casual - free from concern, worry, or anxiety”.

3. Brouhaha

Brouhaha “a state of commotion or excitement, a noisy reaction or response: hubbub, uproar” - the meaning of this word is nowhere near as fun as saying the word. Unfortunately, Brouhaha has become attached to the stuff-upper-lips and plummy accents crowd - I want to take it back.

4. Sonder

A personal favourite of mine, Sonder is one of the most beautiful words in the world… or at least I think so. Defined as “the realization that each person and passerby has a life as real, vivid, and complex as ones’ own”, it’s one of those words that describes a sensation or emotion that is intangible.

5. Festooned

A fun word to say, Festooned also has a lovely meaning. To festoon something means to decorate, to adorn, to drape it with decorative and beautiful things. The most common definition is “to adorn a place with chains or garlands of flowers”.

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findingfeather:

maxofs2d:

cardboardfacewoman:

rooksandravens:

derinthemadscientist:

thepioden:

animatedamerican:

nentuaby:

animatedamerican:

asexualbrittaperry:

ggiornojo:

asexualbrittaperry:

you can make nearly any object into a good insult if you put ‘you absolute’ in front of it

example: you absolute coat hanger

as well u can just add ‘ed’ to any object and it’s sounds like you were really drunk

example: i was absolutely coat hangered last night

#i was gazeboed mate #i was absolutely baubled

Meanwhile, “utter” works for the first (e.g., “you utter floorboard”) but somehow “utterly” doesn’t seem to work as well for the second (“I was utterly floorboarded”).

Utterly doesn’t work for drunk because it’s the affix for turning random objects into terms for *shocked*, obviously.

… huh.  I thought that might just be the similarity to “floored”, and yet “I was utterly coat hangered” does seem to convey something similar.

I have to tell you, I am utterly sandwiched at this discovery.

Completely makes the phrase mean “super tired”.

“God, it’s been a long week, I am completely coat-hangered.”

Something is

Something is wrong with our language

Is it a glitch or a feature?

Feature

we don’t have anything like this in French and it offers a range of expressibility that I wish we could properly translate back. it is a feature, i concur

This is a beautiful example of the contextual nature of communication.