day 13: like amuse bouche for the brain
When I was little (3? 4? 5?), when I discovered a new word, I was fond of saying it over and over (while running through the house), feeling the world in my mouth and head. I remember several of those words; you can see I had a preference for DA-duh-duh or duh-DA-duh-duh rhythms:
- timpani
- ranunculus (mom loved to garden)
- elephant (which I mutated into “ele-FUNT-tunt-tunt”)
Fortunately, it wasn’t an early onset of Tourette’s. I just loved words and became a voracious reader. When I got to kindergarten, my teacher, Mrs. Hodge, first thought I was slower than the other kids, as I didn’t seem to be paying attention while everyone was struggling through I See Sam. Truth was, I was rushing ahead, reading the teacher’s notes, copyright information, anything I could find. I’m not bragging about my savante skillz.. I was just an early learner, and eventually became a middle-of-the-pack kid.
Anyway, here are a few words I love, in no particular order. I still love to hear them in my mouth and head, though the running around no longer happens:
- cloister
- cummerbund
- primate
- juggernaut
- Madagascar
- banana cream
- petit fours
- filibuster
- Hetch Hetchy
- perhaps
Words I like that I made up:
- larm
- chank
- jugjug
- moogle
- clogan
- flibbitty floo
Words I dislike: You’ll notice that a lot of the following words are food-related. Don’t know why words regarding the eating/drinking process turn my stomach (har) but they do:
- chomp
- gulp
- guzzle
- munch
- convulsive
- prime
- scissors
- chunk
- tincture
- bubble (although, ironically, I like the word “bubbly”)
- anal
- boogie
- kite
- guffaw
- shopper
- maw
- recreation
Join in! Woo woo! Let’s ride the word train!
PS I don’t mean to knock I See Sam. I looooved those books. We recreated one of the I See Sam stories for a kindergarten skit. I remember this girl Thea (pictured here, second from left) got to play Sam the lion. The plot had something to do with Sam rescuing a goldfish using a net. We used a real goldfish and it died after being scooped one too many times. That messed me up, possibly forever.
Hi Becky!
I finally dived into my messy mailbox, and pulled out the password to your blog. I mean, now that you have pictures that I can only comment if I’m logged on, you kind of forced me 😉
It’s funny how time and time again, you come up with things that makes me go: Wow – I do that as well!
Either all of us humans are so alike it’s scary- or you and I are devided at birth! I tend to think the latter!
Latest is having pretty and ugly words! I’m just like that too – and I had a collegue once that I exchanged words with – words that awokes something as a word in it self. Now, I’ve mostly got Norwegian words on my list, naturally, but from the top of my mind, I’ve got a couple of English words as well – words that rings nice in my ears. For some reason, I’m the opposite from you – they’re both food related:
– Coffee
– Sugar
Try saying them in a low voice… ahh!
A couple of Norwegian words I like:
– Duve (pronounced more or less like Doo-va)
– Papir (Pa-peer, with a distinct R)
– Dukke
– Kaffe (yup, sounds good in Nor as well)
– Sukker
Ok, that’s it for now. See you in our photo-universe 🙂
Norsk is FILLED with words that seem to glide or prance across the tongue. And, let’s not forget: Sofa! Bag! Slalom!
AASTA!!!!!!!!! 🙂 So good to see you on here as well!
Let’s see… Words I like…
* Berzerker
* Pop
* Cone (I can say this word so many times and I love it)
* Bubble
* Pumpkin
*Meatball (Oh, my little meatball… how cute is that little meatball!?)
I do like to say “Cough-ee” in that thick new york accent…
All of these words are making me think of sounds that I like…
* A golf ball bouncing on a hard surface
* Ping pong balls
* Rain
* Snow – what does snow sound like? Quiet, oh, so quiet!
I like:
incognito
absconded (with)
begock (“what the begock?!!”) Sure it’s a made up word but all words were made up words at one time or another.
Your made up word “moogle” reminded me of my made up word “mookie” which was a culinary adventure (left over oatmeal became cookies but the texture was close to that of a muffin) born of a deep sense of economy and the belief that enough sugar makes anything good.
Doesn’t sugar make everything good and okay and right and just? Doesn’t it?