According to the authors of the Macmillan English Dictionary, the English language is considered to be one of the richest in the world in terms of vocabulary. Together with technical words, it possesses more than a million lexical units. Yet, if I had to choose my favorite word, I would choose a very simple one, the one that every person knows and uses, but which still has a deep meaning: I would choose the word “mother”.
First of all, this word is interesting because it denotes a truly universal notion, which exists in absolutely any culture and any society on our planet. This, probably, explains the fact that in all the languages the sound forms of the word with the same meaning also have something in common.
Moreover, this is the word which evokes the whole range of positive emotions. This happens due to the fact that it is associated with kindness, affection, unconditional love, true understanding and full acceptance. For the mother, her child is always the best, the most precious gift of the God and the essence of life. When we hear the word “mother”, we subconsciously recollect the warmth of our mother’s hands, her voice singing a lullaby to us, her kind eyes. We feel happy and peaceful. “Mother” is the first word a baby says and every person then uses it both in the moment of happiness and being scared, when there is a need to share joy and when he feel sad.
So, I believe “mother” is my favorite word because it denotes the most important person in my life and symbolizes the highest of the human virtues.
In a world where numerous languages exist, there are billions of words that can captivate people from different walks of life. Thus, I would not forward the idea that my favorite word is the most important word in this planet. However, I would like to demonstrate that my favorite word can span the depths of the Earth, take hold of history, and redirect the future. My favorite word is ENLIGTEN. From the Encarta World English Dictionary, there are three entries that attempt to give meaning to this word, “to give information,” to “free somebody from ignorance,” and to “to teach somebody religion” (MSN Encarta, 2007). But this word “enlighten” meant more than what these entries imply.
To enlighten involves more than the acquisition of knowledge or the liberation from ignorance or the profession of a religion, because the word predetermines a situation, a process, and an outcome.
First, becoming enlightened is not merely the acquisition of knowledge because to enlighten someone is beyond teaching. In my own personal life, I would rather be enlightened about an idea than being simply taught about it. Being taught is simply being informed about a concept. For example, I can be taught about American history and I may even appreciate the efforts and courage that our ancestors possessed in unifying the different states. But, if I was enlightened about American history, I would not just understand but feel within my blood the power of having dreams and of having convictions. Being enlightened is being moved to take action.
Second, becoming enlightened is not just to liberate a person from a certain form of ignorance. Being relieved of ignorance is simply a form of information acquisition. Being enlightened is being liberated from other deplorable situations. To enlighten is to fight prejudice. To enlighten is to dispute superstition. And to enlighten is to free the self from preconceived notions, biased influences, and emotional upheavals that interfere with the attainment of truth.
Third, becoming enlightened is not just obtaining a religion. Any person may acquire a religion but remained unenlightened. Most religions today are ritualistic in nature and lack the depth of what religions are supposed to be. Unfortunately, with the diversity of cultures, religion could not rule the actions of people. But an enlightened mind can direct a person’s action. Being enlightened is not just about knowing God. Being enlightened is about having an epiphany. It is an epiphany about the nature of man, the purpose of existence, the morality of life, and the spirituality of fellowship. All these elaborate meanings of the word “enlighten” come about because of three prerequisites: a predetermined situation, a specific process, and a desired outcome.
Not everyone is privileged to experience enlightenment. There must be a predetermined situation before enlightenment occurs. It is almost impossible to enlighten a relatively happy person. But a person who is exposed to a critical, desolate, or life-threatening situation can be enlightened. To enlighten such a person is to help that person scale the abyss from which he is trapped. This enlightened person has scanned the depths of the Earth.
An ignorant person cannot be enlightened. This is because enlightenment involves a specific process. To enlighten is to build on the previous knowledge. To enlighten is not the run-of-the-mill eureka episode. It is a drawn out, and sometimes painful process in which a person must reflect the whole vista of his life. And, after being enlightened, this person has held the history of all human sufferings in his hand.
