I'm always looking for new words for my vocabulary. I like the feel, taste, and look of them. I think we all should know and pepper our conversations with exciting words that might be over 2 syllables long. Even if I have to ask for pronunciation guides.
1) Recently, after years of occasional stuttering, and ending up having to use "Terrible" or "Bad" in lieu of Abominable (Imagine my embarrassment, talking about the "Very Bad Snow Man!), I learned to pronounce it... I did have to fight a fair amount to spit it out! It's a delightful word though, and I get a very strange image from the mnemonic I use to recall how it's pronounced.
2)Phantasmagoria. It's a fun little word and reminds me of fairies dancing on flowers. I have a tendency to be a dreamer. (But I'm not the only one). Webster's Dictionary defines "Phantasmagoria" as:
A. shifting "phantasms", dreams, illusions, or deceptive appearances brought on by the imagination. (Day dreaming?)
B)A changing scene made out of changing elements. Perhaps a kaleidescope type view?
C) An illusion, differing sizes, etc.
When I first saw the word, I was a bit older. I thought of a colorful orgasm. I had no idea what that was, but it helped me remember "Phantas-ma- goric", etc.
3)Nonplussed. It's such a silly word for being shocked, or not being able to go any further, perhaps due to said confusion. I always ask myself, "Are my pluses nonned, or my nons plused?"
4)Discombobulated... such a fun word I picked up in 8th grade, can't recall where. I used it as often as I could, testing it.
I always wondered why there was a state of DIS combobulaton, with DIS being a prefix designed to mean that you took something away... but not COMbobulation. If I am that messed up when DIScombobulated, then I really don't know how I'd be if I were COMbobulated!
It literally means: to confuse, to disconcert (Thank you Websters!), upset, or to frustrate. I usually think of some poor sap named Bob, who um, gets "dissed".
I wonder just what I'll think of next!
No comments:
Post a Comment