Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Wordy Wednesday: 5 Favorite Words




Writing a story, article, or blog is similar to building a house (or a skyscraper if your work happens to be a Melvillean novel). Words are the bricks writers use to build. As English is the language with easily the most words (with German as a distant second), writers have many bricks to chose from when building. 

I suspect I am not alone when it comes to favoring certain words, or that those words happen to change on a fairly regular basis. I mean, really, there are just so many of them...choosing your top 5 would be like trying to choose your top 5 songs: impossible. 

Today I'd like to share my current crop of faves, as follows:

5. Circumlocution. An ambiguous or roundabout figure of speech, such as "a wheeled motorized vehicle with four doors used as a mode of transportation" for "sedan." 

4. Tincture. Can be either a verb or a noun. As a noun, it is a medicinal solution usually steeped in alcohol (yum!).  As a verb, it can mean "to tinge."

3. Affinity. A natural attraction, liking, or feeling of kinship

2. Bauble. A showy, usually cheap, ornament or trinket

1. Milquetoast. One who is mild, meek, or timid

So there you have it, folks. Five pretty awesome words, if I do say so myself. Check with me again in a couple of weeks and this list will have changed completely. But for today, these are the winners by a proboscis. Tell me, what are words you find luscious?

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