... Shenanigans ... Antidisestablishmentarianism ... Medulla Oblongata ... Zog ...

November 25, 2003 7:06 AM

Dave's List of Words That Are Fun To Say
posted by anastasiav (140 comments total)

Those words are indeed fun to say.

I wish Dave were a better speller, though.
posted by Prospero at 7:09 AM on November 25, 2003

Y'know, my friends and I came up with a list like this on a road trip once, but ours included words like igloo, muckalucks, and manhole.
posted by greengrl at 7:11 AM on November 25, 2003

He missed "ruminate", and "peripatetic" as in : "I'll have to ruminate on that for a while whilst I peripatetically meander along on my daily constitutional".
posted by troutfishing at 7:13 AM on November 25, 2003

Arugula! ...no list is complete without it.

...and get this!:
...also known as rocket, roquette, rugula and rucola...
Bonus!
(I keep a list of fun words too, as well as a loooong list of fun imaginary words and their potential meanings.)
posted by Shane at 7:20 AM on November 25, 2003

greengrl: And, of course, bulbous bufont :).
posted by abischof at 7:22 AM on November 25, 2003

onomatopoetic alliteration

I always liked that one.
e.g.: The slithery snake hissed and spat its venom.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:22 AM on November 25, 2003

From Steve's List of 200 Underused Words and Phrases (unpublished): llickspittle, hoecake, the realm of visionary speculation, jakeleg, bleb, seapuss
posted by planetkyoto at 7:22 AM on November 25, 2003

hoecake? from Hollywood Shuffle?
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 7:27 AM on November 25, 2003

Djibouti.
posted by machaus at 7:27 AM on November 25, 2003

Kalamazoo!

Ouagadougou!


(But Rancho Cucamonga is well chosen. I defy anyone to say that without putting a little extra zest into it. Unless they live there or something)

Zesty!
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:29 AM on November 25, 2003

Garbanzo!
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:32 AM on November 25, 2003

also: anemone, enemy, anime. If we're going to include nonsensical phrases.

This looks to be another MeFi thread whose own URL will prove to be a "site" much more interesting than that of the nominal linked site.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 7:32 AM on November 25, 2003

Daft, heathen, quidnunc, trite, servile.

Hrm. I'm finding a pattern in my vernacular choice.
posted by pedantic at 7:35 AM on November 25, 2003

Cunning, that reminds me of that old SNL episode where the uptight, plainspoken business folk at the lunch meeting keep lapsing into extra-zesty spanish accents whenever a spanish word comes up, like "Burrrrito" or "Nicarrrauwwua." I forget what the point of the skit was - there was a Latino character in it somewhere, right? - but like many of them, it's gotten much funnier in the reminiscence than it was upon first viewing.

And yes, maybe Dave could scare up some definitions of "Rhutabega" and "Wankle-Rotary Engine" if he could spell 'em.
posted by soyjoy at 7:35 AM on November 25, 2003

kumquat
posted by jpoulos at 7:36 AM on November 25, 2003

djibouti
posted by jpoulos at 7:37 AM on November 25, 2003

argh! machaus beat me to it!
posted by jpoulos at 7:37 AM on November 25, 2003

That list is more useful than an atlatl for an Alouatta palliata!
posted by ewagoner at 7:41 AM on November 25, 2003

Tegucigalpa, La Republica Dominicana, and Okmulgee need to be on there.

Does anyone else keep a mental list of words that are fun to type? The word "point" is a great one as the fingers on your right hand cascade down the keyboard.
/dork
posted by Ufez Jones at 7:43 AM on November 25, 2003

Buttafuoco.
posted by PrinceValium at 7:47 AM on November 25, 2003

My art history teacher enjoys the word "linoleum".
posted by starvingartist at 7:47 AM on November 25, 2003

Winky Tinky Ha Ha Hut ????
posted by archimago at 7:48 AM on November 25, 2003

Tegucigalpa!

When I worked for STA, I used to try and make anyone who said "I want to fly to Honduras" say Tegucigalpa by asking them where exactly they wanted to go.

Almost without exception, people dodged the question and said "you know, the capital".

