This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a rewind edition where we get to pick from previous TTTs. I’ve procrastinated so long over my choice that I’ve picked the one where I don’t need to run round looking for books or links. This weekly event is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
So this week’s top ten is for some of my favourite words…
discombobulated past participle, past tense of dis·com·bob·u·late
Verb: Disconcert or confuse (someone).
How can anyone not love this word? And how come Open Office doesn’t have it in its dictionary? You should be ashamed! I use this word more often than you think.
bof·fin/ˈbäfin/Noun
A person engaged in scientific or technical research: “a computer boffin“.
The tabloids like to say the boffins have been working hard at something and it always makes me smile.
brack·ish/ˈbrakiSH/Adjective
(of water) Slightly salty, as present in estuaries.
This one stems out of a “word of the day” at work many many years ago. We still describe soup as brackish to this day (though the soup has improved). It appears in fiction a lot.
nem·e·sis/ˈneməsis/Noun
The inescapable or implacable agent of someone’s or something’s downfall.
Usually prefixed with “arch” and in reference to developers (like evil boffins). It’s always enjoyable hearing someone trying to pluralise it too. Also a Greek goddess.
se·ri·ous·ly
in a serious manner; “talking earnestly with his son”; “she started studying snakes in earnest”; “a play dealing seriously with the question of divorce” .
OK blame Grey’s Anatomy for this one…it just slips out. Not really a favourite but used far too much in speech.
cu·ri·ous/ˈkyo͝orēəs/Adjective
-
Eager to know or learn something.
-
Expressing curiosity.
I realised I’m drawn to books with curious in the title. It’s a good word and a good thing to be. And a form of it is in my blog title.
blurb/blərb/
Noun: A short description of a book, movie, or other product written for promotional purposes and appearing on the cover of a book or in an advertisement.
I like how blurb has become an official word for what’s on a book cover. I use it frequently.
mel·an·chol·y/ˈmelənˌkälē/
Adjective: Sad, gloomy, or depressed.
Noun: A deep, pensive, and long-lasting sadness.
It’s such a beautiful word for such a ugly condition.
hic·cup/ˈhikRəp/
Verb: Suffer from or make the sound of a hiccup or series of hiccups.
Noun: An involuntary spasm of the diaphragm and respiratory organs, with a sudden closure of the glottis and a sound like a cough.
I like onomatopoeia in general and the hiccup is the cream of the crop for words that spell their sound. When Flickr has technical difficulties it has hiccups and it’s a good term for any little mistakes you make.
bun·ny/ˈbənē/Noun
-
A rabbit, esp. a young one.
-
A person of a specified type or in a specified mood.
You can be a happy bunny, not a happy bunny, breed like bunnies, be a bunny boiler…it’s such a useful creature to describe things with. Plus it’s the second half of my online name and vaguely related to my surname.
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What's a bunny boiler? I've never heard this phrase before. It conjures up rather painful images this time of year (poor Easter Bunny) but I'm rather intrigued. 🙂
Great list. I thought about doing this one but it was so much less work to just ramble about bad guys.
The term bunny boiler came from the film Fatal Attraction (and a bunny does get boiled). It's used to describe an insane jealous woman (often the ex like in the film).
I agree, discombobulate is a lovely word! I had never heard of it before today, but it sounds nice when you say it out loud! I hadn't heard of the term 'bunny boiler' either, before I saw it here, so thanks for explaining!
Having read the list, I think it would have taken me a lot longer to write my TTT had I chosen this topic! I'm glad I didn't!
Thanks for stopping by my blog, Ellie (a.k.a. Percy Jackson fan)! 😉
I've recently taken a liking to "ungent", it's such an ugly word for something soothing!
Is your definition of "seriously" supposed to have two examples of "earnest" in it? Or maybe that's just a confusing tactic that arch-nemesisess's's use…
Er well it's important to be earnest! Actually I just copied the definitions off Google.
I almost picked this list! I like discombobulated, too. Another favorite of mine is shenanigans. 🙂
Oooh, great list.
I like Boffin too. I also use seriously quite a lot although I don't think it's down to Grey's anatomy since I haven't watched it in a few years.
I would have audacity and incandescent on my list. I love those words.
Love reading lists of people's favorite words. "Disconbobulate." Excellent word. (Though I'm not terribly sure I spelled it correctly.)
Here's my post for Top Ten Tuesday, a list of the books that most intimidate me.
And I'll be part of the Easter Eggstravaganza Blog Hop Giveaway that begins tomorrow. I hope you will stop by my blog and enter my giveaways to try to win some great prizes.
Yay, a list buddy! I picked favorite words as well. I love "brackish," it's very descriptive. I've never heard "boffin," but it sounds British and vaguely nerdy/silly. Excellent choices.
Love your words list! Melancholy has always been a favorite of mine too 🙂
Nemesis is my favorite!
Thanks for stopping by my blog! =D
I do like discombobulated and hadn't heard of it before 😀
ha – 'blurb' I use that one a lot! Great topic. I love collecting words