I started thinking about beautiful words. I wrote out phrases that I love to hear and wanted to share them with you. Then I Googled “beautiful words,” to see if anyone concurred with me.
Dictionary maker Robert Beard presented his hundred most beautiful words in the English language. They included bungalow…bucolic…demure… effervescent and propinquity. Lyrical words, to be sure, but none of them were on my list.
My favorite words are the ones that evoke strong emotions or memories or make me immediately give thanks. I love you … I’m OK…You look beautiful… Sweet dreams, Mommy. Now THOSE are beautiful words.
I also enjoy words that become a private family vocabulary. My family still refers to a theater where you watch the screen from your car as a DRAGON, instead of a drive-in. That’s what my young sister thought it was. How many families still refer to those long noodles as pasgetti instead of spaghetti, because it conjures up memories of a youngster’s precious mispronunciation.
Words spoken with old country flavor bring back loving memories. The Polish grandmother whose pat on the child’s head was accompanied by the phrase, “Gooda boy.”
Think of your own personal beautiful words…and enjoy the inevitable, private smile they create.
[Show #448]
Beautiful words; beautiful memories. Thanks, Elizabeth.
I’m so glad this resonated with you, George!
I used to say “hockember” for hamburger. And my Aunt Agnes morphed into “Ang.” That name stuck with her until she died a few years ago. Beautiful words, beautiful memories.