17 December 2008

Mini missive

Dear Words,
We're sorry we had that little quarrel. You know that we could never really leave you, don't you? Here's a small token of our affection.
with love,
Onions

Words that aren't onomatopoeias but sure sound like what they mean:
schmooze
sneer
trudge
hussy
treacle
curlicue
dump
frippery
discombobulated
curmudgeon
corpulent
smooth
blasé
brazen
snap
languid
officious
zest
poltroon
protrude
almost any of you sl- words: slippery, slide, slap, slick, sleazebag, slimy


Words that don't sound anything like what they mean
bucolic
lachrymose
pulchritudinous (until reclaimed by Justine)
pedagogue
missive
dessert (although 'pudding', on the other hand...)
thespian


Any others?

4 comments:

Penni Russon said...

My children call Dessert "berzerk". Ha. Of course such behaviour is wildly and recklessly encouraged in our house.

Yeah, what is with bucolic? I always forget what it means and equate it with tuberculosis.

lili said...

I was the same with bucolic. As a child I also got really confused about "Caucasian" because it had "asian" in it.

I think the trudges and hussys and curmudgeons are called "ideophones". Or so Lingua Franca tells me.

Misrule said...

I've always liked cake. The word, not so much the food. What's the tactile/physical equivalent of onomatopoeia? Because every time I say "cake", I feel like I'm eating it.

Anonymous said...

For words that don't sound anything like what they mean:

Estranged.

It rolls off your tongue like it is warm-touchy-feely-exotic but it is really a cold standoffish word.

And had to laugh at bucolic. So true! Sounds more like a nasty illness to me.

Love the blog--thanks for the link!