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  Sara Rosinsky • Shiny Red Copy

sara's Shiny red blog

Bad words are the best words.

4/17/2018

3 Comments

 
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I keep several lists of words.

One is called "words I can never remember," and I reach for it when aphasia strikes me. (One time, I couldn't remember the word "aphasia," and I knew the universe was mocking me.)

One list is called "words that sound good." This includes "Kinshasa" and "calliope."

My "words I like" list includes "hobgoblin" and "calamity."

My "more good words" list has "perfidy," "calumny" and "shamble."

Then I have this list that I add to when I read. It's for all those times I encounter a word and think, "I should use that word! It's so great." ​
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Notice anything about the words I appreciate? Lots of them are negative in some way. Contempt. Depravity. Pernicious. Degrading. Debauchery.

Is this proof that I'm twisted?

I don't think so. I believe that negative words tend to be powerful. Dramatic. Amusing. They tap into the darker side of life, where all sorts of visceral emotions lie.

I think "diabolical" beats "angelic." "Dastardly" is better than "upright." "Malevolent" wins over "innocent."

​What do you think? What are your favorite words?


​


​To leave or read comments, just click on the red "comments" link at the top of this post.
3 Comments
Robin Beattie link
4/28/2018 10:43:30 am

Love this. I will have to dig up some of my old lists of words.

Reply
Theresa
3/23/2019 01:14:21 am

I agree with you, Sara. I wonder if the "good" words are overused (everything is "awesome"), but the bad words are not (even people who really hate Trump don't haul out the dollar words like "dastardly" and often resort to emojis).

I have favorite words, but I also fall in love with turns of phrase that may contain fairly ordinary words. My favorite part of Churchill's "We shall fight on the beaches" speech is when he is talking about how the rest of the Empire would come to England's rescue if Germany were to invade successfully, and he says, "Even if--which I do not for a moment imagine […]" It's that "which I do not for a moment imagine" that brings tears to my eyes.

Reply
Sara Rosinsky link
3/23/2019 10:24:52 am

Interesting idea. I'll think on that! I also love words that just sound good. Calliope, plash, fandango, mellifluous, Haleakala, etc., etc.

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