Kazona.

It was made up in 1969 during a beer party. Can be used as a name of something that you don't know ("My kozona hurts today"), a new product ("I just bought a brand new kazona").  And it sounds cool.

Tom Bowd

Keep Away From Children.

Keep Away From Children is a phrase that is found in many places. My first recollection of this direction was on a package of matches (it may have been on the occasion of my first illicit cigarette). Then it turned up on laundry products, household cleansers, bug spray, plastic bags and even some toys. It seemed to be everywhere.

I felt it was a personal message and it became a mantra of sorts. I've been keeping away from children for many years. I still keep a package of matches handy in case I forget....

Patricia

I was feeling sorry for the K section and sought out to contribute one of my favorite K words. Perusing (someone else's favorite) through the K section in the dictionary I came across "Kibitz" and I exclaimed, "What a fabulous word!"  It's a word I learned from my mother and one that I always interpreted as cheating when playing cards or bantering with my sister but have since learned neither is quite right. Yet I am still thankful for this word, because without Yiddish we would be at a lost for words in certain situations. That, or the replacements just wouldn't carry enough weight to convey the proper meaning -- like Chutzpah.

Laura Rollman

Kibosh.

To enunciate one single word as my favorite is rather challenging, as there exists a multitude of words which I adore. However, one of my recent favorites is kibosh. It adds color to one's vocabulary, proves exhilarating for the speaker to utter and titillates the listener as well. Best of all, it serves a useful purpose in everyday parlance. It means something that serves as an arrest or stop (to something/one). For example, "Steve began another tirade about the ineptitude of other drivers on the road today, so I put the kibosh on that topic and steered the conversation in a more positive direction."

I'm also partial to the words; effusive, plethora, myriad, ephemera, ethereal, potentate, schwitz, schmutz, diaspora, incongruous, smarmy, lecherous, lucre, finial, clandestine, nebulous, trepidation, ebullient, pristine, dichotomy, triage, splendiferous, moribund, lascivious, antediluvian, corporal, torpor, insipid, phlox, inchoate, involucre, innocuous, florid and esculent...amongst many others. As I stated above, it's difficult to choose just one word as my "favorite."

Josh Yeager

Kludge.

All software engineers (like me) know this word. And we pronounce it correctly: "klooge." It's a name for a solution to a problem that works but is somewhat inelegant or just plain goofy. I like the word because it describes itself: "kludge" is itself a kludge. If you were going to make up a word that was pronounced "klooge" you wouldn't spell it that way -- unless you wanted to illustrate what you were describing.

Rich Simon

Kumquat.

It sounds almost rude, but even if it didn't it sounds very silly to say, and if you heard it independently you would never guess what it really means.

Say it three times in a row and try not to smile - almost impossible!

Paul Potiki

Kwitcherbelliakin.

I once had a sign with this word printed on it.  After a while it just grew on me.  It means "Quit your belly-aching."

Tom Smit

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