What are some of your favorite words? Vol. English is not a crime!

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I like words. They're the vehicle that drives communication, and I feel like they're like any other vehicles, the ones you choose make a statement about you. I have some favorites, and I don't know if I'm alone in appreciating a rarely seen one or some sharp turning of phrases, but this thread is in the hope that I'm not.

Some the ones I really like:


acclaim- to praise enthusiastically and often publicly

I *!#+ with it because: Its such a positive word...you just imagine people following you around loudly gushing with adoration for you or something you've done...it's great!




aquiesce- to consent without protest

I *!#+ with it because: it's so agreeable and friendly...when I ask a woman out, I would like her to acquiesce...




attack- what, do you wear a helmet or something?

I *!#+ with it because: it's so aggressive...it just sounds like you're ready to go bat$#!+ crazy, leap onto somebody and wail on them with all 4 limbs and a few headbutts while ripping at their clothes and screaming wildly...it's one thing to threaten to beat somebody up, but its quite another to attack them.




brandish- to wave an item in an challenging or defiant way

I *!#+ with it because: it sounds so skillful and confident...anybody can "hold" or "display" something, but if you brandish something, clearly you know how to handle it. Plus brandishing your middle finger sounds much better than showing it.




browbeat- to intimidate in an overbearing manner, bully

I *!#+ with it because: it actually involves no physical contact but sounds like a series of devastating strikes to the forehead to ensure cooperation.




cavalier- (adj form)- carefree and nonchalant

I *!#+ with it because: it's one of the best adjectives anybody has ever used to describe me...




charisma- a mysterious gift that makes one attractive to others, a personal quality that inspires intense positive feelings

I *!#+ with it because: I've been told it's one of my best character traits (besides my modesty of course...)




conflagration- a huge, destructive fire

I *!#+ with it because: "inferno" is cool sounding, but so common..."conflagration" sounds like something that scorched the Earth's crust all the way through.




demand- to ask for urgently

I *!#+ with it because: Demanding something means there are consquences for noncompliance. It's such a strong, powerful word. Requesting is "please", demanding is "gimme, *@!##!"




devise- to form, plan or arrange in the mind

I *!#+ with it because: it sounds like an extremely intelligent thing to do...anybody can make a plan, only a genius (likely evil) can devise one.




defenestrate- to throw something/someone out of a window

I *!#+ with it because: It's awesome that English has a word for that specific action. How many people were thrown out of windows before a term for the procedure became necessary? By the time somebody figures out what it means when someone threatens to defenestrate them, they'll be outside...




extraordinary- highly unusual, exceptional, or remarkable

I *!#+ with it because: It sounds amazing and rare, doesn't it? Plus I like to pronounce it like I imagine Sherlock Holmes did: "ex-straw-din-reh!"




facetious- cleverly amusing in tone

I *!#+ with it because: it should be my middle name.




flourish- to make bold, sweeping movements

I *!#+ with it because: Flourishes look cool, I do them often...and it sounds so elegant..every time I hear it, I picture someone in a powdered wig making an elaborate signature on a sheet of parchment paper by candlelight...




*!#+- what can't it mean?

I *!#+ with it because: Hi, I'm AJ.




fury- unrestrained, violent anger

I *!#+ with it because: it just sounds fiery and vengeful...anger has nothing on fury...it sounds like flames emit from my body, I can shoot lasers from my eyes and punch speeding trains to a stop...GRR!




giggle- a short, spasmodic laugh

I *!#+ with it because: it sounds like exactly what it is...




incendiary- inflammatory, likely to cause fire

I *!#+ with it because: the term "incendiary remarks" cracks me up...what words can somebody say that are so bad they cause those around them to spontaneously combust?




indubitably- without a doubt, surely

I *!#+ with it because: Say it. Indubitably. Say it with an English accent. Indubitably. Say it with your nose turned up in the air and your eyes closed. Indubitably. Do you sound classy? Indubitably. It's just a damn fun word to use.




insurrection- open revolt against civil authority

I *!#+ with it because: civil disobedience sounds like %!$!+ +$%! compared to an insurrection. Hell, even a riot looks like a boy scout activity when compared to it....an insurrection is a full scale mob brandishing torches, ballistic pitchforks and bazookas marching down to City Hall to protest a $300 tax...




manhandle- to manipulate roughly

I *!#+ with it because: As a description of a fight, it just sounds like you got ##%@+* all up...hit with a 5-piece combo, spartan kicked into a pile of trash, picked up, chokeslammed, flung to the other side of the street like a ragdoll, then kicked in the nuts and left for dead...badass.




projectile- a thrown or shot object

I *!#+ with it because: it just sounds futuristic and deadly, even though something as simple as a balled up piece of paper or a frozen orange can be a projectile.




pummel- to beat mercilessly

I *!#+ with it because: that, to me is getting your face quickly and repeatedly punched like a speed bag. The image makes me laugh every time...




swift- rapid or quick

I *!#+ with it because: it's the fastest sounding of the common synonyms for "fast"...whenever I think of swift, I think of a rabbit running though an open field fast enough to leave a swath of momentarily flattened grass in its wake...




unmitigated- free and unchecked

I *!#+ with it because: the phrase "unmitigated gall" is one of my favorite in the English language.




vanquish- to defeat a foe

I *!#+ with it because: it sounds triumphant and epic...like you slayed a dragon or something. Ending a barfight by sliding someone down the bartop and flinging them into the wall is the closest you can get without a sword.




vitriol- malice, anger or extreme ill will

I *!#+ with it because: It sounds like one of the deadliest poisons known to man! If you have vitriol towards somebody, even if you don't wish they were dead, you would buy a leather bound gold leaf print copy of their obituary.




vivified- renewed, resurrected, reenergized

I *!#+ with it because: it doesn't start with "re"...I get sick of words with "re" sometimes...as far as that family of synonyms goes, it's a nice repreive (dammit!)




worthless- utterly lacking value

I *!#+ with it because: it's a hurtful +*! insult...call somebody worthless and see how crestfallen they get. Even a penny in a pile of +$%! has worth, and to imply that somebody is completely worthless...well, that's not nice. (Which is why I love it...)




zap- to strike with a current of electricity

I *!#+ with it because: one of my favorite things in my house is my zap racket, which I use to kill flying annoyances. Also, it's vaguely onomatopoeiaic, and those kinds of words always get me buzzing.







Aight, NT...who else has some favorite words and why?
 
rendezvous - the spelling gets me everytime

off topic, but everytime i use the word "that" back to back, it sounds wrong, but works
 
Yolo.


pimp.gif
 
onus- used to refer to something that is someone's duty.

the onus is on you.

crepuscular- of or relating to twilight. just say it. CRE (like the E in head) PUS (like pus) CULAR
 
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