Ella at Box of Books, while slogging through a turgid tome, became distracted by words and came up with this list. My blogodoppelgänger, Julie at Bookworm, took up the meme, and then tagged me. Here we go:
Words that always look misspelled to me:
weird (why isn't it wierd? why?!?)
dilemma
judgment
Words that look nicer in italics:
caesura
amanuensis
vibrissae
mnium
Words I enjoy saying:
propinquity
Hylocomium splendens
Maianthemum dilatatum
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Astragalus
Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl
Words I enjoy hearing:
human rights (because we need to talk about it more and I have one or two opinions on the matter)
environment (ditto)
Abbreviations I dislike:
Can't think of any abbreviations, but acronyms are another matter! I prefer the Mexican system, where they incorporate more letters to make pronounceable word-like acronyms, like Difocur (Dirección de Investigación y Fomento de Cultura Regional) or Sedesol (Secretaria de Desarollo Social). Here we come up with gems like WAP (Watershed Assessment Program) and WLAP (pronounced "wallop" - for the Ministry formerly known as Water, Lands, and Air Protection). Sheesh.
Proper nouns I enjoy:
Manicouagan (new to me)
Tegucigalpa
Chichicastenango
Oaxaca
Habanero
Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl
Words I associate with happiness:
peace
warm
quiet
done
sleep
food
Words I always misspell:
weird
accommodation
memento
vacuum
Words I enjoy spelling correctly, every time:
Connecticut (not that I have much call to spell it)
Sault Ste. Marie (same here)
effect/affect as appropriate
Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl
An addition from Julie:
Words that, though I love their meaning, I'm too embarrassed to say out loud:
Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus (I don't exactly love the meaning of it but I love knowing that it's one of the two longest tautonymous species names. Unfortunately it makes me sound like Sylvester the Cat.)
One more for good measure:
Words I can never remember the meaning of no matter how many times I look them up:
alacrity (fast? slow? argh!)
Can't remember any more... which is sort of the point.
All verbophiles are invited to play along but I would particularly enjoy knowing what Stefanie and Susan might have to say on the matter.
