Words, Words, Words

During my senior year of high school, my creative writing teacher had us do a brainstorming activity that was a lot of fun and one I always remembered. You basically had to create three different lists of 10 words. Now pay very close attention to the rules here. The first one was for words you loved for whatever reason. The second one was for words you couldn't stand. And the last one was for words that inspired you. The first and third lists were tough to distiguish. To make it easier to separate for us to separate, we had to stick with words that you loved the sound of, spelling of, or just how it rolled off the tongue for the first list. The third list were for ones that painted a wonderful picture in your mind or touched your heart in some way. The second list were just words that icked you out or detested for any 'ol reason at all.


Somewhere in a box, I still have my original lists. I thought it would be fun to update them to see how my choices changed in the time since. Now keep in mind, this is just a small sampling of the words out there. Of course there are so many more and no room to list them all. For ideas, check out http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/100_most_beautiful_words.html.

Here's some of mine in no particular order:

Word I Love

1. Sakura
2. Swirl
3. Ebony
4. Raspberry
5. Cinematography
6. Eowyn
7. Lyrical
8. Ethereal
9. Gossamer
10. Serendipity
11. Dipsy Doodle Dragon*

*Honorary choice for a children's song I loved the name of. =P

Words I Loathe

1. Simon (not Cowell)
2. Ant
3. Mealy
4. Bigot
5. Anus
6. Puss
7. Orc
8. Cocky
9. Larvae
10. Moist

Words I'm Inspired By

1. Waterfall
2. Sunshine
3. Whimsy
4. New Zealand
5. Melody
6. Hope
7. Serenity
8. Ireland
9. Rhapsody
10. Frosty

Even now I struggle to separate the words I love and the inspiring ones. It's also a challenge to whittle the choices down to just 10 each. I did notice that I had a harder time coming up with words that I didn't like this time around. When I was in high school, it was easier somehow. I can't remember all my words, but I gave up some sentimental faves to make way for some new additions (i.e. sherbet, shimmer, etc.). One I kept was Simon. Never liked anything about that name. Ironic that Mr. Cowell of American Idol now bears the same moniker, but I swear he has nothing to do with my issues with the name.

Give it a try!