This started the other day while musing my work-in-progress. I heard myself mentally use the word unbeknownst (“happening or occurring without the knowledge of someone specified”). And it sort of stopped my clock. I looked it up and found out its first known usage was in 1636. And that its more common synonym is unknown. Still, give me unbeknownst any day!
Anyway, this spurred me on to recall some of my other favorite words:
Doppelganger (“tangible double of a person living”)
Effervescent (“fizzy”)
Gleek (“to joke” or “to be a fan of the TV show Glee!”)
Popinjay (“talkative or conceited person”)
Scuttlebutt (“gossip”)
Smithereens (“fragments”)
Tchotchke (“trinket”)
And what do you know? Another list was born!
How about you? Any favorite words?
Tina
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I love the word GLEEK! I've always adored the word Serendipity. I even considered it as a girl name but my hubby nixed it pretty quick. ;)
ReplyDeleteToo funny, Steph...but your husband can't veto Serendipity for a heroine's name! =)
ReplyDeleteKerfuffle! A disturbance or fuss.
ReplyDeleteI like the word Shenanigans. At this moment my favorite word is "coffee."
ReplyDeleteThese are kind of random:
ReplyDeleteI love *aforementioned* -- not that I use it much in YA fiction!
Also, *snake* used as a verb.
Love your list!
Cary, I dare you to use kerfuffle in a Scrabble game! =)
ReplyDeleteJanie, funny about "coffee," but you know, its commonality aside--I use it several times every day--it IS an interesting one...
ReplyDeleteRicki--oh, yeah, aforementioned! That's right up there with unbeknownst!
ReplyDelete"Hyberbole" is one of my favorites. As well as "Discombobulated." Fun to say and easy to fit into conversation. One word I hate is "Flesh." Ewy!
ReplyDeleteYes, Wendy, thank you! In fact, I don't think I use "discombobulated" enough. (There--took care of that for the day!)
ReplyDeleteI've always loved Flibbertigibbet. Such a perfect word for a flighty, flitty person. And fun to say, too!
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, Mary, wonderful word!
ReplyDeleteI really love the word uber. It's just so uberly awesome... haha. It's fun to say and fun to write (though I know that there's one of those two dot thingys above a letter in the word, but I don't know how to do that on a keyboard...)
ReplyDeleteDoppleganger is a cool word and a cool concept, but I still love uber the best <3
Uber-great, Steph! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHaving been to the hockey game tonight, I like the word "fisticuffs." I'm also partial to "discombobulate," which can occur during or after fisticuffs. = )
ReplyDeleteHey! Wendy...you stole my word! = )
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I have a love for words that mean too much, too little, a whole lot, or similar: Paucity, plethora, dearth, superabundance, surfeit, superfluity...
ReplyDeleteAnd then I play with them: anti-surfeit, non-dearth.
More fun than solitaire! ;-)
Cara
How about tintinnabulation? You can't beat Poe for finding great, unusual words.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Marley, that's 2 for discombobulte. (Actually, I love it, as well, so make that 3!)
ReplyDeleteCara, great words, and how could I have left plethora off my original list???
Heather, yes, tintinnabulation is a red letter word!
um, okay, so I know this is totally random, but "BLOUSE."
ReplyDeleteIn usage, I actually prefer "top" or "shirt."
But there are just so many sounds packed into that one syllable word--
"B," "L," "ow," and the "S" sounds, and then they just all come together like that.
Okay I say tchotchke all the time! Couldn't believe when one of my friends had never heard it before. Other favorite words- vernacular, discombobulated, coasverbate, scintillating, and many, many more!
ReplyDelete