Logophilia!!

It's hard to be excited about this Tuesday. I had a fabulously relaxing holiday weekend (hanging at the beach, exploring the history of St. Augustine, going wine tasting... all kinds of lovely-ness) and then this morning reared its ugly head and forced me to rejoin the real world. Booooo!! I came home to an email Inbox absolutely flooded with angsty, "Why aren't you responding to meeeee" type messages. My students are working on drafting their first papers of the semester. For most of them it's their first college paper ever.... so they're freaking out. I'm amazed by how much hand-holding this year's gang seems to expect -- they email about evvvverything and expect me to pass out answers/excuses on demand. They're a charismatic, really bright group, but they have a hard time accepting responsibility for their work. Drives me batty!

Anyway! Despite all the stress of getting back to teaching, and of responding to all the questions/demands I "neglected" over the weekend, I'm stoked that it's Tuesday! Why? Cause it means that it's time for Top Ten Tuesdays at The Broke and the Bookish. Woot Woot!

This week's topic is... Your Top Ten Favorite Words. That's a tough one, but I'll do my best :)

1. Facetiously- adj. not meant to be taken seriously or literally.  I love this word for a number of reasons-- it's fun to say, it has all the vowels in alphabetical order, and it contradicts itself (starts out by presenting you with a "Face" but you can't take it at "face value").

2. Onomatopoeia- n. a word that sounds like its referent. The world would be a much more musical place if all words were onomatopoetic. 

3. Brouhaha- n. excited public interest, a hullabaloo (bonus points for sneaking my 11th favorite word into a definition!) When I try to practice my mad scientist cackle I just repeat Brouhaha with a creepy, drawn-out accept.

4. Tintinnabulation- n. the sound of bells. You can almost hear them ringing ...

5. Orangutan- n. King Louie from the Jungle Book. The epitome (12th favorite word) of awesomeness

6. Amoeba- n. a protozoan bottom-dweller. Not sure why I dig this one... it's not like it comes up in regular conversation... but it has a fun ring. I'd totally name a kid Amoeba.

7. Indubitably- adj. cannot be doubted, unquestionable. Great word when you want to sound pretentious. It also has a fabulous rhythm when it comes off your tongue. Kind of like a kettle falling down stairs. Also... rhythm is a weird word. Where are the vowels? How does that "thm" thing work?

  

8. Frumious- adj. blend of fuming and furious. I love love love the the Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky. "Beware the Jabberwock, my son!/ The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!/ Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun/ the frumious Bandersnatch!" Oh so fantabulous! 

9. Smite- v. to deliver or deal a blow.  It's always fun to play with the tenses of this one. "I have been smitten" "I was smote" "He smit me"... good times :)

10. Ken- n. knowledge, understanding. I enjoy this one because one of my best friends is named Ken, so whenever he's confused about something we can say "Ah, so sad, it's beyond our ken..." Plus, it works best when you assume a Scottish accent (i.e. pretend to be Sean Connery) and that always makes for a good time!