And finally, to enlighten must produce desired outcomes. To enlighten a person is to prevent him from staying passive. To enlighten is to make this person realize that he must implement sweeping and sometimes radical changes, perhaps in his life or perhaps in his thoughts. For my part, the process of enlightenment has redirected my future.
Bibliography
MSN Encarta. (2007). Enlighten. Encarta ® World English Dictionary – North American Edition. Soho Square, London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. Retrieved August 11, 2007 at http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861608542
My Favorite Word — Serendipity
Name
Institution
My Favorite Word — Serendipity
This word, serendipity, not only sounds pretty but also feels ‘sweet’ in the mouth when pronounced. I first bumped onto this word back in campus when our physics instructor was giving brief histories of scientific discoveries. Besides, I believe everyone is always happy to discover a fortune, which changes his or her life for the better, when not in the business of searching for it. A brief meaning and historical coining of serendipity provides a concise and worthwhile attribute to it and why it has become my favorite word.
Serendipity is a noun that refers to the utter luck of accidentally discovering fortunate events or encounters that come as a by-product in the process of looking for other things. The word means a fortunate happenstance of making discoveries of things that one was not looking for in the first place. Horace Walpole, coined this word in 1754, in a letter he wrote to one of his friends in which he used the word to try to explain an event he had discovered while referring to ‘The three Princes of Serendip’, a famous Persian fairy tale. According to Walpole, the princes were always bumping onto new discoveries of things they were not pursuing (Merton & Barber, 2004). For instance, he refers to a fairy tale in ‘The three Princes of Serendip’ in which he noted that one of the princes discovered a mule, blind in one eye, had travelled using the same road lately. The princes made this discovery while traveling the same route because he observed the grass appeared to have been eaten on the left side only, more than the right.
Most of the historic scientific discoveries we enjoy today also resulted from sheer serendipity. However, despite ‘Serendipity’ playing an important role in scientific discoveries, researchers often ignore the word in literature. Instead, many scientists base their discoveries on logic and predictability rather than luck owing to the traditional scientific thinking and behavior. For example, scientific innovations, such as the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming and the discovery of gravitational pull by Isaac Newton are occurrences attributed mostly to serendipity, accidental discoveries. Isaac Newton, while sitting under an apple tree, noticed a fruit falling to the ground and wondered why it did not fall upwards. It is from this event that he discovered the law of gravity. Many other inventions, such as the microwave oven by Percy Spencer (1945), discovery of quinine, small pox vaccination, and x-rays, all owe their discoveries from utter sagacity or accidents (Archibug & Filippetti, 2015).
However, I love this word most because of the way it ‘pronounces’ itself in my mouth, ‘serendipity’. It sounds closer to ‘stupidity’, and I believe…
Эссе
My favourite word is Zoo
Zharinov Anton Form 6 A
School № 145
Teacher Kuminova E. I.
Saint Petersburg
2014
A zoo is a place where various birds, animals and reptiles are kept. It has great attraction particularly for the children. A visit to a zoo gives us both information and entertainment. We come to learn about the rare species. We take a full round of it and enjoy ourselves a lot. We are happy to see all those animals with our own eyes about which we read in books. The memory of the visit still fills me with thrill and excitement.
Giraffes, elephants, monkeys too. I like to visit them at the Zoo.
Little squirrels in a tree. Come and take this nut from me.
I took some photos.
Who are you looking at ? You are looking at Me !
