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Favourite Words
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What are your favourite words & what do they mean?
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Ambivelent - It means to have two opposing feelings about something or not being sure about how you feel. I tend to live my life in a state of ambivelence and so I like the word. (Bet I've spelt the word wrong though!)
F**k - Because it's just the most flexible work in the English language and can mean anything. And I do like the way it sounds.
F**k - Because it's just the most flexible work in the English language and can mean anything. And I do like the way it sounds.
Convivencia
Convivencia is a word to describe the situation in Spanish history when Jews, Muslims, and Catholics lived in relative peace together within the different kingdoms. The phase often refers to the interplay of cultural ideas between the three groups, and ideas of religious tolerance.
I like the sound of the word, and if only the world now was peaceful and tolerant.
Convivencia is a word to describe the situation in Spanish history when Jews, Muslims, and Catholics lived in relative peace together within the different kingdoms. The phase often refers to the interplay of cultural ideas between the three groups, and ideas of religious tolerance.
I like the sound of the word, and if only the world now was peaceful and tolerant.
Ruthless - not my favourite word maybe but my best comprehension of an everyday trait in other people. One of my all-time favourite books is the Book of Ruth from the Old Testament, about a very human character with good nature reduced to tears in alien fields by what has happened her. She is rescued by the kindness of strangers and those with whom she shares common cause.
I always think people whose outward lives are without that 'sense' of Ruth within them are, literally, ruthless people. People who walk on you, tramp on you; scum, in short. The world is full of them and they're full of themselves.
I always think people whose outward lives are without that 'sense' of Ruth within them are, literally, ruthless people. People who walk on you, tramp on you; scum, in short. The world is full of them and they're full of themselves.
My background is diverse. But there are certain words that have stuck with me for many years. And occasionally they overlap.
En'shallah. It�s such a delightful word with deep resonance and it can hold the weight of everything we hold dear, or it can be almost treated as a frivolity.
In its simplest form En'shallah means �if God wills it.� Kneeling in prayer with friends in the Middle East as we ask for guidance, peace, protection of our families and wisdom for our world leaders - responses would be �En'shallah.�
Or sitting on the flight deck of a brand new A330 passenger Aircraft with seven tonnes of jet fuel and 300 passengers aboard, as the aircraft hurdles down the runway, �V2�V1�Rotate�� and the captain and first officer immediately say �En'shallah.� If God wills it, the aircraft will take off.
Then it�s applied when you ask your secretary to make several photocopies of a document for you. �En'shallah,� she replies. And unfortunately, it really IS �En'shallah,� If she finishes filing her nails, checking her mascara, chatting with her other friends on the phone,� En'shallah,� she �might� remember to make that photo copy for you!
Continued
En'shallah. It�s such a delightful word with deep resonance and it can hold the weight of everything we hold dear, or it can be almost treated as a frivolity.
In its simplest form En'shallah means �if God wills it.� Kneeling in prayer with friends in the Middle East as we ask for guidance, peace, protection of our families and wisdom for our world leaders - responses would be �En'shallah.�
Or sitting on the flight deck of a brand new A330 passenger Aircraft with seven tonnes of jet fuel and 300 passengers aboard, as the aircraft hurdles down the runway, �V2�V1�Rotate�� and the captain and first officer immediately say �En'shallah.� If God wills it, the aircraft will take off.
Then it�s applied when you ask your secretary to make several photocopies of a document for you. �En'shallah,� she replies. And unfortunately, it really IS �En'shallah,� If she finishes filing her nails, checking her mascara, chatting with her other friends on the phone,� En'shallah,� she �might� remember to make that photo copy for you!
Continued
Part 2
We held a dinner party one night, inviting several dozen people. Between our western friends and Gulf nationals, our RSVP�s were seven �yesses� and 29 �En'shallah�s.� (we opted for a buffet style dinner!)
My next word is �memorable.� I�m blessed with the fact that I have so many �memorable� experiences in my life. From it�s earliest usage, I used to get my models to say the word �memorable� when I�d photograph them. The various movements of the lips, depending on the look you were seeking made �memorable� the most perfect word. And eventually I recall playfully coaching girlfriends into saying the word as it made their lips so kissibly beautiful.
