7 mo. ago • 96%

Favourite word and why?

Mine is insidious as it sounds cool and is apt in our modern world of fast news

99 comments

ね (ne).

Because it's a cool way to end a sentence in Japanese.

そのいえは大きいですね。
so-no-i-e-wa-oo-ki-i-de-su-ne.
That house is big ね。
That house is big isn't it.

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- 14
  
  に！に！に！
  
  7
- How do you feel about the Canadian "eh?" or the British "innit?"
  
  6
  
  I will now read every Japanese sentence ending in ね as "innit?"
  
  11
  
  I'm a fan of the British "yhu-no"
  
  5
  
  .
  
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- Sono*
  
  2
  
  あああああああああ！！！
  
  Fixed.
  
  2
Quixotic - cannot even remember what it means

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- It meant my Dad never played Scrabble with my mom ever again, that's what it meant.
  
  Across two Triple Word tiles, no less.
  
  17
- I think it means like a person is taking something that is foolish or misguided far to seriously.
  
  8
  
  Yes :) , it looks that it takes its roots to Don Quixote (english is not my first language but come on, Don Quixote I could have remembered that)
  
  8
  
  I means acting in a manner that's hard to understand.
  
  4
- ℹ️ "exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical"
  
  2
Discombobulated. The first time I heard it, an old man I worked with had used it and I gave him shit for it because I thought he had made it up. I still laugh about that sometimes

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- .
  
  1
Facetiously has all the vowels, in order, including "y".

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Paraphernalia is a fantastic word for "stuff"

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Kumquat

It sounds funny and it's fun to say.

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Fuck. Fuck can mean so many things. Just all round best word of all time.

9
- We use it up here as a form of punctuation, if you can find it check out Bowser and Blue: Use of Fuck in Canada
  
  4
Asinine. It's a perfect descriptor and it's succinct.

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Onomatopoeia, it's a fun word on it's own, but I love the while idea of it. Especially in other languages, like the million different words for dog barks.

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- 2
Serene

Good

Applause

Super

Incredible

Hope

Dream

Mostly because of the positive vibes those words give me! 😇

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- You seem like a really positive person! :)
  
  3
  
  Aw thank you! 😃
  
  2
tatterdemalion

It's got such a pleasing sound to the ear, feels nice in the mouth when you say it, and even looks pretty nice on the page.

It means something in an advance state of use, with connotations of neglect or disrepair, and is often used to describe things that would be thrown away were they not rendered nessesary by being the only option.

To me it evokes urchins, rags, wildflowers, and a little bit of magic.

6
- I will be trying to shoe string this in to my vocabulary!
  
  2
Yawn. If you pronounce it while sleepy, you actually yawn. And the yawn will sound like the word yawn.

Maybe I'm just sleepy, but I like the word :)

6
Detritus

Hullabaloo

Fracas

Widdershins

Ideological

6
- I think you might enjoy this skit: https://youtu.be/0uuCNAwXGaQ
  
  2
- Fracas is a good one.
  
  Last time I remember hearing that was when Top Gear imploded.
  
  2
"optimal frustration" (one single word in several languages that aren't English)

Something is too easy? Easily bored.

Something is altogether too difficult? Feels hopeless.

Optimal frustration is where the magic happens, be it in education or a computer game.

5
Entreat - verb - ask someone earnestly and anxiously to do something

It's a handy word that kind of combines "pleading" and "asking". It's a bummer it fell out of style because I can think of many scenarios where it would fit perfectly.

5
- I entreat that we bring this word back
  
  3
English word: curmudgeon or cattywampus

French word: hippopotame

5
Lackadaisical.

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- ℹ️ "lacking enthusiasm and determination; carelessly lazy"
  
  1
floccinaucinihilipilification

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- Ah, yes, the state or being of believing in NOTHING
  
  1
  
  2
Amalgam. It has a mouthfeel of chewing caramel.

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Moist

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- Yes, my fav too, it has such fun uses, as in, that muffin is so moist. just drag out the oi a little. The fact so many dislike the word prolly helps
  
  1
Effective has two effs. I appreciate that defective only has one eff. Like, if you give an eff about something, you can make what doesn’t work, work.

5
I was recently reminded of the figurative usage of poleaxed. That's my current favorite.

4
Syzygy

4
Not a native Spanish speaker but I've always loved "otoño" (autumn). Such a beautiful word to say.

4
- And it rhymes with another beautiful word
  
  2
Sesquipedalian

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Loaf

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Koselig, the Norwegian word for cozy that is also a reflexive verb.

