Words are beautiful. They can evoke such an array of emotions, have life-altering effects, kill people or elicit crazy laughter. The first word that I fell in love with, was the word “enhance“!! I must have been in middle school and had always been a voracious reader. But my love affair with words started then. I had never used the word „enhance“ all that much in the past….and when I heard a classmate use it in a debate, it struck me how apt that word was in that context. And since then there have been numerous such flings I have had…some short-lived, and others that have stayed with me.
I look out for words that convey the meaning they do in ways more than one. In the way they sound, and the reaction they evoke…. Diffuse for eg….you can almost sense a blue ink seeping through a glass bowl of water! Or Nebulous ..a word that brings to mind visions of a bulbous amoeba like structure…or Tingling!!!
By the same yarstick, there are words I hate…..everyday words like Which…and not-so-everyday words like Hackeney. No apparent reason, maybe they were used in a context that brings up unpleasant memories! The best part is that a word can have this ability and the power to affect one in any way they want. Just that we dont realise it most of the time!! This is one of the reasons I love words.
Like my fellow lover of words, author Bill Bryson puts it…“Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman’s apparel is clearly asking to be mangled.“
And then there are words that have kept changing meanings over a period of time, which is why perhaps they dont evoke such a passionate response in one as do the others. Brave, for example, once implied cowardice — as indeed Bravado still does.
A word that perhaps describes this best is Nice, which is first recorded in 1290 with the meaning of stupid and foolish. A century later, it was being used to mean lascivious and wanton. Then at various times over the next centuries, it came to mean anything from extravagant, elegant, strange, slothful, unmanly, luxurious, modest, slight, precise, thin, shy, discriminating, dainty, and eventually in the last few centuries — pleasant and agreeable. Perhaps, that is why when someone says „you are nice“, one doesnt really know what exactly they mean!!!
That was a nice long blog post…………
This post resonated with me…I share a similar affinity for certain words, since my school-going Enid Blyton days!
“Rendezvous” with its promise of something illicitly romantic yet irresistible.
“Zephyr” which conjures up visions of being stranded on an island with only a light breeze and the lapping of waves for company.
“Grace”, one of my favorites with its Princess Diana-esque connotations.
I love the quote from Bill Bryson ..if you like him you might like David Sedaris!
Very nice write-up….I just read a couple of write-ups on your blog for the first time….I would love to open up my blog and write stuff too…Pls provide gyan.
Most interesting posting, although not a surprise from someone that has such an affinity for words. As you suggest, not all words are not created equally. Some have the ability to cajole, entice, scintillate and titillate. Others clearly are capable of provoking just the opposite feelings.
In general, there seems to be more agreement about “bad” words, than the words everyone finds fun. Pretty much everyone can tell you what the “seven words you can’t say on television are,” while the list of words that everyone personally enjoys is much more diverse.
Then again, some people dislike words for no reason at all. I recall a very dear friend telling me once that her young son suddenly proclaimed his dislike of the word “ambassador.” Presumably he was referring to the taxi, rather than the diplomat, although his distaste possibly extended to both. While I have never had the pleasure of riding in an Ambassador, perhaps I would share his distaste of the word if I ever were to do so.
I know I would certainly love to see his mother again some day; she had the most magical way of using words that I have ever known…