Beauty and the Beast
Hanging around
But what is Zoo I wonder. A zoo (short for zoological park or zoological garden, also called a menagerie) is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred. The term zoological garden refers to zoology, the study of animals. It comes from the Greek zōon (ζῷον, «animal») and lógos (λóγος, «study»). The oldest known zoological collection was revealed during excavations at Hierakonpolis, Egypt in 2009 B.C. menagerie. The oldest zoo in the world still in existence is the Tiergarten Schönbrunn in Vienna, Austria. The Kazan Zoo, the first zoo in Russia was founded in 1806 by the Professor of Kazan State University Karl Fuchs. The abbreviation «zoo» was first used of the London Zoological Gardens, which opened for scientific study in 1828 and to the public in 1857.The number of major animal collections open to the public around the world now exceeds 1,000, around 80 percent of them in cities. Nowadays Zoo as a noun has different meanings:1. Zoological gardens: take the children to the zoo. 2. Park ( usually public) in which many kinds of animals are kept for exhibition. 3. A facility where wild animals are housed for exhibition. The Synonyms: menagerie, zoological garden. Words and phrases that have a meaning related to zoo: (13 results). Often used in the same context: animal, beast, elephant, moo, zebra. Words related by part of speech : nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs. Words and phrases that rhyme with zoo: (626 results) 1syllable: moo, shoo. 2 syllables: bamboo. 3syllables: Katmandu, kangaroo. 4 syllables: kalamazoo. 5 syllables: giant kangaroo. 6 syllables: giant timber bamboo. 7 syllables: analytical review. More ideas: words ending with «zoo»: kalamazoo , kazoo.
It is interesting to know that words and phrases are pronounced exactly the same as Zoo: (3 results) 1 syllable: xue, zue. I found that words can be pronounced similarly to zoo: (34 results) soo, sue, zue.
Moreover, it was great to discover a lot of interesting information about animals size, colour, skin, speed, weight, ages:
1. They can live: turtle-180 years, elephant-100 years, crocodile-40 years, camel-25 years.
2. What do the animals say? The dog says wow. The cat says meow. The frog says croak.
3. Assemblies of groups: a flight of birds, a pride of lions, a school of whales.
4. Male: bull, tiger, bear. Female: cow, tigress, she- bear.
Do you know proverbs? All cats are grey in the dark. Every dog is a lion at home.
Just for fun, a joke. A visitor in the Zoo saw a lion and a ship together in one cage. He was very much surprised and asked the keeper, “ Don’t they quarrel with each other?”- “ Well, they sometimes do,” answered the keeper. “And what do you do then?” the visitor wanted to know. “ Then we buy a new sheep.”
Guess Who? It is yellow in colour and as tall as can be . It can eat the leaves from a very tall tree.
In the English lessons we sing songs “Songbirds”, “To the Zoo”. “Yankee doodle”, “Butterflies”, ‘The Itsy Bitsy Spider’, “Bingo”, “Five little monkeys”.
Nursery and counting rhymes, the laughing tests, puzzles, poems, fables, stories and books about animals make me feel excited. Rhyme zone is fantastic!
Today when I was at the Zoo I saw the mother Kangaroo.
Inside her skin she has a pocket, she put her baby there to rock it.
There is a huge collection of children’s songs and funny rhymes about zoo animals.
I’ve read fairy tales “ Kenny’s monkey”, “The rabbit and the wolf’” in my childhood. But the story “How the animals get to the Zoo” and “ Maugly” by R. Kipling impressed me greatly. Funny animal activities have much fun: hidden pets, crosswords, word snake, jumbled words. I can’t stop watching cartoons Mickey Mouse by W. Disney or “Just so Stories”. That is why my favourite word is a Zoo. Isn’t it informative and educative ! In a conclusion, I’d like to say,” We should protect animals!”
Sources:
- Verkhoglyad, V. A. English rhymes for children.- M.: Prosveshchenie.- 2006.- 80 p.
- Discover our amazing world with CLIL Readers.- Express Publishing.- 2014.- 24 p.
- Hornby, A.S. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. Volume 2/ A.S. Hornby. – M.: Русский язык, 1982. – 509 с.
- Learn and play at the English lessons.- M: Drofa.- 2008.- 160 p.
5. www.fabulousfirstgrade.50megs.com/zoo.html
6. http://en.wikipedia.org 7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Zoo
What is your favorite word, and why?
It was a word that we loved as children, a word that fluctuates between good and bad in our adolescent years, and a word that we will love some day, once again. It’s astounding how one short word that is often said without thought can be part of us throughout our entire lives, and this is why “pretend” is one of my favorite words.
