# Lovecraft's favorite words, by the numbers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 24, 2014, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392 "2014-09-24T00:40:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/1 "2014-09-24T00:40:08Z")
I can’t vouch for her accuracy, but it’s an interesting rundown!: [Wordcount for Lovecraft’s Favorite Words | The Arkham Archivist](http://cthulhuchick.com/wordcount-lovecraft-favorite-words/) ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/2 "2014-09-24T01:39:05Z")
The words were suggested to her. I’m surprised there’s only two instances of _non-Euclidean_ though. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/3 "2014-09-24T12:27:31Z")
No “Hybrid”? ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/4 "2014-09-24T16:23:52Z")
Dank is a great horror word. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/5 "2014-09-24T16:49:38Z")
Wow, he mentioned one of our posters here at the Dope( **Yog Sothoth** ) 28 times? I didn’t realize he was that famous… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/6 "2014-09-24T16:52:32Z")
How many 'unholy’s? I always thought that word was meant to have more of an impact when it was written. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/7 "2014-09-24T17:52:18Z")
I see “Amorphous” gets 19 hits. Heh, there is a hairdressers in my city with the name “Amorphous”. I always laugh at just how inappropriate that is as the name of a hairdressers whenever I see it! 😃 > **[Home - Amorphous Salon](http://www.amorphoussalon.com/)** > > …Continue Reading.. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/8 "2014-09-24T18:12:08Z")
I’d like to see it normalized: “Hideous”, for instance, is the most common of those words, but it’s also a word that one encounters relatively often in ordinary discourse. To use the extreme example, his _most_-used words were probably “and” and “the”, just like anyone else. What I’d like to see would be, for every word, to take the ratio of its abundance in Lovecraft’s works to its abundance in general usage. This would not only knock down common words like “hideous” a bit, but would also perhaps point out a few other uncommon words Lovecraft liked that the commenters didn’t happen to think of. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/9 "2014-09-24T18:46:49Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > Wow, he mentioned one of our posters here at the Dope( **Yog Sothoth** ) 28 times? I didn’t realize he was that famous… 😛 Yog Sothoth is one of the pieces in the recent boardgame [A Study in Emerald](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/141517/study-emerald). If you’re the player who controls Yog Sothoth, you can gain victory points by feeding the other characters you control to it. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/10 "2014-09-24T21:51:32Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > Wow, he mentioned one of our posters here at the Dope( **Yog Sothoth** ) 28 times? I didn’t realize he was that famous… 😛 In fact he based that character on me! But he spelled my name wrong… -\_-; > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Yog Sothoth is one of the pieces in the recent boardgame [A Study in Emerald](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/141517/study-emerald). If you’re the player who controls Yog Sothoth, you can gain victory points by feeding the other characters you control to it. Plot twist! Nobody can control Yog Sosoth! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/11 "2014-09-25T00:58:04Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Yog Sothoth is one of the pieces in the recent boardgame [A Study in Emerald](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/141517/study-emerald). If you’re the player who controls Yog Sothoth, you can gain victory points by feeding the other characters you control to it. May I suggest the short story that inspired the game, too? A wonderful Conan Doyle/Lovecraft mashup with a helluva twist: [http://www.neilgaiman.com/mediafiles/exclusive/shortstories/emerald.pdf](http://www.neilgaiman.com/mediafiles/exclusive/shortstories/emerald.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/12 "2014-09-25T01:43:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’d like to see it normalized: “Hideous”, for instance, is the most common of those words, but it’s also a word that one encounters relatively often in ordinary discourse. To use the extreme example, his _most_-used words were probably “and” and “the”, just like anyone else. > > What I’d like to see would be, for every word, to take the ratio of its abundance in Lovecraft’s works to its abundance in general usage. This would not only knock down common words like “hideous” a bit, but would also perhaps point out a few other uncommon words Lovecraft liked that the commenters didn’t happen to think of. Esquimaux. Degenerate Esquimaux, to be precise. Diabolic, too. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/13 "2014-09-25T02:58:41Z")
I, too, am surprised by the paucity of non-Euclidean. And interesting - old man Nyarlahotep is more popular that squidface. Guess he’s more personable, if a little too swarthy. And also, not sleeping. > [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Dank is a great horror word. I know right? Every time I hear another person say something is “dank,” it’s usually followed by a long discourse on about a certain dank thing will cure every disease except “Big Pharma” doesn’t want this to happen. It’s really frightening to get caught in conversation with this person. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/14 "2014-09-25T03:24:10Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > . . . But he spelled my name wrong… -\_-; . . . Huh? Wait… Son of a gun! I will be clam-hanged! I’ve known you all this time, followed your posts, and never until now perceived that your name isn’t “Yog Sothoth!” Excellent bit of fnord there, my dear sir! You hid your name behind a blind spot, where it simply cannot be seen! I doff my soul to you! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/15 "2014-09-25T04:35:01Z")
I’m kind of surprised “eldritch” isn’t a bigger hitter on that list… ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/16 "2014-09-25T05:03:07Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Huh? Wait… Son of a gun! I will be clam-hanged! I’ve known you all this time, followed your posts, and never until now perceived that your name isn’t “Yog Sothoth!” > > Excellent bit of fnord there, my dear sir! You hid your name behind a blind spot, where it simply cannot be seen! I doff my soul to you! Now it cannot be unseen ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/17 "2014-09-25T20:33:14Z")
There is also a link at that chick’s site to download the compleat Lovecraft _oeuvre_ in eBook format. Yummy! ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/18 "2014-09-25T21:19:06Z")
The list makes me want to run some stats on my own writings and compare them. > [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Now it cannot be unseen I didn’t see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/19 "2014-09-25T21:29:25Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Huh? Wait… Son of a gun! I will be clam-hanged! I’ve known you all this time, followed your posts, and never until now perceived that your name isn’t “Yog Sothoth!” > > Excellent bit of fnord there, my dear sir! You hid your name behind a blind spot, where it simply cannot be seen! I doff my soul to you! It is spelled the same. Your human eyes just cannot perceive the alphabet with your limited receptors. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392/20 "2014-09-25T22:04:14Z")
I wonder how many times the word “cyclopean” occurs _outside_ Lovecraft’s writings (or someone copying his style). I’d be willing to bet he accounts for the majority of the instances of that word used in written English. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lovecrafts-favorite-words-by-the-numbers/699392.md?page=2)