Words with charisma

Everyone has their stable of favourite words. Which of yours hit the sweet spot of delight?

Here are a few that blow my hair back: LUCIDITY (as in a profound “AHA” moment), VOLUMINOUS (hair which I have not) and SAGACITY (wisdom / good judgment) – which my thinning pate proclaims to celebrate.

One of my favourite verbs is GLEAN – it sounds like such a clean, purposeful process of assimilating, sorting, digesting and extruding useful information i.e. grasping the PITH of “what matters most” from among the DROSS of communication. GLIB is another expressive verb – being relatively articulate but insincere… as in the inconsequential froth of gutter journalism.

Then there are expressive loan words from other cultures that delight. Like the Yiddish SHLEP, from the German “to drag” (e.g. “It’s such a schlep standing in queues”) or GLITCH, originally from the German “to slip” – which also has a satisfyingly onomatopoeic quality about it. Almost like the sound when you step on an insect inadvertently. Proofreaders are paid to pick up and rectify errors and omissions… glitches in the works. And it’s far more polite to use a euphemism like “having found a few GREMLINS” than saying “I discovered some glaring mistakes”.

LOQUACIOUS  is “pleasantly talkative”, though hopefully not MAGNILOQUENT, which is “verbally profuse”. That would then border on the BOMBASTIC (“high sounding language with little meaning”, from the Old French “bombace” = “cotton wool used as padding” or the Latin “bombyx” = “silkworm”) and might invite TRUCULENCE (an argumentative mode).

The subtlest word of all is SUBTLE.  Latin teacher extraordinaire, Mr Quinn, at the International School of Geneva, once elucidated the etymology or origin of the word. It’s simply a powerful combination of “sub” (under) and “tela” (the web). Try touching a spider’s web from beneath, with your index finger, ever so gently, to understand the supremely delicate stickiness that informs the subtle act. This insight alone, to the word’s significance, still continues to enthrall me.

UNCTUOUS, as in “rich”, is used positively these days, although its Latin origin (from “anointing” – in the ecclesiastical sense) suggests exaggeration, affectedness or insincerity due to its “showiness”. CLOYING takes such insincerity a sticky step further to one of ingratiation (from the medieval “accloy”, to “stop up” or “choke”).

Its interesting how the underbelly of social behaviour tends to engender the most expressive repertoire of words, such as LURID, LOUCHE and LASCIVIOUS.

SCINTILLATING, whose very letters seems to glint, from the Latin “scintilla”, “a spark”, is itself a brilliantly captivating word. “Brilliant” has been superseded by “awesome” – a word, by dint of American cultural imperialism (tongue firmly in cheek), and overuse, now meets with derision. The medieval  expression “awful”  originally meant “full of awe”, hence “inspiring”. I too, find “awesome” completely awful, in the modern sense.

But let’s not end on a LUGUBRIOUS (dismal) note. That’s the fun of language. When a word or expression has outlived its faddishness or reached its sell by date, it will either be discarded or evolve through popular momentum. Neologisms are born. I’ve coined the word HECTICITY  to describe the relentless buzz of life in the digital age. Hecticity is certainly the mother of creativity. I do hope this post has elicited a moment of metanoia  (i.e. a profound awakening – the opposite of paranoia ) with respect to the magic of words.