# What's your favorite word, and why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 3, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683 "2013-04-03T00:28:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/1 "2013-04-03T00:28:10Z")
Mine is _pandemonium_. Noun Wild and noisy disorder or confusion; uproar. It’s my favorite word because whenever I think about it I picture a bunch of pandas in front of a China shop going around breaking shit. It cracks me up. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/2 "2013-04-03T00:35:14Z")
“pandemonium” is of mixed Latin and Greek origin, and when you break it down into its roots it means something like “place of all the demons”. My favorite word is the French term “degrafeuse”. “agrafeuse” is the French word for stapler, so a degrafeuse is an unstapler. It’s so much more elegant than the English “staple remover”. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/3 "2013-04-03T01:04:47Z")
I don’t know, I have several, but the ones that immediately come to mind are convoluted and hullabaloo, because they sound like what they are. ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/4 "2013-04-03T01:18:45Z")
Einbahnstrasse, because it’s so much fun to say! (but living in the USA… i get so little opportunity.) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/5 "2013-04-03T02:11:22Z")
Bespoke It has such a narrow window of use, but a special one, ya know? And I like the sound of it. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/6 "2013-04-03T02:16:29Z")
Callipygian. It’s such an interesting concept… ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/7 "2013-04-03T02:34:55Z")
My new favorite word this week is [_deuteragonist_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuteragonist), the second most important character in a story or a play. Surprisingly useful! ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/8 "2013-04-03T02:37:40Z")
Serendipitous and cerulean are both pleasing to my ears. So I vote for them. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/9 "2013-04-03T02:49:49Z")
My current favourite is [Slubberdegullion](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/slubberdegullion) - which not only sounds like what it is, but is of infinite usefulness in any teenager-infested household. [Tatterdemalion](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tatterdemalion)is along the same lines. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/10 "2013-04-03T02:49:52Z")
> [@somepumpkin](#): > > Einbahnstrasse, because it’s so much fun to say! (but living in the USA… i get so little opportunity.) One of mine is Einbahnstrasseschild..for similar reasons, and with similar limitations. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/11 "2013-04-03T02:52:55Z")
Amalgamation. Because it’s fun to say, and because the first dictionary definition is “the act or process of amalgamating,” which is absolutely useless. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/12 "2013-04-03T02:54:01Z")
Pulchritude. Just say it. “Pulchritude.” ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Pumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@Ms.Pumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Pumpkin)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/13 "2013-04-03T02:54:41Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Serendipitous and cerulean are both pleasing to my ears. So I vote for them. I came in to say “serendipitous”! Also, “twitterpated” and “schadenfreude” ---
**Author:** ![I\_Made\_French\_Toast\_For\_You](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@I\_Made\_French\_Toast\_For\_You](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Made_French_Toast_For_You)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/14 "2013-04-03T03:01:16Z")
I recently found the neologism “independ” – a verb – while reading Clarice Lispector, and it’s a new favorite. Her use of the word: “The world independed on me — that was the trust I had reached: the world independed on me, and I am not understanding whatever it is I’m saying…” ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/15 "2013-04-03T03:13:27Z")
Mellifluous. Because it sounds so nice. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/16 "2013-04-03T03:18:11Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > One of mine is Einbahnstrasseschild..for similar reasons, and with similar limitations. I always loved imbissstube (snack stand) because of the three consecutive "s"s due to the spelling reform. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/17 "2013-04-03T03:27:05Z")
Fetid. Because it’s just so fetid. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/18 "2013-04-03T06:28:08Z")
“Succulent.” It’s such a hedonisitic word. ---
**Author:** ![Victor\_Charlie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7ea924/32.png) [@Victor\_Charlie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Victor_Charlie)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/19 "2013-04-03T07:20:26Z")
For some reason I love the word valkyrie. ---
**Author:** ![Barrett\_Bonden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5e9695/32.png) [@Barrett\_Bonden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrett_Bonden)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683/20 "2013-04-03T13:25:44Z")
Crepuscular. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-and-why/654683.md?page=2)