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johnslat

Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 13859 Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 6:01 pm Post subject: Beauty Is in the Ear of the Listener |
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And they left off booze?????????
"The 100 Most Beautiful Words in English
Ailurophile A cat-lover.
Assemblage A gathering.
Becoming Attractive.
Beleaguer To exhaust with attacks.
Brood To think alone.
Bucolic In a lovely rural setting.
Bungalow A small, cozy cottage.
Chatoyant Like a cat's eye.
Comely Attractive.
Conflate To blend together.
Cynosure A focal point of admiration.
Dalliance A brief love affair.
Demesne Dominion, territory.
Demure Shy and reserved.
Denouement The resolution of a mystery.
Desuetude Disuse.
Desultory Slow, sluggish.
Diaphanous Filmy.
Dissemble Deceive.
Dulcet Sweet, sugary.
Ebullience Bubbling enthusiasm.
Effervescent Bubbly.
Efflorescence Flowering, blooming.
Elision Dropping a sound or syllable in a word.
Elixir A good potion.
Eloquence Beauty and persuasion in speech.
Embrocation Rubbing on a lotion.
Emollient A softener.
Ephemeral Short-lived.
Epiphany A sudden revelation.
Erstwhile At one time, for a time.
Ethereal Gaseous, invisible but detectable.
Evanescent Vanishing quickly, lasting a very short time.
Evocative Suggestive.
Fetching Pretty.
Felicity Pleasantness.
Forbearance Withholding response to provocation.
Fugacious Fleeting.
Furtive Shifty, sneaky.
Gambol To skip or leap about joyfully.
Glamour Beauty.
Gossamer The finest piece of thread, a spider's silk
Halcyon Happy, sunny, care-free.
Harbinger Messenger with news of the future.
Imbrication Overlapping and forming a regular pattern.
Imbroglio An altercation or complicated situation.
Imbue To infuse, instill.
Incipient Beginning, in an early stage.
Ineffable Unutterable, inexpressible.
Ing�nue A na�ve young woman.
Inglenook A cozy nook by the hearth.
Insouciance Blithe nonchalance.
Inure To become jaded.
Labyrinthine Twisting and turning.
Lagniappe A special kind of gift.
Lagoon A small gulf or inlet.
Languor Listlessness, inactivity.
Lassitude Weariness, listlessness.
Leisure Free time.
Lilt To move musically or lively.
Lissome Slender and graceful.
Lithe Slender and flexible.
Love Deep affection.
Mellifluous Sweet sounding.
Moiety One of two equal parts.
Mondegreen A slip of the ear.
Murmurous Murmuring.
Nemesis An unconquerable archenemy.
Offing The sea between the horizon and the offshore.
Onomatopoeia A word that sounds like its meaning.
Opulent Lush, luxuriant.
Palimpsest A manuscript written over earlier ones.
Panacea A solution for all problems
Panoply A complete set.
Pastiche An art work combining materials from various sources.
Penumbra A half-shadow.
Petrichor The smell of earth after rain.
Plethora A large quantity.
Propinquity An inclination.
Pyrrhic Successful with heavy losses.
Quintessential Most essential.
Ratatouille A spicy French stew.
Ravel To knit or unknit.
Redolent Fragrant.
Riparian By the bank of a stream.
Ripple A very small wave.
Scintilla A spark or very small thing.
Sempiternal Eternal.
Seraglio Rich, luxurious oriental palace or harem.
Serendipity Finding something nice while looking for something else.
Summery Light, delicate or warm and sunny.
Sumptuous Lush, luxurious.
Surreptitious Secretive, sneaky.
Susquehanna A river in Pennsylvania.
Susurrous Whispering, hissing.
Talisman A good luck charm.
Tintinnabulation Tinkling.
Umbrella Protection from sun or rain.
Untoward Unseemly, inappropriate.
Vestigial In trace amounts.
Wafture Waving.
Wherewithal The means.
Woebegone Sorrowful, downcast."
http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/100_most_beautiful_words.html |
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Sashadroogie

Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 11061 Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 7:49 pm Post subject: |
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Cellar door. |
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johnslat

Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 13859 Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 7:55 pm Post subject: |
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Dear Sasha,
Sorry - cheating: that's TWO words. But I heard that before, too, many years ago, Where did you come up with that?
Shenandoah
Regards,
John |
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killthebuddha
Joined: 06 Jul 2010 Posts: 144 Location: Assigned to the Imperial Gourd
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Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 11:35 pm Post subject: |
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Since you've included Susquehanna, and proper nouns are permitted, I'd nominate "Daphne."
"Synesthesia" used to be my favorite, but now I don't have one.
I always thought Al Pacino said in Scent of a Woman,
"There's only two syllables in this whole wide world worth hearing: 'elbow,'" but it was an expurgated version and I didn't read lips.
--ktb |
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Zero
Joined: 08 Sep 2004 Posts: 1402
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Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 1:11 am Post subject: |
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Sashadroogie wrote: |
Cellar door. |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellar_door
Not sure if you can read Wikipedia where you are. At any rate, a lot of author's like the sound of "cellar door," Tolkien among them. |
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aske
Joined: 28 Jul 2010 Posts: 7
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Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 1:24 am Post subject: |
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I always liked 'wheelbarrow'. It's certainly the most English of English words (of which many of those in the list are definitely not English and of those they sound better without the centralized English vowels).
'Orchard' is probably in the top three as well. |
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BrentBlack
Joined: 11 Apr 2010 Posts: 96 Location: Quan 3, Saigon
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Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 1:52 am Post subject: |
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Amalgamate! |
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Guy Courchesne

Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City
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Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 2:05 am Post subject: |
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I'm partial to using the word endeavour as much as possible. |
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killthebuddha
Joined: 06 Jul 2010 Posts: 144 Location: Assigned to the Imperial Gourd
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Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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Guy Courchesne wrote: |
I'm partial to using the word endeavour as much as possible. |
"Endeavor." Inspector Morse's shameful first name. |
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johnslat

Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 13859 Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 7:09 pm Post subject: |
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I've got to hand it to the Brits: some great first names: Inigo Jones, Capability Brown (although Brown's REAL first name was Lancelot - which ain't bad - the sobriquet "Capability" was given him because of his habit of saying that a place had great "capabilities.")
But, I suppose when your last name is Jones or Brown, you might feel the need to have a first name that makes you stand out from the crowd.
Regards,
John |
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