Wordie: Creative Onomatopoeia: Comments

Comment by yarb, 3 months ago

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 16:42:49 +0000

Sift fits.

Comment by Prolagus, 4 months ago

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 21:38:56 +0000

smegma?

Comment by Prolagus, 4 months ago

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 04:39:59 +0000

Glossy belongs here.

Comment by dontcry, 4 months ago

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:42:56 +0000

Ipecac is a good one. I could almost hork just saying it.

Comment by rolig, 4 months ago

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:05:44 +0000

a lovely list, and a good ear!

Comment by whichbe, 4 months ago

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 23:54:32 +0000

What is it with this list? So many of the words have this little energetic charge, they sound so very somatic yet visceral to speak... interesting phenomena.

Comment by chained_bear, 7 months ago

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 01:54:33 +0000

Ha! Good one, yarb!

Comment by yarb, 7 months ago

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 23:44:40 +0000

Hernia sounds exactly like the noise you make when you get one. Or so I imagine.

Comment by reesetee, 9 months ago

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 18:52:06 +0000

Wait--cantilever? It always sounds to me like it's juuuust barely balanced.

Comment by reesetee, 9 months ago

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:08:08 +0000

Tuft is definitely a good one. :-) How about puff?

Jennarenn, you and AZ are missed when you're not around!

Comment by sarra, 9 months ago

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:10:53 +0000

♥ tuft!
I'm loath to add anything to this list, as my relationship with language does this all over.

Comment by jennarenn, 9 months ago

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 22:40:00 +0000

a_z is a guy?! I never guess correctly.

No worries, I'm not going anywhere. I'm just more unemployed available during the summers. :)

Comment by chained_bear, 9 months ago

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 22:25:57 +0000

That happened to AbraxasZugzwang too, but he hasn't come back again. Don't let this happen to you, jennarenn! You are missed!

Comment by jennarenn, 9 months ago

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 22:07:29 +0000

How fun! I haven't been on in ages, and what do I find but a comment directed at me right there on front page. I'd at least add pronk, but it's your list. :)

Comment by bilby, 9 months ago

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 20:23:33 +0000

Sphagnum should definitely be squelchy. Always check for squelchiness with your sphagnomenometer.

Comment by chained_bear, 9 months ago

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 20:04:57 +0000

jennarenn--I don't think so--it was one of my earliest lists. But perhaps pronk and stot belong here. Hmm....

Comment by jennarenn, 10 months ago

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 22:03:34 +0000

Was this list inspired by the pronk and stot conversation?

Comment by chained_bear, 11 months ago

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:00:02 +0000

I'll do that, yarb. Thanks for the tip.

Crikey, this list is HUGE!

Comment by yarb, 11 months ago

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:41:25 +0000

I did not know you could buy dried sphagnum. I'll look out for it next time I go to a store.

I believe the wild, wet variety is more common in higher latitudes. Definitely worth seeking out and planting a boot.

Comment by chained_bear, 11 months ago

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:06:55 +0000

Well, I'm not an outdoorsy type of bear, so the only sphagnum I really come across is sold in stores as an additive to, or covering for, the soil for potted plants--for example, sphagnum moss liners for hanging baskets. It's always dried out though.

*wonders if she should get out more*

Comment by yarb, 11 months ago

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 18:47:31 +0000

But I thought wetness was sort of of the essence of sphagnum? I didn't think it was possible to have any kind of sphagnum experience other than a damp one. In any case, I assure you that when wet, as sphagnum really ought to be, nothing can better it for squelchiness.

Comment by chained_bear, 11 months ago

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 18:27:39 +0000

OK, I added it--but in my limited experience with sphagnum, it's never wet, so I wouldn't know the extent of its squelchiness.

Comment by yarb, 11 months ago

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 17:04:01 +0000

Sphagnum sounds exactly like the sound it makes when you step in it.

Comment by chained_bear, 11 months ago

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 02:23:52 +0000

I disagree with "colic," actually. I don't even think "gas" sounds like what it denotes (in this case used as a synonym of "colic"). Flatus, however...

I don't really know, but you raise a fair question about itch. Who knows how words like these get their "feelings"? I can speak only for myself with this list--I'm sure if any other wordies compiled similar lists, we'd all be struck by the differences!

sionnach... it *is* churlish! Actually, you're probably right. I didn't check the spelling.

But I'm adding churlish. ;)

Comment by skipvia, 11 months ago

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 01:51:02 +0000

Right...in both cases. I shouldna hadna oughtna copypasted here. Ironically, I was afraid I would spell it incorrectly.

Comment by sionnach, 11 months ago

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 01:47:23 +0000

It seems almost churlish to bring this up, but isn't the word onomatopoeia?

Comment by skipvia, 11 months ago

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 01:13:29 +0000

Do these feel like onomotopoeia because of the sounds the words make or because we so closely associate them with their meanings? For example, look at (by which I mean listen to) itch. It sounds like something brief, sharp, or tingly. A word like "room" or "mauve" just wouldn't seem appropriate to describe the sensation of an itch. But why? How did the word "itch" get associated with the experience?

Can you think of many words that sound like the opposite of what they mean? Bucolic always strikes me this way, but I think that's because I hear the word colic in there. (Colic, by the way, sounds exactly like what it describes.)

Comment by chained_bear, 11 months ago

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 00:23:02 +0000

Yeah! I never would have thought of those. Nice adds! Thanks!

Comment by yarb, 11 months ago

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 07:31:37 +0000

Wonderful - how about wax or waxy? Purely subjective of course. Or chasm, which is an echoey word isn't it?

Comment by trivet, about 1 year ago

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 00:29:15 +0000

how 'bout haggle?

Comment by chained_bear, about 1 year ago

Sun, 04 Feb 2007 15:00:32 +0000

The sound of the word reminds me of the sound of beads clicking on wires (in the hands of a skilled operator). Entirely subjective, of course--to each her own.

Comment by seanahan, about 1 year ago

Sun, 04 Feb 2007 14:41:59 +0000

Really, how does the abacus sound like what it means?

Comment by chained_bear, about 1 year ago

Sun, 04 Feb 2007 14:06:07 +0000

Interestingly, so many of these are monosyllabic. That's indicative of either the nature of onomotopoeia, or my own mental limitation in coming up with multisyllabic ones.

Comment by tankexmortis, about 1 year ago

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 11:00:43 +0000

Great list. Favorited.