Friday, September 14, 2012

ALOTT5MA FRIDAY GRAMMAR RODEO:  In which The Atlantic reports on Portland (OR) advertising director Ted McCagg's bracket-based quest to determine the best English language word ever, and from a Final Four including kerfuffle, hornswoggle, and gherkin arrives at ... diphthong.

(Best words eliminated during the Final 32, IMHO: scalawag, tchotchke, lollygag, isthmus, and nougat.)

20 comments:

  1. Joseph Finn9:15 AM

    Words cannot express how much I love that "lollygag" is in the mix.  God, I love that word and use it almost every day for people on the train, lollygagging down the escalator and so forth.

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  2. Professor Jeff9:39 AM

    I certainly hope you tell them what they are: lollygaggers.

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  3. Professor Jeff9:40 AM

    I certainly hope you tell them what that makes them: lollygaggers.

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  4. Randy9:41 AM

    It would be more interesting to consider the worst words in the English language. We all know where Watts would stand (PANTIES!). My vote would be for "smegma".

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  5. KCosmo9:52 AM

    Moist!

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  6. Joseph Finn10:19 AM

    Larry!

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  7. Phlegm. (The word looks and sounds like what it is.)

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  8. I beg your pardon - "panties" merely makes the list. SIGNAGE tops them all, with UTILIZE in second place. I mean, as long as X-rated words aren't in the mix.

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  9. I must disagree with the inclusion of 'isthmus' on the list.  Hard to spell, hard to pronounce, boring definition, and too often used by smartypants-wannabees who think it's a fancy word for 'peninsula.' 

    But then, I feel much the same way about 'diphthong,' so this obviously isn't my year for the brackets.

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  10. Oooh, I've a fondness for "Lackadaisical," another also-ran.

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  11. <span>I beg your pardon - "panties" merely makes the list. SIGNAGE tops them all, with UTILIZE in second place. I mean, as long as X-rated words aren't in the mix.</span>

    The thing about "panties" is that I don't really have a suitable replacement - "Knickers" is pretentious as I'm not from the UK. "Underwear" doesn't imply the femininity. "Drawers" is fine, but I'm not a 98-year-old. I sometimes do say "underwears" like the landlord in "While You Were Sleeping" but that's an inside joke.

    "Signage" has the perfectly respectable "signs" to take its place and I defy you to tell me an instance where "utlilize" is required over "use".

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  12. I'm also a big fan of LOLLYGAG's cousin: PIDDLE AROUND and its UK cousin: FAFF ABOUT. But that's the beauty of LOLLYGAG - it does in one word what requires two otherwise.

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  13. UTILIZE. Every single time I see that word it makes me stop reading and wonder why they didn't say "use."

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  14. Benner12:27 PM

    Canoodle wuz robbed.  

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  15. I don't see how "ragamuffin" didn't even make the bracket.

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  16. Watts1:27 PM

    I almost feel an Isaac-length essay coming on about what constitutes "best" - is it how it sounds, is it what it means, is it how sound and meaning seem to correlate, is it a uniqueness of construction, is it a matter merely of personal taste, etc.

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  17. Emily2:02 PM

    I'm a big fan of the East bracket, in general. I mean, rapscallion, nincompoop, lollygag, and fuck, all in one bracket? I'm team East.

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  18. My boss uses utilize all the time, and it drives me crazy! Come to think of it, I'm not fond of many -ize words: incentivize, monetize, etc. But the misuse of utilize (to make practical or effective use of) is one of my biggest pet peeves.

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  19. My boss uses utilize all the time, and it drives me crazy! Come to think of it, I'm not fond of many -ize words: incentivize, monetize, etc. But the misuse of utilize (to make practical or effective use of) is one of my biggest pet peeves.

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  20. Squid3:13 PM

    I don't see 'egregious' in there, either.  And you can't tell me that 'betwixt' losing to 'eke' in the first round wasn't an egregious case of poor officiating.

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