# which: ugliest word in English ? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 7, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443 "2005-03-07T22:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/1 "2005-03-07T22:36:53Z")
Someone said that _which_ is the ugliest word in the English language (I don’t remember who said that; it was a well-known person, perhaps GBS ?). Question 1. Do you agree ? Question 2. How can we do without it, say, in a scientific paper ? ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/2 "2005-03-07T23:26:56Z")
I don’t find the word “which” to be ugly. I think the ugliest word in the English language is “packrat.” To me, this word sounds like someone clearing his throat and then spitting. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/3 "2005-03-07T23:28:21Z")
I’m a huge enemy of “moist”, myself. ---
**Author:** ![HG\_Pennypacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HG\_Pennypacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HG_Pennypacker)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/4 "2005-03-07T23:30:20Z")
“cunt.” No not you, I’m just responding to your question. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/5 "2005-03-07T23:43:50Z")
I think this is going to boil down to humble opinions, but I nominate _ointment_. Ther is something about _ointment_ that gives me the willies. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/6 "2005-03-07T23:58:40Z")
I’m sure this is more IMHO stuff. Anyway gangrene would be my vote. Off from a Google search for “ugliest word” comes; vulgarity, ergative, scrotum, blog, pulchritude, and usufruct. ---
**Author:** ![chukhung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@chukhung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chukhung)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/7 "2005-03-08T00:13:35Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#): > > Someone said that _which_ is the ugliest word in the English language (I don’t remember who said that; it was a well-known person, perhaps GBS ?). I believe the author of that sentiment was actually Gordon W. Allport. Take a look at this [essay](http://hudce7.harvard.edu/~ostrowski/alm/epistle.pdf) (warning PDF file) entitled “Epistle to Thesis Writers.” > [@](#): > > Now “which” is the ugliest word in the English language. Occurring as it does on the average of three times in every sentence of a thesis, it renders the document a masterpiece of cacophony. > [@Gymnopithys](#): > > Question 2. How can we do without it, say, in a scientific paper ? Allport offers guidance on that question as well > [@](#): > > [Y]our only remedy is to make a final excursion through the completed thesis (presumably at Midnight on March 31) and hunt the whiches down. Eliminate four-tenths of them altogether; change five-tenths to “that”—the grammatically proper word in most contexts; and leave one-tenth as an irreducible offering to the gritty nature of the English language. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/8 "2005-03-08T00:16:42Z")
Writer H. Alan Smith said that the worst words in the English language are “Uh oh.” As when the mechanic lifts the hood when you are on a trip in N. Dakota and says, “Uh oh.” Or when the doctor looks at your chart and says, “Uh oh.” ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/9 "2005-03-08T00:22:00Z")
I think Ugly is pretty ugly. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/10 "2005-03-08T00:40:05Z")
Are we talking about the way the word looks, sounds, or what it refers to? ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/11 "2005-03-08T00:45:16Z")
Bastard. Most folks that are considered bastards are usually ugly too. ---
**Author:** ![hermann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b487fb/32.png) [@hermann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hermann)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/12 "2005-03-08T00:45:49Z")
“Mucus” If it had to be 2 words, then it would be “mucus membrane”. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/13 "2005-03-08T01:04:57Z")
This one is looking for opinions, not a factual answer to a finite question. So, off to IMHO. **samclem** GQ moderator ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/14 "2005-03-08T01:28:02Z")
Leotard. Though “ointment” does come close. “Which” isn’t even in the ballpark. Heck, it isn’t even in the parking lot outside of the ballpark. ---
**Author:** ![Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Can_Handle_the_Truth)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/15 "2005-03-08T01:44:19Z")
Stench ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/16 "2005-03-08T01:50:47Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I’m a huge enemy of “moist”, myself. OH MAN! And “ointment”!! “I’d like some moist ointment.” GAAAAH! ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Side_of_the_Floyd)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/17 "2005-03-08T01:58:03Z")
Repugnant. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/18 "2005-03-08T02:01:01Z")
Vulva. This word is just nasty. I nominate “agenda” for a word that seems pretty innocuous but on repeated listenings sounds pretty vulgar. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/19 "2005-03-08T02:12:41Z")
Goiter. That’s just nasty. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443/20 "2005-03-08T02:20:47Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > I think this is going to boil down to humble opinions, but I nominate _ointment_. Ther is something about _ointment_ that gives me the willies. I’ll nominate ointment’s little used thesaurus neighbor _unguent_. Especially when Gaer “We split the car” Grimsrud says it in _Fargo_. Doesn’t sound like anything I want rubbed into my body…ointment is not nearly as bad sounding to my ears. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ugliest-word-in-english/293443.md?page=2)