What is the most beautiful phrase in the English langauge?
Asked by
Unbroken (
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May 18th, 2013
Background: I was rewatching Donnie Darko several days ago. Those of you who have seen it know that the English teacher writes Cellar Door on the blackboard before she leaves. Donnie asks why, she explains that a specific linguist, after many years of study had described “Cellar Door” as the most beautiful phrase in the English language.
I always try to challenge the idea. It seems a subjective matter. However, I come up short. First I don’t understand the criteria, (simplicity, harmony, ... ?) and I am not ruling out the power of suggestion.
Does any one know what quality the phrase has that makes it appealing. Or have any other phrases they think are equal to or better then
Cellar Door
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26 Answers
“And it was still hot.” (Last line of Where the Wild Things Are. It implies a return to maternal comfort and love in the context of the book.)
“Would you like to see a dessert menu?”
(Can you tell I just read the q “Do you expect dessert with every meal?”
@janbb On the subject of the title would you recommend the book or the movie? I only ever like one and have yet to decide.
@jca Lol yes I could. Interesting how our brain preps us for pleasure : P
@rosehips The book. One of the best children’s books ever. Movie is good too but the book really says it all succinctly and with the beautiful Sendak illustrations.
For me, “Cellar Door” is a beautiful phrase not linguistically, but rather for what it implies: either entrance to a mysterious place we long to explore, or exit from where we no longer wish to be.
Here are a few phrases that make me nostalgic and happy.
Sleep tight.
Sweet dreams.
I love you.
You’ve got the job!
It’s raining cats and dogs.
Tomorrow’s Saturday.
Need a little extra gelt?
Let’s go on a picnic this weekend.
I’d like to lick a lemon lollipop in Lillehammer..
@ucme How can you make even that sound dirty?
@janbb That seems to be the current trend, I can’t control the ramblings of confused minds currently in vogue…nor do I wish to :/
“Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.”
My answer: “Wanna eat?”
My husband’s answer: “Wanna fuck?”
Our priorities are a little conflicting. :)
For me, it’s a tie between “They ain’t they what they used to be, awoo ah woo ah.”; “Up here, I’ve already gone to California!”; and “Soylent Green is PEE POLE!”. ;-D
“Open your legs.”
(Yes, Daddy. LOL)
The appropriately beautiful or ugly sound of any word,” wrote Max Beerbohm, “is an illusion wrought on us by what the word connotes.”
One day [Beerbohm] said to Hichens, ‘Do you think, Crotchet, that a word can be beautiful, just one word?’
‘Yes,’ Hichens said, ‘I can think of several words that seem to me beautiful.’
‘Ah?’
A pause.
‘Then tell me, do you think the word ermine is a beautiful word?’
‘Yes,’ Hichens said, ‘I like the sound of it very much.’
‘Ah?’
Another pause.
‘And do you think vermin is a beautiful word?’
- David Cecil, Max, 1964
When addressing this very same question, Henry James told Edith Wharton, “Summer afternoon.
I like, “The biopsy came back clean.”
“What seest thou else. In the dark backward and abysm of time?”
-William Shakespeare (Act 1, Scene 2, page 3)
It’s interesting that I’ve heard the claim of “cellar door” many times, but I’ve never heard anyone come up with any alternatives. Where are the phrases in second and third place? All I ever hear about is that one phrase.
And it seems pretty difficult to focus on a phrase entirely for its sound rather than its meaning.
English is not a very pretty sounding language. One word that I like is the word “okay.” It is very expressive. You should not have any problem coming up with half a dozen ways to pronounce it to give different shades of meaning.
@DominicX I am beginning to doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
“Your request is approved.”
From the State Controllers office….
“You have $10,000 in unclaimed property in our office.” :-D
Yeah…but it takes about 9 months to claim it, sooo….one day a surprise check for me, sometime in 2014. lol
The most beautiful phrase in the English language: “You look great, Lori, and you’re so thin.”
(Yeah, I’m shallow. Sue me.)
“I love you more than the sun and the moon and the stars; more than the mountains, the deserts and the oceans. More than you can imagine.”
and miles to go before I sleep. and miles to go before I sleep.
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