�Memorable� is each time I celebrate a Baptism. �Memorable� are the stars at night as you fly over the great Serengeti. �Memorable� is the joy of birth and the sadness of a death. And �memorable� is the memory of touch, of arms around you and the eyes of someone you love and loves you.
So I wrap �memorable� with �En'shallah� and it leads me to �Alhumdillah�. Whether it be Dios De la Alabanza, Deus Do Elogio, or Dank-Gott. It all says the same.
I thank God for all.
Fr Bill
We held a dinner party one night, inviting several dozen people. Between our western friends and Gulf nationals, our RSVP�s were seven �yesses� and 29 �En'shallah�s.� (we opted for a buffet style dinner!)
My next word is �memorable.� I�m blessed with the fact that I have so many �memorable� experiences in my life. From it�s earliest usage, I used to get my models to say the word �memorable� when I�d photograph them. The various movements of the lips, depending on the look you were seeking made �memorable� the most perfect word. And eventually I recall playfully coaching girlfriends into saying the word as it made their lips so kissibly beautiful.
�Memorable� is each time I celebrate a Baptism. �Memorable� are the stars at night as you fly over the great Serengeti. �Memorable� is the joy of birth and the sadness of a death. And �memorable� is the memory of touch, of arms around you and the eyes of someone you love and loves you.
So I wrap �memorable� with �En'shallah� and it leads me to �Alhumdillah�. Whether it be Dios De la Alabanza, Deus Do Elogio, or Dank-Gott. It all says the same.
I thank God for all.
Fr Bill
Morning China! Thank you Cheries! China, I follow a tried and true methodology � I use the science of �cough.� Here at home, my homilies range between 7 and 12 minutes. In Britain they have never exceeded 15.
However � and this came as a real shock the first time it happened, I was invited to preach at an American Protestant church. I arrived on Saturday night and was met by members of the church who very kindly took me to dinner, then on to my hotel.
When I met with the resident pastor the first time, it was early on Sunday morning. The church was massive. There were typically six-seven hundred people who attended the services each Sunday morning. The pastor asked me if I were nervous. I wasn�t and I thanked him for asking me if I were. He then added that some visiting ministers, especially those who were not Baptist felt daunted at the idea of preaching for up to two hours at a time.
He must have seen the blood quickly drain from my face because he reached over and slapped my hand whilst laughing. I mustered up enough breath to say �that was funny.� But he looked seriously at me and said, �Of course I don�t expect you to preach for two hours. Somewhere between an hour and ninety minutes will do fine, and I�ll just pick up and carry on when your sails have lost their wind.�
Continued
However � and this came as a real shock the first time it happened, I was invited to preach at an American Protestant church. I arrived on Saturday night and was met by members of the church who very kindly took me to dinner, then on to my hotel.
When I met with the resident pastor the first time, it was early on Sunday morning. The church was massive. There were typically six-seven hundred people who attended the services each Sunday morning. The pastor asked me if I were nervous. I wasn�t and I thanked him for asking me if I were. He then added that some visiting ministers, especially those who were not Baptist felt daunted at the idea of preaching for up to two hours at a time.
He must have seen the blood quickly drain from my face because he reached over and slapped my hand whilst laughing. I mustered up enough breath to say �that was funny.� But he looked seriously at me and said, �Of course I don�t expect you to preach for two hours. Somewhere between an hour and ninety minutes will do fine, and I�ll just pick up and carry on when your sails have lost their wind.�
Continued
Part 2
He was dead serious! It was an amazing experience, but I got through. I suppose it�s just a matter of engaging people rather than talking �at� them.
The �cough� factor is simple. When you share your homily, you can determine quickly whether you�re engaging or losing our congregation by the amount of coughing you hear. The more coughing, the more you�ve lost them!
China, I do �try� to be engaging rather than monotonous and dull (in both my writing and speech), but I suppose one never finds the right balance of pleasing all of the people all of the time.
