Nunzio DeFilippis & Christina Weir

One of the many joys of being a writer is the ability to play with words.

There are a handful of words that I love. Some are words that sound exactly like what they mean. Some simply don't get used enough and deserve a little recognition.

Today I share with you some of my favorite words.

kerfuffle
saunter
jalopy
unctuous
jaunty
impresario
ramshackle
ennui
cross (the adjective, not the noun or verb)
svelte
huck (though I may have made this one up. I can't find it in a dictionary.)
verbiage
scuffle
languish
saucy
wallop
chuffle (notice my love of words that end in -uffle?)
persnickety
bloviate
palaver
donnybrook (does anyone know where this term originates from? Bonus points if you do.)

Then there is a subset of words that I love. We're too unimaginative these days with the use of words like 'ho or slut or whore.
So I give you my favorite "ho" words.

trollop
hussy
lothario
tart

I'm sure more will come to me. They always do.

posted by Christie # 4:00 PM

Comments:

Much love for kerfuffle! I probably incorperate more internet slang into my vocabulary than is wise, but some of it is just so darn neat.

Google gives me this on 'donnybrook' - originates in Ireland, site of the original Donnybrook Fair, which earned a reputation for drunkenness and disorder.

I've always rather liked 'sporting woman' as a 'ho' term and 'bantling' is a nice, obscure 'bastard' variant.

Some of my random faves:

glomp
beezer (dog nerd? me? oh, yeah)
alsatian (see above)
tenacity
braille (used as a verb)
snug (also used as a verb)
asshat
bilious
slugabed
lagniappe
spire
leonine
joual

Hm. I'm shocked that Firefox isn't trying to tell me that 'lagniappe' is misspelled.

# posted by

Suzene : May 5, 2008 at 11:42 PM

Wow, we talk AI and it's crazy in here. Pirates and ninja? People just talk talk talk.

But you bring up words, and there's nothing but crickets.

Kids today, I tell ya...

# posted by

Nunzio DeFilippis : May 12, 2008 at 10:50 AM

i'd say my favorite epithet for a woman of low repute is "virago." it's just so darn cool. :)

also, i found this site on Neil Gaiman's blog. it's a lot of fun for people who love words, AND you help a good cause. http://www.freerice.com/index.php

# posted by

Anonymous : May 14, 2008 at 12:52 PM

I like the word "trollop". It sounds like a confection (another fun word).

# posted by

David : May 15, 2008 at 9:51 AM

I had not heard of virago before so I looked it up. It is a cool sounding word. But according to the dictionary, it is not a woman of low repute. It is a loud, over-bearing or ill-tempered woman. But its older meaning is also a woman of strength or spirit. Hmm... what does this say that you learned it as a woman of low repute?

# posted by

Christie : May 15, 2008 at 1:48 PM

This comment has been removed by the author.

# posted by

Christie : May 15, 2008 at 1:48 PM

that i really misread the context when i encountered it in Shakespeare? :(

# posted by

Anonymous : May 15, 2008 at 1:57 PM

I like the word "trollop". It sounds like a confection (another fun word).

Which brings us back around to "tart"? XD

# posted by

Suzene : May 15, 2008 at 3:10 PM

And now I'm hungry.

# posted by

Christie : May 16, 2008 at 9:42 AM

too...many...jokes. must...resist...urge...GYAAAH!

# posted by

Anonymous : May 18, 2008 at 4:32 AM

Give in to the Dark Side, Jordan. You know you wanna.

# posted by

Suzene : May 18, 2008 at 3:57 PM

Just found your blog. I love this post, Christie.

# posted by

Anonymous : May 28, 2008 at 3:36 PM

Verbosity leads to unclear inarticulate things