Words We Like (Mostly)

This is round one of an occasional series of postings on people's favorite words. If you'd like to contribute to the next one, please drop me a note.


SHARON BALDWIN of the Tulsa World: I hesitate to call this my favorite word because I probably have as many favorite words as I do favorite songs, but ...with that caveat...

I love the word exacerbate. My attraction to it partly is its sound but mostly because I only seem to think to use it when, in hindsight, it's clear that it's the only word that would have sufficed.


MIKE SANTANGELO: the Fox News Channel Zipper Man, who writes the electronic news sign that rings 1211 6th Ave and via satellite, dsl, etc. signs at Grand Central, Logan, the DC airports, New Hampshire Denver etc.
Syzygy, I can spell it and nobody else can... Also queue, only word in the English language with a double diphthong... good way to win bar bets and display usless knowledge.

RANDI MARSHALL, Newsday business reporter: My favorite word is "Mommy." That has only been true for a little more than a year, when my now-2 1/2 year old daughter first looked at me and said it. Language has taken on a new meaning for me since she began speaking; every word means something new when coming out of her mouth. (The word "puddles," for instance, has become "cuddles" - Now, I love both of those words!)

However, there are other words and phrases that will always be among my favorites. "Spring Training" (ok, so that's two words), which to me means it's spring and baseball is in the air. They are, for me, words filled with hope and new beginnings. "Chocolate" - enough said.

And on a different note, as I think about words, I realize that I have also always loved the word "lexicon." I love the way it sounds and the way it rolls off your tounge, but also what it stands for: Today, there's a lexicon for everything, big and small, and to me, knowing that lexicon, and knowing how to use it, puts you on the inside, giving you the key to understanding - from wine to baseball to journalism to motherhood, and everything in between.


MIKE in Arizona: I'm a big fan of "hippopotamus" because of the way it sounds. Sadly, it doesn't come up in news copy very often. And I'm pretty sure I could never get it into any headlines.

BOB KEELER, Pulitzer-Prize winning reporter, editorial writer and author of the history of Newsday

Favorite sentence:
Mets win; Yanks lose.

Second favorite sentence (from an editor):
Don't worry about the length.

Unfavorite sentence (from an editor):
Can we say...?

Favorite words:
kenosis, pace e bene (Franciscan greeting), breathtaking, cuadrangular (Spanish for home run), outta here (Gary Cohen for home run)

Unfavorite words:
Yankees, special, product, going forward, shareholder value, moist


ANDY BECHTEL of The Editor's Desk: I like "dullard" for the definition and the way the U and the LL work together.

It's also a great one-word retort in an argument.

STAN NEWMAN, Newsday crossword editor and proprietor of StanXwords.com: My three favorite words are egosurf (search the Web for one's own name), sesquipedalian (fond of using long words), and arachibutyrophobia (fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth).

VINCE TUSS, copy editor at the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

1) Hey (as a greeting): There is nothing more casual, direct, more straightforward than walking up to someone to say "hey."

2) Hinky/hinkey/hinkie: The slang dictionaries disagree on how to spell it and we may not be sure what exactly it means, but just from hearing it you know it means something is wrong. Heard it on "Homicide: Life on the Streets" about a decade ago and had never heard it before. Then I noticed it cropping up slowly and surely elsewhere.

3) Utter (as an adjective): Forget using -est or most something. Using utter adds just the right touch.

4) Literate and urbane: What I aspire to.

5) Triage and doodads: Used way to much lately to describe my work. But they are fun to say.

6) A class of words I call the dis-whats: These are words that start with dis-. But it's not really a prefix, because if you remove dis-, you're not left with anything resembling a word. Good examples are disposed, disdain and disgruntled. How then did they get into the language?

7) Said: It's such a simple, direct, straightforward word. Used a lot,
but it's underrespected.

KATHY DROUIN, a copy editor at Newsday: My favorite words:

Sanctimommy. The mommy who knows better than you, and is more than happy to tell you so.

Frenemy: The person you keep being friends with, but you don't really know why, because she's really kind of mean and rotten.

Sarchasm: The gap between people who get sarcasm, and the people who don't. (This word I made up myself!)


PETER PARISI of the Washington Times: How about borborygmus, which is a word (happily, not onomatopoetic) for "a rumbling sound made by gas in the intestines." (stomach growling?)

And lunula .... the half-moons on your fingernails.


CARYN EVE MURRAY, copy editor at Newsday: For the most part, it seems I love words more for their sounds and appearance than for their meanings. My favorites include words such as "acquiesce," "resplendent" and "cuneiform," because they offer a pleasing mix of hard and soft sounds, and are fun to say - kind of like an amusement park for the mouth, where the rides are the consonants and vowels.

I also like the word "impeccable." It is a crisp sounding word that sounds just as impeccable as its meaning. And the word "equanimity," which delivers a strong sense of being grounded, and offers a rhythm of syllables that makes a comforting sound when it falls upon the ear.

Not coincidentally, I notice I like to use some of these words when I'm writing, where appropriate (except maybe for cuneiform!). Obviously in stories - not headlines!

The word "corn" makes me smile because it is a short word and seems friendly looking. I like the word "God" (yes, with a capital letter) because of its meaning (I suppose that makes me spiritual, eh? Guilty as charged). It is also a word that seems very rooted and rock-solid.

And finally, I love the Italian word "scoiattolo," which is pronounced scoy-AH-toe-low. It is Italian for squirrel. I adore squirrels (no secret there) but this word is so much more musical than its English counterpart.

What words do I hate? I DETEST TWENTY-FOUR/SEVEN (often written 24/7, it is an abomination because it is an abbreviation of the English language, and language should NEVER be abbreviated!) and I hate the word MANTISSA, not because I hate mathematics (I don't, I actually like math!) but I hate the hissing sound you must make when you say it.

There you have it, my completely irrational but totally honest confessions!


JEROME DOOLITTLE, ex-reporter and editor, author of such biting, humorous novels as Kill Story, Head Lock and operator of the Bad Attitudes web site said, My favorite word is squash. God may know why, but I don’t.

JUDY CARTWRIGHT of Newsday: Tactile.

JOHN MCINTYRE, former ACES president and author of You Don't Say says: I'm particularly fond of the British word "git," which, with a short vowel sandwiched between the hard "g" and terminal "t," permits forceful emphasis and packs a considerable degree of contempt into a single syllable. Most efficient. When more elaborate disapproval is called for, "git" provdes a sharp termination, as in "cretinous, pig-faced git." Its etymology is also interesting; the word derives from "get," or offspring, from the same root as "to beget," carrying the suggestion of ill-favored and ill-begotten.

Were you looking for something lyrical, like "daffodil" or "evensong" or "murmuring"? Sorry.

JOHN RAINS, Writing Coach and author: I like all sorts of words in their proper places, especially those that have sweet or soft sounds. Some I like but, of course, almost never get to use are

mellifluous

ululation

muscadine

sirocco

sinuous

murmur

Actually, the only words I dislike--aside from a few harsh-sounding vulgarities--are the tired bits of journalese and words used awkwardly. That's why I despise the overuse of "massive." Before the hacks worked on it, this was a great word.


BERYL ADCOCK of the McClatchy Washington Bureau: I've never thought before about having any favorite words. That would be like having favorite children.