It would be sad to merely talk and take up space, when you have the opportunity to share, invoke thought, and share.
Be well
Fr Bill
He was dead serious! It was an amazing experience, but I got through. I suppose it�s just a matter of engaging people rather than talking �at� them.
The �cough� factor is simple. When you share your homily, you can determine quickly whether you�re engaging or losing our congregation by the amount of coughing you hear. The more coughing, the more you�ve lost them!
China, I do �try� to be engaging rather than monotonous and dull (in both my writing and speech), but I suppose one never finds the right balance of pleasing all of the people all of the time.
It would be sad to merely talk and take up space, when you have the opportunity to share, invoke thought, and share.
Be well
Fr Bill
Interesting question... and responses. My favorite (at the moment at least) has to be Conquistador... but not as it's usually pronounced by English as a first language speakers. Rather, the way it rolls off the tongue as spoken in the southwetern U.S. and northwest Mexico... not con-qwist-o-door, which is weak and (politically uncorrect warning!) somewhat feminine. But in the desert villages of Sonora, families still refer to themselves as being descendants of El Kaan-Kqiiss-tda-Dorayyy. (One has to be there). It has none of the oppressive, conqueror conotations we Anglos impart, but pride of history,
I would also add erudite... similar to Gromit's appreciation of a word's sound, I do like this one, coupled with the understated meaning of quiet understanding of the associated subject.
Finally, virescent... becoming green. It derives from the present participle of "virescere," a Latin verb meaning "to become green". (Source: Merriam-Webster). I especially like Thomas Hardy's use when he wrote, in his 1881 novel A Laodicean, of "the summer ... tipping every twig with a virescent yellow." Used infrequently today, generally in botanically inclined references... There are many others, but surely there has to be one derived solely from Old English and not borrowed, no?
I would also add erudite... similar to Gromit's appreciation of a word's sound, I do like this one, coupled with the understated meaning of quiet understanding of the associated subject.
Finally, virescent... becoming green. It derives from the present participle of "virescere," a Latin verb meaning "to become green". (Source: Merriam-Webster). I especially like Thomas Hardy's use when he wrote, in his 1881 novel A Laodicean, of "the summer ... tipping every twig with a virescent yellow." Used infrequently today, generally in botanically inclined references... There are many others, but surely there has to be one derived solely from Old English and not borrowed, no?
My favourite words are mostly in the dictionary (and therefore so are their meanings!)
Love, children, peace, happiness, harmony,
And, alphabetically - acceptance, bountiful, capability, dance, erotic, friend, grace, heaven, impish, jolly, kind, limpid, mother, natural, orange, pashal, quick, radishes, sex, thoughtful, unusual, very, wishes, xmas, you, & zigzag or zulu
Love, children, peace, happiness, harmony,
And, alphabetically - acceptance, bountiful, capability, dance, erotic, friend, grace, heaven, impish, jolly, kind, limpid, mother, natural, orange, pashal, quick, radishes, sex, thoughtful, unusual, very, wishes, xmas, you, & zigzag or zulu
Crapulent - suffering from excessive eating or drinking
I like it because it's one of the words that I specifically remember learning, my Dad taught it to me.
I also like, Impedementa - Objects, such as provisions or baggage, that impede or encumber
because I love the fact there is a word for such things!
I like it because it's one of the words that I specifically remember learning, my Dad taught it to me.
I also like, Impedementa - Objects, such as provisions or baggage, that impede or encumber
because I love the fact there is a word for such things!
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kip - it's just funny
persimmon - because it looks an sounds pretty
and a made-up word courtesy of a game of anti-scrabble, "finnamy" which means the kind of spurious drivel spoken by someone claiming Irish cultural roots.
( I suppose you could find the same from a variety of backgrounds, but that's the letters I had at the time )
persimmon - because it looks an sounds pretty
and a made-up word courtesy of a game of anti-scrabble, "finnamy" which means the kind of spurious drivel spoken by someone claiming Irish cultural roots.
( I suppose you could find the same from a variety of backgrounds, but that's the letters I had at the time )