I'm also a big big fan of the word Banjo. It was my great pleasure to meet someone called Banjo a couple of years ago, but despite much pleading with my partner, I was not allowed to give the name to our kid.
posted by davehat at 7:49 AM on November 25, 2003

perfidious
abattoir
imbroglio
kibitz
bukkake
myrmidon
miasma
posted by vito90 at 7:49 AM on November 25, 2003

rubber
posted by jonmc at 7:50 AM on November 25, 2003

Guadalajara
posted by jpoulos at 7:51 AM on November 25, 2003

Winky Tinky Ha Ha Hut ????

I have no idea. Here are the results of the Google Search I ran on the phrase. The linked site is the number one result.

But you have to admit, it is fun to say....
posted by anastasiav at 7:55 AM on November 25, 2003

sphincter







goatse
posted by troutfishing at 7:58 AM on November 25, 2003

Turnips. It's all about the turnips, people.
posted by will at 8:00 AM on November 25, 2003

Does anyone else keep a mental list of words that are fun to type? The word "point" is a great one as the fingers on your right hand cascade down the keyboard.

Any word that goes consonent-vowel-consonent-vowel-etc is great for me, provided the consonents are on the right side of the keyboard and the vowels on the left. "Jena Malone" is almost perfect, except for the 'o'.

Can you tell I type w/ 2 fingers?
posted by Shane at 8:00 AM on November 25, 2003

"Lima" is really fun to say if you use a Speedy Gonzales accent.
posted by Cyrano at 8:05 AM on November 25, 2003

How could you forget Lake Titicaca??
posted by jozxyqk at 8:06 AM on November 25, 2003

Smock smock smock.
posted by brownpau at 8:08 AM on November 25, 2003

Didjeridu

I see Zamboni on the list (although aren't those more fun to drive than pronounce?). Speaking of ice sports, I've always enjoyed saying the name Ulrich Salchow.

Ulrich Salchow. Ulrich Salchow. (Ah, a triple Salchow.)

The word "point" is a great one as the fingers on your right hand cascade down the keyboard.

I have a musical background. Sometimes that tactile sensation reminds me of playing the other kind of keyboard.

And speaking of music, I wonder if our delight in the *sounds* of language originates in the same part of the brain that is stimulated by music.
posted by NorthernLite at 8:10 AM on November 25, 2003

"Lima" is really fun to say if you use a Speedy Gonzales accent.

Leeeema! Leeeeema! Ándale!
(Sound effects here.)
posted by Shane at 8:12 AM on November 25, 2003

Paging languagehat! Is there something inherent in these words that makes them fun to say? The way you shape your mouth to vocalize them? The sounds they make? Perhaps the rhythms or tones? Djibouti is a popular one. As is bukkake. Many of these words make for great Palilalia fodder.
posted by shoepal at 8:16 AM on November 25, 2003

Rutabega! Chim-pan-zee! Chauncey!
The president of Madagascar's name is Marc Ravalomanana!
posted by me3dia at 8:23 AM on November 25, 2003

No, no, no. It's all about words that sound dirty, but aren't. Like Muck-Luck.
posted by graventy at 8:23 AM on November 25, 2003

onomatopoeia, egregious, shibuya, gregarious, echolalia
posted by shoepal at 8:25 AM on November 25, 2003

Main Entry: hip·ster
a person who is unusually aware of and interested in new and unconventional patterns (as in jazz or the use of stimulants)

Coffee meets keyboard. ;)
posted by starscream at 8:30 AM on November 25, 2003

Where the hell is Wiffle?
posted by qDot at 8:32 AM on November 25, 2003

Sven
posted by KnitWit at 8:33 AM on November 25, 2003

Two words:

Boutros Boutros-Gawlee!
posted by Shane at 8:35 AM on November 25, 2003

I have a thing for names with lots of syallables - Glen Mitchibata and Iona Campagnola are two of my favourites. They just glide off the tongue.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:36 AM on November 25, 2003

Monkey, or any number of other words, when pronounced by Inspector Clouseau.
posted by Shane at 8:38 AM on November 25, 2003

enema
posted by jonmc at 8:38 AM on November 25, 2003

Paging languagehat! Is there something inherent in these words that makes them fun to say?