This simple, six-letter word brings back childhood memories of my closest cousins and me. We used this word as a noun quite often. It was one of our favorite and also one of the only games that we took part in. Every time that we visited each other, we played Pretend. Pretending that we were rescuing animals off of our blue bunk bed ship. Pretending that he was Tarzan and I was Jane. Pretending that the pool Polaris was an angry, monstrous shark. When asked what we had done all day, our reply would start off as, “We played Pretend a lot! We pretended that…” and then we would proceed to tell the poor, innocent questioner of all our adventures of that day.
Although “pretend” is often limited to a word used solely by imaginative children, it doesn’t leave our vocabulary as we grow into our teenage years. We prefer to use it in different contexts. Instead of “playing pretend”, we now pretend that we like her shirt. We pretend that we don’t care. We pretend that everything is fine, and we pretend that we really do know what we’re talking about (because teenagers know everything). Pretending becomes a verb. It becomes a way to hide things, a way to fit in. A way to be somebody who we’re not.
Even when I’m grown and have a family of my own this word will still be with me. I’ll turn it back into a noun and I’ll, once again, play Pretend with my own creative children. We’ll pretend that we are Cowboys and Indians. We’ll pretend that we’re lost in the jungle. They’ll probably pretend that it’s not bedtime…but, maybe, I’ll pretend, just as my mother did, that I simply lost track of time.
As my future family grows, this word will grow with them. I will have the privilege of watching as they carry this word throughout their awkward years and then through to their own families. Then they’ll realize, just as I do now, that pretending is a way of life. It is a cycle. It has neither beginning nor ending but is a continual, rolling wheel. This cycle does not stop its many revolutions until we reach a stand still. Until the day that we pretend to sleep – forever.
What is your favorite word and why? Explain in 500 words or less
When playing the game Hangman, the idea is to choose a word that your opponent cannot guess within a limited amount of tries. The strategy to performing well at this game is choosing words with less commonly used letters, arranged in an unusual fashion. Also, one should use the least vowels possible. One word that fits all of these parameters is the word «quirky». The order in which people usually guess vowels is the same order in which they are ordered in the alphabet, or «a, e, i, o, u». That is two wrong guesses right there for sure. Next, it would be logical to stop guessing vowels after «I» is uncovered, because the word is only six letters long, and the «i» is in the middle, so many people never even guess the «u». Finally, of the four consonants in the word «quirky», three of them are very uncommon. The combination of all of these factors makes «quirky» an exemplary word to use in hangman. This is also one of the many reasons why this word is one of my favorite words. To add on to that, the word «quirky» is worth a minimum of 72 points when played in the game Scrabble. Discounting all of these very appealing attributes of this word, the chief reason that I would call this word, out of the hundreds of thousands of words in the English language, is that it describes my personality to the core. One reason that this words describes is because two things that I identify closely with, two of the most personal things about me, are almost polar opposites. On one hand, I have been diagnosed with ADHD and can be very talkative, impulsive, and excessively communicative to a fault. On the other hand, I am an introvert and tend to shy away from intimate social relationships. These two things have been essential to my growth and to how people view me, but are in essence opposed. Other things that could make people think of me as quirky are a few habits of mine: biting the inside of my cheek, arguing nonstop but somehow being right most of the time, constantly drumming on anything solid, humming incessantly, and talking out of turn. Quirks like these are what make all of mankind unique individuals with our own eccentricities. Take away these, and you take away our identity. Without the word the can best be defined as my word, what would I be? For one, my skills at hangman and scrabble would be greatly diminished, as that is my signature word, but more importantly, I would lose some of my uniqueness.
you write well, as you have rich vocabulary and good knowledge of grammar, but this essay lacks structure. If you divide into paragraphs, it would look more consistent and coherents. So I suggest to break the essay and start second para with «Discounting..» and the last para with «Without»:
To add on to that, the word «quirky» is worth a minimum of 72 points when played in the game Scrabble.
Discounting all of these very appealing attributes of this word, the chief reason that I would call this word, out of the hundreds of thousands of words in the English language, is that it describes my personality to the core
Quirks like these are what make all of mankind unique individuals with our own eccentricities. Take away these, and you take away our identity.
