# I have never been delighted **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 20, 2011, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550 "2011-05-20T09:58:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/1 "2011-05-20T09:58:24Z")
Yesterday I heard a man say that he was “delighted”. I have never verbalized the feeling of delight. Nor have I been ‘thrilled’, ‘charmed’, or ‘elated’. And I’ve certainly never been ‘tickled to death’. In fact, the highest level of pleasure I have ever verbalized is, I believe, ‘amused’. mmm ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/2 "2011-05-20T10:12:46Z")
Then you need some [Maryland Fried Chicken](http://www.marylandfriedchicken.com/). On the side of the box it says, “delight your guests”. Thus, eating MFC will make you delighted. No need to thank me. I live to delight. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/3 "2011-05-20T10:17:04Z")
What a sad, sad life you must lead, then. (I am sorta serious: if you really had never felt happy beyond feeling amused, I’d be worried about you. Amusement is barely enough to put a smile on one’s face) ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/4 "2011-05-20T10:19:16Z")
Well, then [watch this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etviGf1uWlg). There. You’ve been Dee-lite-ed. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/5 "2011-05-20T10:22:38Z")
Have you tried drugs? ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/6 "2011-05-20T12:43:47Z")
The host of a television show I used to write for rebelled whenever I called something “lovely.” He wouldn’t say it. It amused me to no end. Yes, the sights are awesome and wonderful and the art is amazing and incredible. But never lovely. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/7 "2011-05-20T12:57:16Z")
Next time you read a press release, especially from a movie or TV show development, look for the words “delighted” and “thrilled.” There’s some kind of rule that you have to use either or both of those words at least once in every press release. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/8 "2011-05-20T13:05:01Z")
Borrow one lively kitten and one laser pointer. Turn on laser, and point the beam at the floor. Do not shine laser directly into kitten’s eyes. Prepare to be delighted. Or go to [ZooBorns](http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/) and be delighted at all the baby animals. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/9 "2011-05-20T15:48:52Z")
I can’t imagine getting through a whole year without being utterly delighted at least once. How sad not to ever feel that way. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/10 "2011-05-20T16:02:55Z")
I just wrote a review for a lodging rental which centered on how delighted I was by its owners’ attention to detail. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/11 "2011-05-20T16:11:15Z")
Someone once stole my desk lamp. I was delighted. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/12 "2011-05-20T17:25:07Z")
Maybe you’re asking too much, especially from ‘charmed’. I’d say that ‘charmed’ and ‘amused’ can often be applied to the same event or object. With ‘charmed’ perhaps indicating that you were unexpectedly amused or amused for a longer duration. The same with ‘tickled’ and ‘amused’. The ‘to death’ is usually hyperbole. The big question is, have you ever laughed hard enough that the tears in your eyes blurred your vision? Or that you lost your breath? ‘Charmed’ and even ‘enchanted’ can go hang if you’ve had a few good laughs. ETA - Hypnotoad: Someone once reversed the polarity of my deak lamp. Would that . . . nah. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/13 "2011-05-20T17:25:54Z")
You can either live for delight, or live for de dark CHOOSE WISELY ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/14 "2011-05-20T17:39:30Z")
Is Mr. Mustard Mean because he’s never been delighted, or has Mr. Mustard never been delighted because he’s Mean? ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/15 "2011-05-20T17:46:00Z")
> [@Beadalin](#): > > I can’t imagine getting through a whole year without being utterly delighted at least once. How sad not to ever feel that way. I think the idea was that he may have _been_ delighted but he’s never actually _said_ he was. (Although if that’s true, then his thread title is misleading.) I am certainly delighted and thrilled on a regular basis… I can more readily imagine myself saying I’m thrilled than saying I’m delighted. I don’t think I’d ever declare myself to be tickled pink except in a sort of postmodern way. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/16 "2011-05-20T17:50:52Z")
I have been delighted less than 5 times in my life. But, then again, I’m a miserable git. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/17 "2011-05-20T17:52:20Z")
And surly. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/18 "2011-05-20T18:03:24Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > I think the idea was that he may have _been_ delighted but he’s never actually _said_ he was. (Although if that’s true, then his thread title is misleading.) Ah, I see. In that case, I have also verbalized delight, but then again I work in the Marketing department and we use language like that as a matter of course. ---
**Author:** ![surrounded\_by\_literalists](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@surrounded\_by\_literalists](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/surrounded_by_literalists)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/19 "2011-05-20T18:17:14Z")
Roller coasters, a suggestive glance from a stranger, finding $20 forgotten in a pocket, a random compliment, losing weight, finding the perfect pair of jeans _on sale_, clean sheets, a baby’s first belly laugh, a grape popsicle from an ice cream truck, nitrous oxide at the dentists office, Any of these? ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550/20 "2011-05-21T02:25:14Z")
As has happened many times before, I thought I was being crystal clear when in fact I was being murky. I have, it is true, been delighted. But I have never in my life _said_, “I am delighted!” mmm ETA: Whoa, wait a minute, hold my horses. Upon reading my OP, I do believe I was crystal clear after all: > [@](#): > > I have never _ **verbalized** _ the feeling of delight…In fact, the highest level of pleasure I have ever \*\*\*verbalized \*\*\*is, I believe, ‘amused’. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-never-been-delighted/582550.md?page=2)