Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Word of the day:
HARPY

Main Entry: har·py
Pronunciation: 'här-pE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural harpies
Etymology: Latin Harpyia, from Greek
1 capitalized : a foul malign creature in Greek mythology that is part woman and part bird
2 a : a predatory person b : a shrewish woman


I saw the word used in a (p)review of Gossip Girl the TV show, and I've been smiling all morning since.

Question to the general public - do you have words that make you smile?

I know some people have words that make them frown. Moist is a popular unfavorite, as are many words describing the female reproductive organs, and most people can't stand the way their name sounds from foreign mouths. (It's Ahn-DRE-ah, bitch. Not Anne-dree-ah.)
I don't really have words that make me ill. I don't even care when people screw up my name anymore. It's interesting, if anything, to see how the simplest phonetics can elude people, which is proof positive there's nothing that beats ear training.

Yankee-slugger Johnny Damon has a face that looks like it must absolutely and always utter: Pampers. And I could listen to people who can't roll their R's (it's genetic) for hours. Edith Piaf couldn't roll her R's.

What words do you love/hate?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

cankles

Ed Sizemore said...

Words that make me laugh: tuchus and kvetch.

Ed Sizemore said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ill iterate said...

I think a lot of these yiddish words are a hoot. Shnozz and bubkes are two favorites of mine.

Also, good to see you back Ed! How's it goin'?