Feeling of Words

[wantonhalo]

I find that "piano" is one of the funniest words I know. I often grin about the word, though mostly when I think of it or whisper it silently, rather than when I say it aloud, in conversation, say. I heard once that words with long e sounds are more relaxing to people, so that could be part of it

Comments

[crosstables]

I know that my brother and some others had "nonplussed" backwards, and "bemused" sounds amused but isn't!

[wantonhalo]

Apparently I had those backwards too!

[quinquennia]

Nonplussed are most of my Google Plus entries.

[redessence]

Funny enough, once upon a time I also thought droll meant boring, and it was also based purely on the way the word sounded. When I was learning basic French and drôle came up amongst some basic adjectives, I was surprised to see it listed as an antonym to ennuyeux!

[srockhop]

i thought invective was an adjective for a long time because of the -ive ending.

[sophonax]

When I was very little I thought the word "bliss" meant the opposite of its actual meaning. I think the sound connection to "blister" made me assume it meant something horrible and pain-related.

I think the word "locksmith" has a really pleasantly satisfying sound.

[wantonhalo]

Locksmith does sound nice. I feel like it has some interesting wordplay property that I learned of once, but I can't remember now.

[chaithedog]

"Locksmith" makes me think of this episode of "Police Squad."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwU9M9sjrDk

Even though I learned what "droll" actually meant many years ago, it still sounds "dull" to me.

Too many "uh" sounds in a word sound sad, lethargic, or otherwise humdrum to me: "plugugly," "mugwump," "Youngblood," "unguent."

On the other hand, I consider "schmuck," "pickle," and "monkey" to be funny, so I guess the "k" is funny.

Wikipedia seems to agree. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inherently_funny_word
(See also Phonaesthetics, Cellar Door.)

[wantonhalo]

I'm on the fence about plugugly. The double g sounds are kind of funny, and offset the uhs. Mugwump seems funny to me, and youngblood invigorating. Unguent would be weird for me, except I thought it was pronounced like a human tree that does not worship Yah-weh until recently.

Schmuck, pickle and monkey are hilarious! Actually, a lot of primates are funny: chimp(anzee), gorilla, monkey, baboon, orangutan.

[bbstenniz]

I quite enjoy the sound of the word sploop!, and yes, guilty as charged with droll. I still catch myself doing that.