Micawber

This word is awesome, not because of the sweet beauty that a word sometimes has as it rolls across the tongue, or the uncanny similarity between its pronunciation and its meaning, but rather because of its complete “oddness.” Very rarely in the English language do we find the wb found written together (although I hear it put there quite often here in the South, “corn on the cawb”, “turn the knawb”). Its oddity gives a sort of savage intonation. The word’s meaning, however, has nothing to do with its sound:

“One who is poor but lives in optimistic expectation of better fortune.”

What makes the word even better is that it comes from a piece of literature. It stems from Wilkins Micawber, a character from Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield.

Caleb Smith