Without the word the can best be defined as my word, what would I be? For one, my skills at hangman and scrabble would be greatly diminished, as that is my signature word, but more importantly, I would lose some of my uniqueness.
very convinsing, I particulary like the para where you described yourself.
good luck!
Also, one should use the least as few vowels as possible. — this is a tough sentence to get right! It is hard to use the word few correctly…
One word that fits all of these parameters is the word «quirky». (add a sentence about this word being your favorite word, and then end paragraph.)
Paragraph 2:
Quirky is a great word to use when playing hangman.The order in which people usually guess vowels is the same order in which … many reasons why this word is one of my favorite words.
(new paragraph)
To add on to that, the word «quirky» is worth a minimum of 72 points when played in the game Scrabble— you are funny. You choose your favorite words based on games you play? That is cool…
Thank you both of you for your advice pertaining to my essay. It will help a lot, not only in this essay but more to come, as this is the first of many for this year.
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University of Virginia
Family, my Favorite Word
What’s your favorite word and why?
My favorite word is “family”.
I grew up seeing my family slowly falling apart. My parents too often argued intensely, my dad imposed violence on my mom, and they got divorced eventually.
My dad was not there to protect me from getting hurt. My mom had no time to hold me tight when I cried from failing life tasks. My older sister was unable to listen to my problems because she was too busy taking on a new role as a guardian. My younger sister just innocently asked for an explanation of what was going on within the household. And then there was me, being torn into pieces but still trying to stay strong so I would not be a burden to my family.
I never understood the meaning of family, yet I have learned of its importance. In my own dictionary, family is defined as people who will stand by me when the whole world is against me, guide me through the ups and downs of life, and turn the frown on my face into a smile; yet I never truly experienced it. I just know that family has a significant impact in my life, and that as soon as my family was broken, nothing can ever replace the huge loss.
I realized from my own experience that a child can never be fully happy without feeling loved by his or her family. So “family” becomes my favorite…
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UMBRELLA is my favorite words. It is a strong word besides loving its sound.
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Exquisite is my favorite word….
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It’s difficult to choose only one word, for I like many words. Two words I like the most are: satisfied & complacent, cuz my name “Radia” in my language, Arabic, means that. I like the sound of satisfied and the meaning of complacent as it means so satisfied. I also like the word courageous. Radia, Libya.
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I like the word “sunshine” the most. Its warmth, glittering and spirituous. It shows a good start, hope and yet…lucky! I wanna be “sunshine in the rain”
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MY favorite word is wherever, because it sounds good…
Fabiola -
My favorite is SOURCE… =]
It just sounds very nice and the meaning is great! -
My favourite word is APPRECIATE…
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My favorite word is zucchini ^^ It sounds great !!!!
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One of my favourite word is enthusiastic (sorry, I know I’m not being very original), it took me ages to be able to pronounce it correctly! I also like outrageous and forerunner.
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My favorite word is resplendent. It sounds as grand as the sun
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my favorite words are serenity mmm..and serendipity…oh and sentinel…
I love the way they sssound 🙂 -
‘Indigo” is great – it manages to sound both cozy and dangerous.
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One of my favourite English words is EXTRAORDINARY! Firstly because of the pronounciation, especially when being uttered by my Brittish friends, secondly due to its meaning which is so “out of the way”! =)
I also love the words HILLARIOUS, FABULOUS and BRILLIANT! Same too reasons! -
Well, my favourite English word would be “bee”. I don’t know, it just sounds so cute and you instantly can imagine the sound of bees. And you might forget that they can sting, too. So yeah, that’s my favourite word.
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I love the word ‘procrastination’ because it doesn’t exist in my mother tongue (German), because it sounds sophisticated and because I can use it to tell people in a nice way that they should get their work done 😉
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My favorite English word is “perhaps” I like to pronounce it and the sound when someone else pronounce it.
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My favourite English word is “LOVE”…….. 🙂
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My favorite word is “Serendipity” The first time I heard about this word was in a movie….I like it for its meaning and because in my mother tongue, Spanish, there is not a word that means the same.
