~a column by Colleen O’Brien
Calliope. Ratatouille. Aardvark.
These are words that I like to say. I like how calliope rolls around my mouth, how ratatouille makes my mouth a kiss, how aardvark makes me think I’m speaking Viking.
Some words have in their pronunciation a flavor of their meaning. Assuage sounds soft and soothing; originally it meant to sweeten and now means to calm, to lessen pain. The word lethargic sounds lazy, because as you say it you have to slow down, draw out that middle syllable. It means lack of energy, drowsiness, sluggishness. Somnambulate is another word that carries within its pronunciation something slow and tired but still moving, a kind of semi-drugged word. It means sleepwalking.
The word scrofulous sounds exactly like what it means – morally corrupt, degenerate. If anyone calls you scrofulous, be offended.
But don’t be hurt if they say you are insouciant. It doesn’t mean you carry a communicable disease but that you’re carefree and don’t let life’s petty problems wear on you.
The word scholium falls into that insouciant group of words that sounds slightly derogatory but means something nice. Scholium, which sounds like a disease but has a delightful meaning – the scribblings and notations of a reader who writes in the margins of books. Have you ever come across a book full of underlining, notes in the margins, exclamation points? I always think it’s a great find, for I am suddenly privy to someone else’s interests and musings as she perused this book now in my hands.
There are words whose sound and pronunciation are the antithesis to what they mean. The word enervate sounds as if it has something to do with energy, with invigoration and excitement. It means nerveless, weakened, a deprivation of force or life. The word grog is another deceiver. It sounds like some kind of revolting medicine but is the opposite – a good-tasting medicine – rum slightly diluted with water.
I love to hear people use words like scintillate and titillate. Or maniacal or heretical. Lapis lazuli is a lovely word flowing out of your mouth in a sensuous way.
I like to say discombobulate. It uses my whole mouth. And so do Gallipoli. Incorrigible and irascible. Reciprocity and recidivism. Xenophobia is a nice-sounding word to me, although it means fear of strangers. I like to say Yucca Flats and antipodean (a person who lives on the other side of the world).
I don’t use these words often, but sometimes I say them as I take my daily walk, as if I am pixilated, a wish-on-a-star persona, as if I too could be Tinker Bell.
