Feb
26
This is one of those “ten dollar words” that has a very specific meaning–in this case, a parchment from which the original writing has been erased to make room for something new–but that you see popping up everywhere once you know it. It’s got great potential for metaphor, don’t you think?
rubylexicon
Rate this:
(19 votes, average: 7.47 out of 10)
Loading ...
Feb
26
It means a barrage of images, whether real or imagined. It is one of the most beautiful, and yet disturbing sounding words on the planet, i think. It just reminds me of a murky swamp filled with unknown treasures and horrors!
Garrett
Meen-e-sohta
Rate this:
(17 votes, average: 9.47 out of 10) Loading ...
Feb
26
Phantasmagoria
Filed Under P | Leave a Comment
I imagine a kaleidoscope or an eclectic collection of things in a photograph from one of the old ‘I Spy’ books. The first part of the word ‘phantasm-”, reminds me of the word phantom, i.e. a shadow or something with an equally evanescent quality. The ‘-goria’ part recalls a bright assembly of knickknacks and doodads. The word means a constantly shifting complex succession of things seen or imagined or a bizarre or fantastic combination, collection, or assemblage. This word makes me wish ‘floatatious’ was a word I could describe it with.
Alexandra
Plano, Texas
Rate this:
(6 votes, average: 8.83 out of 10) Loading ...
Feb
26
Peanut Butter
Filed Under P | Leave a Comment
It’s sweet and wholesome … I use it as a nickname for my chihuahua.
Chris
Illinois
Rate this:
(31 votes, average: 2.87 out of 10) Loading ...
Feb
26
Parallax
Filed Under P | Leave a Comment
Because it makes me think of the way I see the world. Whenever I think about the word, the definition forces me to take a look from more than one angle, and I understand more about whatever it is were talking about.
It is the reason I see things in 3-dimensions so clearly, and it is the way in which I reason with other people. Parallax lets us comprehend everything, from the distance of the stars to the expressions on a lover’s face. Thanks, you awesome word, you.
Cameron Price
Flagstaff, AZ
Rate this:
(7 votes, average: 8.71 out of 10) Loading ...
Nov
19
Pamplemousse
Filed Under P | Leave a Comment
It’s the French word meaning “grapefruit.” I just love it sounds so funny when you say it, and in French class it was one of our inside jokes. We used to call people pamplemousses and everyone would laugh saying,”What’s a pamper moose?!” So many funny old memories that make this word my all-time fave!
Nina
CA
Rate this:
(188 votes, average: 4.6 out of 10) Loading ...
Apr
17
Panache
Filed Under P | 2 Comments
Another lovely French word with no true English equivalent. I
came across this in high school when my French class studied Cyrano de Bergerac, a play. Panache is a sort of flamboyant style, or flair. It also happens to be a giant plume that one would wear on a hat (think: Three Musketeers hat).
It also just begs to be yelled out loud, but perhaps that’s just me.
Brittany
Rate this:
(40 votes, average: 4.83 out of 10) Loading ...
Mar
8
Philtrum
Filed Under P | Leave a Comment
The philtrum is the vertical midline groove in the upper lip that runs from the top of the lip to the nose. According to the Talmud, (Niddah 30b), and other sources, God sends an angel to each womb just before a baby is born, when the angel touches it between the upper lip and the nose and whispers, “Shh…don’t tell what you know.”
Mike Jones
Central Texas
Rate this:
(32 votes, average: 4.09 out of 10) Loading ...
Mar
8
The word conveys images of Arabic merchants trading in India and stuffy British ladies sipping tea in their overly lavish tea rooms. It reminds me of Asia and purity, and fits nicely into any poem.
Jordan
California
Rate this:
(19 votes, average: 3.05 out of 10) Loading ...
Mar
2
Pneumonoultramicroscopic silicovolcanoconiosis
Filed Under P | 2 Comments
It’s the longest word in the English dictionary. It also happens to be a lung disease caused by inhalation of the silica dust formed in volcanoes. You’d think they would have come up with something simpler, right?
George
Frederick, MD
[note: word broken to avoid formatting problems]
Rate this:
(28 votes, average: 3.86 out of 10) Loading ...
