Creative Onomatopoeia

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Sift fits.

smegma?

Glossy belongs here.

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

a lovely list, and a good ear!

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.

Ha! Good one, yarb!

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

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

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

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

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

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. :)

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

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. :)

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

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

Was this list inspired by the pronk and stot conversation?

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

Crikey, this list is HUGE!

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.

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*

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.

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.

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

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. ;)

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

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

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.)

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

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

how 'bout haggle?

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.

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

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.

Great list. Favorited.