Ok wordsmiths - what's the most fascinating word to you - and why?

The nascent social medium of microblogging is rapidly integrating into everyday life.

Every now and then words from quizzing the kids for SAT prep (oh, all those flash cards!) stick in my head. I try to use them in everyday conversation, much to the chagrin of some of my coworkers. I like the sound of nascent.

@AlfredaPrufrock Thanks. It’s a good word, but why did you choose it – that’s what’s more interesting to me. Where did you first see/hear it? What does it remind you of? When do you use it?

Mastication. It sounds dirty. :D

[Friend is eating.]
Hey you! Quit masticating while you are eating!

I first learned this word in 7th grade science class, I love its obscurity.

@squirbel Loves it – thanks!

I know this isn’t the place, but if you notice my writing pattern, you’ll notice I prefer the old way of building sentences. Not as old as Old or Middle English, perhaps – but closer to the turn of the 20th century. I also speak this way. Weird, eh?

Are there any other people who enjoy this?

@squirbel Give us some ferinstances.

Phantasmagorical – because it sounds cool and it has a great definition.

Jabberwocky – the definition says it all – a playful imitation of language consisting of invented, meaningless words; nonsense; gibberish.

Doppelganger – because the meaning is creepy in an appealing type of way.

JERRY: No, go ahead. (Looks around his apartment) Look at this place. I can’t wait to get it cleaned.

GEORGE: I know someone who’ll do it. She’s good. She’s honest.

JERRY: No, Elaine got this writer friend from Finland, Rava. Her boyfriend goes to Columbia grad school, and he’s suppose to do it.

GEORGE: Students can’t clean. It’s anathema. (Jerry’s confused) ..They don’t like it.

JERRY: How long have you been waiting to squeeze that into a conversation?

My favorite for its random placement.. its unexpected, unnecessary, yet witty presence in this script. For that reason I love it.

@Bluefreedom @NaturalMineralWater Terrific!

I’ll add one of my own: Intuit. I like verbs which are back-formations, such as diagnose and donate, that are now acceptable.

It (intuit) was used quite well here, in this excellent NYTimes article about Obama, which is a good read anyway.

Serendipity: I love to say it and the definition is so elaborate; almost magical.

Jeopardize. When I am presenting some work to non-native english speakers this is a must-say for me. I love their faces right after.

pithy

@nmguy I shall forever think of Bill whenever I see or hear that word.

I like “exude”. I don’t know why.

Mmmmm… There are a lot of sexy words here.

Some that I like to use often:
evidently
decline
caveat
colloquial
inept
inevitable

Some that I just like:
requiem
superlative
sesquipedalian

I could probably think of more if I weren’t so lackadaisical.

palimpsest, originally meaning a piece of parchment from which earlier writing had been erased and overwritten, leaving the original writing still faintly legible.

This is a wonderfully rich metaphor for so many things.

Ah! I forgot extant, which is the condition of being in existence or the condition of not being destroyed.

heterological

Homological words are words are self-referential. Some examples are: “noun” is a noun, “spondee” has two syllables, “pentasyllabic” has five syllables, “writable” is writable, “pronounceable” is pronounceable, “homological” is homological, etc. Words that are not self-referential are heterological. Now, consider the word “heterological.” Is it homological or heterological? It is the only word that is neither.

The word for me is insupportable: intolerable or unendurable.
When I was in France in college, people used the French equivalent (spelled the same) all the time, and I thought it was the best expression of displeasure. Since I’ve come back to the states, I’ve tried to use it as often as possible.
For example: You’ve stopped paying child support because your ex didn’t say hello in the grocery store? That’s insupportable!

@Harp Like an etch-a-sketch. ;-)

Sardonic. Sardonicism, etc.

just a nice word to me.

@zephyr826 J’aime! Let’s try to start an expression. Who else is for insupportable?

“Neldge” – a textured edge create by layers. This word originated in Tennessee to refer to the edge of folded stacked clothing. The sound & spelling are phenomenal.

@psyla Love it. Couldn’t find a rhyme for it.

I’ve a particular fondness for words that I have learned from patient names. A copper eyed black Persian named Pemunbra. A big-eyed cat named Belladona (for the women who used belladona eye drops to make their pupil dialate and thus look sexy). Another cat prone to hairballs named Bezoar.

I’m rather fond of the word apt.
It’s short, to the point, handy, and unpretentious.

Before I get into my words…I have to say @phoenyx I LOVE your response…it makes my brain hurt!

My words :

Fungible – it’s a legal term that my brother introduced me to and I love the way it sounds and you expect it to mean something quite different from the actual meaning.

Defenestrate – I don’t remember when I learned this word, but I tend to use it when I’m annoyed with a computer

Supple – “because there’s really only ONE thing that you think of and that people GENERALLY use that word to describe” – courtesy of my brother

Anthropomorphizing – because my family does this all the time and so we use the word

Contrary – I just like it as a word….not sure why (although it might have to do with the fact that it makes me think “Contrariwise” which is the beginning of one of my favorite quotes from Alice Through the Looking Glass)

I don’t think I can name the most fascinating or even the thousand most fascinating. Even ordinary little words can fascinate me in much the same way that a person on acid can get fascinated by a breadcrumb or a leaf. Hand me an OED. I think the answer is “all of them.”

But “inchoate” is one of my pets. I hold to an absolute quota and won’t permit myself to use it more than three times in any one calendar year. Some years I don’t work it in even once. It has to fit and flow naturally without sounding precious, pretentious, or preposterous, or it’s a fail.

Plethora

thanks @hitomi

What about the word “indescribable?” The idea that there are things out there to which no words can be applied intrigues me.

Also, “indescribable” is an adjective. Adjectives are used to describe things. Doesn’t that mean that “indescribable” can never be accurately used?

@boffin Why?

@hitomi Thanks – those were great and sent me to the dictionary. @all – Terrific, keep ‘em coming. I am learning so much from this thread. The wittier and funnier you are in the explanation, the more ideas I get for remembering and then teaching them.

Thanks.

Dear word nerds;

If ever you find yourself in need of something sufficiently word-nerdy to kill a little bit of time, check out http://podictionary.com/. It has lots of interesting word origin stories. :D

I have to say…reading some of these made me go back to my favorite word as I was growing up…

Inconceivable! – extra points if you know why that’s a word from my youth :-D

@hitomi (I do not think it means what you think it means)

@phonyx YES! Thank you!!! :-D

@hitomi From the wonderful Princess Bride, of course!

@Zen Correct! and Thank YOU for this question (and many of your others) it’s fun seeing all of these different words and being reminded of ones that I haven’t used in a while!

@hitomi Why, thank you!

@hitomi… That’s exactly why I love that word as well.. LOL one of the best films in my opinion… LOL