Beats the hell out of me. But I'm loving this thread.
Bananarama!
Bamberg!
Woonsocket!
Micmac!
quonsar!
posted by languagehat at 8:45 AM on November 25, 2003

badonkadonk
posted by bhayes82 at 8:52 AM on November 25, 2003

polyvinylrododospagaspamomo
posted by JParker at 8:56 AM on November 25, 2003

Jalalabad
posted by briank at 8:56 AM on November 25, 2003

oh, and ooze
posted by JParker at 8:56 AM on November 25, 2003

Zugzwang, dipthong, picayune.
(disappears in a puff of smoke)
posted by QuestionableSwami at 8:58 AM on November 25, 2003

personally, I've always been a fan of dodecahedron (Doe-DECK-ah-HEEEEE-Dron) especially during the brief period I could hurl it at my younger sister as an insult and feel superior because she didn't know it was a twelve-sided polyhedron yet. Of course this was the same time you couldn't get her to stop calling everything and anything a "discombobulated pumpernickel," including her siblings.

Waaay too much Square One and Mr.Wizard watched at my house.
posted by nelleish at 8:59 AM on November 25, 2003

lugubrious, brouhaha, glockenspiel, schmaltz, heteroscedasticity, gorgonzola

Very timely. I linked to a different list two weeks ago.
posted by JParker at 9:04 AM on November 25, 2003

sassafras
lugubrious (on preview: popular choice!)

Maybe it has something to do with the rhythm of the word? Maybe it is the transitions from phoneme to phoneme.
posted by asok at 9:15 AM on November 25, 2003

"Cellar door" and "smock" are two sadly lacking entries.
posted by dazed_one at 9:24 AM on November 25, 2003

Curse you, Brownpau!
posted by dazed_one at 9:25 AM on November 25, 2003

Lollipop.
Mollify.
posted by Prospero at 9:30 AM on November 25, 2003

Hahaha!!!!

Manhole
posted by Quartermass at 9:35 AM on November 25, 2003

Bandar Seri Begawan
...I love that name. Begawan. Begawan. It's like buddhist chanting.
posted by aramaic at 10:00 AM on November 25, 2003

The only thing tricky about methylchloroisothiazolinone is knowing that linone is pronounced li-NOWN.

Also, "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" did have a specific (if incorrect/incomplete) meaning before marketing got ahold of it.
posted by bonehead at 10:08 AM on November 25, 2003

episcopalian
kajagoogoo
rikki tikki tavi : >
posted by amberglow at 10:10 AM on November 25, 2003

lugubrious
posted by btwillig at 10:14 AM on November 25, 2003

boutros-boutros ghali!
sphygmomanometer!
...and yes, the word "sheep"--when said as I've said it from childhood, with teeth held firmly together, motionless. try it!
posted by clever sheep at 10:14 AM on November 25, 2003

lapsang souchong
posted by mokey at 10:16 AM on November 25, 2003

canoodle.
posted by taz at 10:18 AM on November 25, 2003

if we're going to go yiddish--every single word : >
schmuck
schmeckel
schmatta....
posted by amberglow at 10:32 AM on November 25, 2003

embonpoint.
posted by squealy at 10:32 AM on November 25, 2003

"Cheeseweasel". It's my nickname for my daughter. I also rate "rikki tikki tavi", "acetylsalycylic" and "popacatapetl".
posted by Pericles at 10:40 AM on November 25, 2003

ahem....

indubitably.
posted by grabbingsand at 10:43 AM on November 25, 2003

All the atskys and otsky's

Blavatsky, Trotsky........

also,

farpotchket (Yiddish, sp?) - something that's all fucked up as a result of an attempt to fix it.
posted by troutfishing at 10:44 AM on November 25, 2003

Whee! Spuyten Duyvil, ten eyck, rutabaga, rhubarb, spaldeen, spallation, doodlesack, Bannanrama, ed koch, aaahhhhhhhh John Sununu (say it like a crazy maitre d') boolean, hurley burley, churlish, fondue, speonk.

Oh there are so many, a surplusage, a sufficiency.
posted by Divine_Wino at 10:46 AM on November 25, 2003

sassafras
succotash
truculent
ferdyschenko
flibbertigibbet
floccinauccinihilipilification
hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic
muckaluckahimuckahineyho?

rhombicosododecahedron was always my favorite shape...
posted by bigschmoove at 10:48 AM on November 25, 2003

alas, sassafras is superfluous. I defenestrate myself. Or maybe seppuku would be better. Hari kari?
posted by bigschmoove at 10:52 AM on November 25, 2003

I've always liked the word titillating because it sounds naughty, but it's not.