4
Fuck, because it is the most fucking versatile fucking word we could fucking come up with for things that we don’t know what the fuck they are or we fucking do but no one fucking cares.

4
- According to QI, "set" is the most versatile word in English
  
  "Fuck" isn't fuckin far behind though
  
  2
Serendipitous. just fun to say

4
Smithereens, because I’ve been playing overwatch and I play as soldier 76 a lot. He’s such a funny character.

The way he says “I’m goin in!” cracks me up.

4
bubble

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Someone already took cattywampus, so I guess I'll go with ennui or petrichor.

4
- Bonus: triskaidekaphobia.
  
  (Intense fear of the number 13.)
  
  Thanks MTG.
  
  1
Rick rolled

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- Why isnt this a link O.o
  
  2
  
  Link (nicely obfuscated so as to not spoil the surprise)
  
  1
Differential, différentielle, or diferencial

In English, French, and Spanish, it just sounds cool no matter what accent.

3
- Might as well throw in a scandinavian version while you're at it: Differensial or differensiert depending on context
  
  1
Catalyst

3
Coquette, because is sounds funny and nobody knows what it means

3
- Off the top of my head I thought it was just flirting, but the internet says it's specifically a woman who flirts.
  
  It also made me think of croquettes. Now I want some salmon croquettes with a squeeze of lemon.
  
  2
  
  it's very similar to rizz when it comes to meaning, which makes it even funnier to me
  
  2
Mellifluous -- to me it flows in a self-descriptive way.

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Qualia - instances of subjective conscious experience

It's fun to say, fun to think about how your red and my red differ subjectively but we still agree that red is red, and just a fun word.
The concept itself has many strong detractors and arguments against it being real, but eh, I'll keep on thinking about it.

3
Vituperative.

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- ℹ️ "bitter and abusive", as in a comment or other way of communicating
  
  3
Monachopsis. The subtle and persistent feeling of being out of place, in the company of misfits and dreaming of a place to belong.

And i blame you for the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows binge you've put me on

3
Reasonable

3
Banana.

And if I feel cheecky, I say it in a British accent:

Bunarner.

2
Bamboozled has a nice buzz to it.

2
- Its a word that carries an air of a 1960 detective 😍
  
  2
Teyandee!

2
Plámás. Pronounced plaw-maws. It's an Irish word that mostly means "gently placate" or "smooth talk" but usually I would use it in the context of placating someone who's behaving badly.

e.g. Don't plámás that eejit. You'll only encourage him.

I don't think it directly translates to English though someone with better vocabulary may correct me.

2
- I think it sounds a bit like the verb "to humour" as in to play along with someones crap.
  
  2
  
  Yes indeed it's very close, but in my head it's slightly more active.
  
  Let's say a child is having a meltdown and the parent is trying to (incorrectly) placate them by giving them an ice cream. That would be plámásing. I feel like it actively encourages the bad behaviour rather than being more neutral which I'd consider "humouring".
  
  1
scallywag

it's fun to say

2
Chaos.

I love what it represents, how it can be good or evil depending on your point of view (there's a reason why DnD used it as an axis perpendicular to Good-Evil), and it sounds really cool. It is also the first word I'd use to describe my life at any point in time. Maybe life itself!

It sounds good in all languages I know but has the distinction of sounding even better in English, despite coming from the Greek Kaos it somehow sounds cooler in English (a distinction shared by few, if any, other words coming from Greek to English). It is also written in an amazing manner, with a "H" that came out of nowhere and has no reason to be there other than just cause... Chaos. I love it.

2
- The Greek pronunciation is actually Haos (with a heavy H like hotel), so this is where H is coming from. It's the C that is actually added in order for English to attempt to pronounce it closer to the original sound (and fail as per usual. Look up paranoia for example).
  
  2
  
  So it is! I don't know why I remembered it as kaos (καος with the accent somewhere, I don't know Greek, modern or ancient). It's χάος. Makes total sense.
  
  Still think it sounds better in English!
  
  1
Liquid

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apotheosis. you may not like it, but this is peak form's peak form.

i like it because the o sounds roll easy and rhymes. it also ends with a hiss sound.

2
Lugubrious is a good one. Doesn't really sound like what it means.

2
- ℹ️ "looking or sounding sad or dismal"
  
  2
Based

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'Sennight'. It means ten days. Saying it just feels like making a flourish with my tongue.

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- It means ten days.
  
  Wiktionary seems to disagree.
  
  But tenday is a good word for that.
  
  5
  
  Aw. :( I wanted to be right about that one.
  
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zen

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