Which have pinged in my mind throughout the hours on WordPress. These delightful words were plucked, scrubbed and squinted at (it was all done half-cocked really) before being swanked here tonight.
Some are just exquisitely resplendent like ‘chinoiserie‘ and ‘demagoguery‘, whilst others like ‘chicory‘ and ‘quiddity‘ are so damn adorable, like babies with rainbow lollipops in swaddles! Whilst some are classic Americans (‘jazz‘ and ‘sloppy joes’), others are prided for their European delicacy like, say “vichyssoise’ and ‘velleities‘. There are those such as ‘Rubenesque‘ and ‘rococo‘ who are imperious, haughty, commanding. But those towered over by such totalitarians must not be shunned from the podium: the innocence and timorousness of ‘ingenue’ and ‘waif’ are to be valued… diamonds amongst bland boulders of common words.
Can't You See I'm Reading Big Words?
We can be sure of only one aspect: The listed words are all mavericks and oddballs of the English (and co.) language! Oh, and words beginning with ‘P’ have won (oh my!), followed very closely by Vs, Ss and Cs.
| A | J | S |
| antsy | jazz | Sappho |
| apocryphal | L | sesquipedalian |
| apogee | lemming | sloppy joe |
| arrondissements | loganberries | solecism |
| ascot | M | solipsism |
| B | manteau | spelunks |
| bolshevizes | maverick | spruik |
| boulevardiers | mellifluent | sultry |
| brogues | meme | T |
| C | moniker | teetotal |
| catatonic | N | torpid |
| Chekhov | nary | troubadour |
| chicory | O | V |
| chinoiserie | off piste | vagaries |
| chutzpah | Oh my! | varicoloured |
| “curiouser” | P | velleities |
| curmudgeon | pander | verve |
| curry favor | persnickety | very |
| D | philematologists | vichyssoise |
| dais | pithy | vicissitude |
| demagoguery | polemic | vitriolic |
| discombobulate | prig | W |
| E | profiteroles | waif |
| ecce homo | prolix | wild-eyed |
| efflorescence | prosopopoeia | Y |
| embonpoint | Q | yesteryear |
| en passant | quiddity | Z |
| epaulette | quixotic | zephyr |
| Episcopalianism | R | zing |
| F | raison d’être | |
| fainéant | razbliutos | |
| folksy | razzmatazz | |
| halcyon | rococo | |
| G | roman a clef | |
| H | Rubenesque | |
| heteronormative | ||
| highfalutin | ||
| I | ||
| impressionable | ||
| incorrigible | ||
| ingenue | ||
These are another person’s (Chris Champion) comments I have found online, whose words he has listed, I believe are just as delightful! Hope Chris doesn’t mind:
“philomathic (having a love of letters). Here are some personal favourites which, lamentably, have pretty much disappeared altogether: crapulous (drunk), neezled (a little bit drunk), womblety-cropt (how your head feels when hung over), spleenful (angry), contumely (contemptuousness), prayer-bones (the knees), callipygian (having nice buttocks), jink (quick, sudden movement), bagatelle (a mere trifle), fauxonry (fraud), switter (work in a confused manner; flounder).”
What callipygous words indeed!