As far as fun (or frustrating) to say -- Albemarle (a name typically relegated to the Southern US) has always been top of my list. As someone who grew up speaking Spanish, I just can't get my mouth to form that "arle" bit.

Oh, and jpoulos: Queretaro is much more fun to say than Guadalajara.
posted by jennak at 10:53 AM on November 25, 2003

is there an unfun Mexican city? Guanajuato, Zacatecas, Uruapan (soi-disant world Avocado capital)?
posted by bigschmoove at 10:59 AM on November 25, 2003

one last one, from my old greek textbook:

A word bearing the acute upon the ultima is known as an oxytone, one with the acute upon the penult as a paroxytone, one with the acute upon the antepenult as a proparoxytone. One which bears the circumflex upon the ultima is called a perispomenon, one with the circumflex upon the penult is a properispomenon. These terms, though formidable, will save much laborious periphrasis.

They must have been cracking up when they wrote that.
posted by bigschmoove at 11:04 AM on November 25, 2003

autodidactic
(I taught myself that one).
posted by punilux at 11:11 AM on November 25, 2003

frigate. sounds like a swear word, but it's really a boat!
posted by bwanabetty at 11:18 AM on November 25, 2003

frigate. sounds like a swear word, but it's really a boat!


I've got a teeny little dinghy. I'd like a frigate.
posted by ewagoner at 11:38 AM on November 25, 2003

apothecary
posted by sugarfish at 12:04 PM on November 25, 2003

bunghole
posted by found missing at 12:10 PM on November 25, 2003

intransigent

(say it with Birch Barlow in mind)

Also many Canadian place names: Tatamagouche, Chibougamou, Penatanguishine, Abitibi-Temiscaming, Flin Flon, Chicoutimi, Chilliwack, etc. etc.
posted by gompa at 12:40 PM on November 25, 2003

HUMONGOUS
meerkat
duodenal
great California place names: TUOLUMNE and LOMPOC (correctly pronounced lom-poke)
and two from my pantry: balsamic and worcestershire (pronounced woostur-shur)
It must be lunch time.
posted by wendell at 1:11 PM on November 25, 2003

(oh, and Tuolumne is pronounced Too-ah-lu-mee... I once got through the first day doing a Farm Report a a small-time California radio station mispronouncing it "TOO-uh-loom"... all the farmers said "Damn Big City DJ")
posted by wendell at 1:14 PM on November 25, 2003

I've longed bemoaned the fact I get fewer and fewer chances to say DIRIGIBLE.

"AHHHH THE DIRIGIBLE IS ON FIRE!"

"Is that a dirigible in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

"And now folks, as part of our Superbowl extravaganza, here's the Goodyear Dirigible!"

Dirigible.
posted by elwoodwiles at 1:32 PM on November 25, 2003

globular
posted by Phatty Lumpkin at 1:34 PM on November 25, 2003

Hippopotamus.
posted by Samsonov14 at 1:40 PM on November 25, 2003

Prestidigitate, micturate, ocsculate! Ubiquitous, unctous,
garrulous, loquacious. I could go on and on....
posted by Lynsey at 1:47 PM on November 25, 2003

Er, unctuous, sorry. Not to mention unguent.
posted by Lynsey at 1:49 PM on November 25, 2003

I'm surprised no one has mentioned yet the Archive of Endangered, Special, or Fun Words, which has been on the web almost forever (at least in web time). They're not necessarily all fun to say, but a lot of them are. A few of my favorites from that list:

• chiaroscuro
• fungible
• ornithopter (popularized by Frank Herbert, but not coined by him)

And a few favorites of my own:

• Côte d'Ivoire (the country formerly known as Ivory Coast)
• phenolphthalein (a chemical often used as an acid-base indicator. Usually people ignore the "l" and second "ph," leading to a pronunciation of fee-no-thay-lin, but if you're up for a challenge go for the whole thing: fee-nol-fthay-lin)
• edamame

posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:29 PM on November 25, 2003

my good friends' last name

Thamkittikasem

And I'm a big fan of smock too.
posted by synapse at 2:31 PM on November 25, 2003

I keep a list of phrases like

the alternative superlative
I'm going to focus on my thighs, exercise-wise
abject reject
poughkeepsie compatriots
the chicago fire department fire prevention education cetner
posted by palegirl at 2:45 PM on November 25, 2003

I don't think I'd frequent wagamama quite so often if it didn't have that name (it's also easy to SMS!).
Which reminds me, Australia contains some my favourite placenames - Wagga Wagga, Tittybong, Wooloomooloo.
posted by viama at 3:02 PM on November 25, 2003

hoecake? from Hollywood Shuffle?
No, from the dictionary, Webster's New Collegiate. My roommate Steve, a photojournalist, picked the words in1992, and then we tried to work them into headlines and cutlines (I was a reporter/editor) to earn points. I think I still have the list somewhere.

