Ever since I have discovered the power of words, I have always loved words. Everything about them, it is... magical. How can these shapes that you are reading now, convey such thoughts, such emotions, and be understood by another? It always baffles me in a delightful way and it makes me want to gobble them up! (Which is, obviously, the only sensible action when you are so utterly taken with something -- ingesting it so that it becomes part of you.)
I think I may have mentioned this before, but my favourite English word is ardent. The first time I came across it was when I was reading Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice. Darcy had used it in his profession of love to Elizabeth. Such a declaration needed courage and for him to express himself as such, despite all that had happened, must have meant that he was overwhelmed with his feeling for her (which he said so himself). And in this way, the word ardent, is the perfect embodiment of all that he felt. And this speech, I believe, is the first domino piece to fall, in the procession of their love. With this, I have always associated it with the love between Darcy and Elizabeth. It is romantic. It is authentic. It is, to me, a very warm word. Warming and radiates warmth. It is a positive word. There is also something pleasant about the way the word looks. Is that strange? I think ardent looks like a passionate word, without even knowing its meaning.
I have another English word that I adore, ever since I read it in my favourite book, The Name of the Wind. The word is, folly. There is such simplicity in the word, but it also gives off a sense of complexity and mystery. I think it may have a lot to do with how it is used in the book; it connotes such feelings to the reader, and thus, how I feel about the word. In the book, it was the word engraved in the plaque that held the sword, which is presumed, used to kill the king (hence why the books are called The Kingkiller Chronicles). None of that has been divulged yet, in that we do not know why Kvothe had the word engraved. But for him to display the sword and for him to have it displayed with such a word... it does not entirely denote regret, but it also expresses a sense of acknowledgement that he had done something... wrong... and he is not entirely ashamed of what he had done? It is an acceptance of what he had done and he knows that he cannot change what he had done. With this, the word also connotes a sense of bravery and responsibility of owing up to the wrong committed, to know that what was done was foolish... I do not know. It is a beautiful word, even though it has a rather negative denotation. So unadorned by letters, but mean so much.
I suddenly remember some other words that I like, and so I shall honourably mention them here: cathartic, ineffable, cerebral, sublime. I like these words because they express the feelings I want to say. I think sometimes when you first discover the word that expresses the meaning you want to express, you fall in love with it. "That is exactly what I want to say!" There is an elation of sorts, like a child finally being able to speak, after being frustrated and restricted for so long. (And you use it whenever you can, work it into sentences so that it makes sense in the sentence, but not in the context... I admit that I am very much guilty of that...) I first learned of the word, catharsis, in my Literature & Psychology course in university, when we discussed the works of Freud. There is something clean about the word, catharsis, even though it looks super messy and complicated. But its meaning, is purifying.
Ineffable. It is my word because I have a hard time sometimes, in really trying to express what I think or what I feel. One word to represent the inability of words for expression. Brilliant.
I have always been attracted to the word, cerebral. I know it is strange to judge a word superficially, but it really does look like an intellectual word. I have always had an obsession with the brain (no, I am not a zombie), because it is what characterizes each person. It is each person, essentially. So such a word, to mean "of the brain," has my utmost adoration.
I am in awe of the word, sublime! It is odd, but it always gives me a fairy-tale feel whenever I read it. I think I like how the prefix, sub, normally mean below, beneath, but in this word, it is the exact opposite.
On the topic of favourite words, I have decided to include words that I like from other languages that I know.
悶 is my favourite Chinese word. It means stifled, stuffy. Because Chinese is a logographic language, you can typically split the character up into smaller components that make the word meaningful. The word, 悶, is composed of two other characters: 門 and 心. The former is the word for door, and the latter, heart. So when put together, it is a heart stuck in a door. Isn't that beautiful? It has, more than once, stood for all that I felt. So it is, arguably, my favourite Chinese word.
Another Chinese word I like is 義. There is a really personal reason why I like this word... it is because it is part of my maternal grandfather's name. It is a just word. A good word. Just as he was. I love him and by extension, I love it.
Lastly, my favourite word(s) in French. This is fairly easy, because all you had to do was look at my pen name. My favourite French word is esperer. It is the verb, "to hope." The first name of my pen name is the first-person conjugated form of the verb. It is a very pretty word, in both form and meaning. Other French words that I enjoy are: nuageux (cloudy), fenêtre (window), and merveilleux (wonderful). It is mostly because they are fun to read and they make you sound very French! Nuageux has a more personal story to it... When I was in Grade 7, there was a weather report presentation that we had to do (we were to be meteorologists and reporting on the weather like it was a news report). I wrote up most of the script and my group and I did so well that our teacher told the principal and we performed the presentation for her! And she really enjoyed it. It was quite an achievement! One of the lines I did was: "Il fait partiellement nuageux aujourd'hui." (It is partly cloudly today.) And I remember how much I enjoyed reciting that line, hence why I still remember it to this day.
Alright, thus concludes my... little... piece on my favourite words. I just suddenly felt inspired to write this for some reason. I am sure that I have been obsessed with more than the words that I wrote about, but these are the main ones that are most meaningful to me. I still cannot get over just how words are. Such beauty, such powers to evoke happiness, sadness, pain, such powers to communicate. It is the ship that carries over the thoughts and ideas and emotions of a person to another. It is something shared by everyone and comes in so many forms, all of which are beautiful and unique.
Thank you for reading!