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“payday”.. no seriously.. well half-seriously “acquiese” or “lascivious” 😉
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that should be “acquiesce”.. can’t spell so why do I teach English??
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My favorite English word is “twilight” because it asociates with two lovely things bird twitting and day light )
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I definitely love the sound of “scissors”: you can feel how paper is cut when you pronounce it. And also “Malmsey”, which reminds me of my English History lessons at university…. the Tudors always drank that wine in my teacher’s opinion. Some years later I travelled to Sicily and tasted the local variety of it… Wonderful! Finally, 2 more words: “pristine” and “gorgeous”.
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hey guys what do you think of..
UBIQUITOUS?
i think it’s cool.
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My favourite is LOVELY…. it has a very nice pronuciation with my Slovak accent.
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My favourite English word is “compassion” firstly because of the meaning and also because it includes the word “passion” which is another word I love- thus I get 2 for the price of 1…it’s great-I don’t have to choose between the 2 words!
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Kerfuffle
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My favorite word is OBLIVION. It sound magical and it evokes the sea and the mountains.
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i love to use PLEASURE in my sentences 🙂
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My favourite English word is an expression actually:” two thumbs up”;
I like this expression because when you say it you use your fingers and body as well and usually when someone speaks he uses his whole body to communicate.
Morevoer this expression can initiate others like: three thumbs up or ten thumbs up or two hands up etc…….that’s why I do like these words together! -
“Ombudsman” is Swedish, “zucchini” is Italian – English is such a fabulous language – constantly adorning itself with jewels from multicultural crowns. By the way, “slut” comes from “slattern” which means a sloppy housekeeper, NOTHING to do with loose morals! My favourite word is “voluptuous”, especially as pronounced by an old Finnish friend of mine who used to say “volumptuous” !!!
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My favorite words are all the performative verbs (promise, forbid, invite, swear, declare etc) not because of their sound but rather because of their power to convey the kind of speech act being performed.
Claudio Silva -
My favorite word in English is ‘knowledge’, because I think sounds good! HAHAHA’
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My favorite English word is definitely “procrastination”. It just sounds good and it’s a very useful word. We also have an equivalent in Spanish (procrastinar), though we don’t use it as often.
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“tangerine ” because it sounds as it tastes:sour and sweet
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My favourite English word is “candy” because is sweet
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I hated MENAGERIE as a child. It made me itch. I see someone wrote RENDEZVOUS. This reminds me of George W, who apparently said that the French were no good in business because they didn’t have a word for ENTREPRENEUR. Well, well!!
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I really like the word WINNINGEST which I gather is used by sports announcers in the States. In the U.K. we never use that word but it is such a funny (and useful) word!
Also on the Simpsons they used that word EMBIGGENS, as in “A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man”.
It’s amazing how these words start off tongue in cheek but end up being used day to day.
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I think I went thru about a 1/4 of the comments before someone said a “true” English word … one that has Anglo-Germanic roots rather than a Latinate or Greek-rooted word. That’s kind of sad.
The one that I like the best … bedoven … means to be drenched or drowned (ppl from archaic bedive). For byspel: After walking thru the jungle, he was bedoven with sweat.
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My favorite English word is “TOUCH”. It sounds great!!!
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my best word is WEIRD. I love the pronunciation
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i like to us the word ‘SIBLINGS because it sounds very good when we use it instead saying brothers and sisters
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My favourite word is awkward. Maybe because of its structure.I really love to use it everyday ! 😀 :))))
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My favourite word is “super”. It is easily recognized and frequently used by almost everybody!
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My favourite word is ‘forlorn’, which I heard first in John Keat’s Ode to a Nightingale. I just love how it sounds, because it’s true, “the very word is like a bell”.
I also like other English words such as ‘solace’ (the very sound of the word transmits softness and calm), ‘dearest’ (it sounds very tender and endearing), ‘sojourn’ (I find it graceful)… -
my favorite word in English is : AWESOME . and i use it a lot