Before I begin this installment of my favorite things I'll give you another Helprin quote. This one from the story Ellis Island, is from the perspective of a young man immigrating to the United States from Europe. Shortly before the ship arrives in New York he is imagining what life will be like in his new home. "And, I thought that I would finally get to see the American Talking Chicken, who, it was believed in my village (why not?), possessed the mildly altruistic trait of sitting down with you just before he was to be cooked, to determine the best recipe. I imagine that such a conversation would be both candid and touching."
An incomplete list, constantly in flux:
1) Foxes. The fox is probably just about my favorite animal, but that's not why it's on the list, or maybe it is, (with words it is sometimes hard to tell), it's on the list because it is the key word in two of my favorite album titles - Catch For Us The Foxes by mewithoutyou and Fox Confessor Brings the Flood by Neko Case.
2) Lush. One of the hard workers, a word with three meanings. a.) Abundant, plentiful, thriving, productive. b.) Characterized by luxuriant vegetation. c.) Drunkard; alcoholic. I originally wrote this list in high school and as best as I can remember, this word is the only survivor from that original list. I remember the first time I heard someone referred to as a lush (alcoholic) and me, without knowing the meaning thinking, "I want to be a lush, I hope that someday someone describes me that way."
3) Abalone. Much like a woman's neck, this word brings to mind something elegant, slender, and strong. A feminine word. Again, may or may not be tied indirectly to the meaning, we'll never know. A great word, nonetheless.
4) Copse. If I ever hear this word used in a sentence, I'll probably be doing something fun, outdoors, standing in a field, looking off into the distance.
5) Erstwhile. Don't know what it means, don't even need to know right now, still really like it.
6) Oxen. Nice masculine word.
7) Chino. First saw this word in the J.Crew catalog as a teenager. Later on, I was doing some landscaping for a Wall Street hotshot in Jersey when I first heard it in a sentence. His wife was telling me the story about how their son's college party was raided by a SWAT team who had narrowly missed a large drug bust earlier in the night and were dejectedly riding back to the station when a neighbor called in to complain about noise from the party. So the cops busted up the party dressed in full on SWAT gear and swagger. Her quote was something like, "Can you imagine?! Just a couple of frat boys in chinos standing around drinking beer and the SWAT team swoops in!" I enjoyed the story and the word somehow came to represent the entire crazy image it conjured up in my mind. I have used it once in a sentence, felt good, I remember being surprised when it came out of my mouth (nearly animate) after sitting dormant for nearly a decade.
8) Savannah. Even if you did not know what this word meant, I think you would still like it for the sweet yet efficient way it just sort of rolls of your tongue.
9) Cudgel. Back in Kansas City, my old boss and I used to get the word of the day from dictionary.com or something like it. This was one of our words. It can be used as a noun or a verb and refers to a short, thick stick used as a weapon; club or a verb as in "I'll cudgel you!" Makes me think of cavemen and how they who (allegedly) used very few words, had a very fancy word to describe thier crude weapons. I also like the word because it reminds me of two guys without degrees, yet very much in love with learning, trying to better themselves and beat (cudgel) the system in the process.
10) Brogue. Much like copse, if I am ever in a position to hear this used in a sentence, I'll probably be in a pretty happy place.
11) Lavish. This one is definitely tied to the meaning, when used in the spiritual sense, God's attitude towards and treatment of us.
12) River. Probably on this list right now because of the Springsteen song. Whenever I see the word, I hear him singing it.
13) Verde. This word stands on its own strength and needs no comment from me.
3 comments:
Four more and then I'll quit, promise.
Gazelle, curmudgeon, pissant, fury. Yesssss!
I love the word "kind" - as in, "He was a kind man." It is not used often, and for being such a small word, there is so much meaning in it. I'll have to think about some others. So do you have a list of words you don't like? Would love to read that one.
Yes, I do have a negative list as well, maybe I'll e-mail them to you.
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