Starscream: Hipsterism was on Steve's list.
posted by planetkyoto at 3:15 PM on November 25, 2003

Bulbous Bouffant

Best. Words. Ever.
posted by LimePi at 3:30 PM on November 25, 2003

Circumambulate. I sometimes think I ended up on an island specifically so that I'll have a plenitude (!) of opportunities to say "circumambulate."

Also, in the phrase category, bagless upright cyclonic. I go into Zippy-esque fits of repetition whenever I see one of those Hoover commercials. "BAGLESS UPRIGHT CYCLONIC! BAGLESS UPRIGHT CYCLONIC!"

And re: banjo, I have friends who were attempting to make their child's first word be "banjo" by saying it to him repeatedly. Banjo. Banjo. Banjo.

It didn't work. Kids are apparently hardwired for "mama" and "dada".
posted by rusty at 3:35 PM on November 25, 2003

Also, just snagged from NPR: flim-flam.

Best way to break up a boring meeting? Pick an apparently random moment when a speaker is droning on, stand up suddenly, point accusatorily, and shout "Flim-flam! Shenanigans!"
posted by rusty at 3:38 PM on November 25, 2003

urethane
neoprene
plethora
scalliwag
tintinabulation

and of course, bumfuzzled.
posted by sharpener at 3:51 PM on November 25, 2003

Fernando Chaveria. Say it in a very self-important attitude with a thick Spanish accent. Roll your R's kids.
posted by jopreacher at 4:06 PM on November 25, 2003

Walla Walla Washington
Lake Titicaca (i know, mentioned already)

Glockenspiel
Caracas
Brobdingnagian
rhumba
Bikini

Blitzkrieg
Troglodyte
Metropolis
punk

Yggdrasil
Zaxxon

Medulla Oblongata
Venustiano Carranza

And a placename from a weblog I was reading the other day: 'Motocarros Unisex'
posted by vacapinta at 4:09 PM on November 25, 2003

ephemeral.
eldritch.
parallelogram.
wonky.
albumen.
frock.

"debauchery" gets me every time, though.
posted by elphTeq at 4:10 PM on November 25, 2003

rutabaga, alstroemeria, forsythia, ranunculus...

... strumpet, limpet, vetiver...

... and a personal favorite....

... pithy
posted by vers at 4:13 PM on November 25, 2003

oh, and discombobulate.
posted by sharpener at 4:15 PM on November 25, 2003

defenestrate
rutabaga
revelvance
posted by WolfDaddy at 4:35 PM on November 25, 2003

absquatulate (to decamp quickly, if I remember correctly)

I also enjoy the name Scrushy. Say it with me one more time - Scrushy.
posted by skyscraper at 4:45 PM on November 25, 2003

Roll your R's kids: Aurora
also, auro borealis
posted by thomcatspike at 5:01 PM on November 25, 2003

Roll your R's
posted by thomcatspike at 5:02 PM on November 25, 2003

Squamous. It's beautiful.

Dave's right about melancholy as well - that's always been a favourite of mine, because "oly" at the end somehow makes it sound like a different kind of word than it actually is. It sounds like it should be an adverb, like "quickly" or "suddenly" or "quietly". However it is, of course, an adjective or a noun.
posted by Jimbob at 5:05 PM on November 25, 2003

cochabamba! (Bolivia)
ubatuba! (oobatoooba) - beach in the north of Sao Paulo
posted by ig at 5:14 PM on November 25, 2003

defenestrate
rutabaga
revelvance
posted by WolfDaddy at 4:35 PM PST on November 25

Thanks, WolfDaddy! See?!: Revelvance should be a word. But defenestrate? ...that should not. It's just downright scary.

And I forgot: Grackle. Perfect. And so many people think they're just crows.
posted by Shane at 5:55 PM on November 25, 2003

Defenestrate is my favorite word! Not to say so much as the fact of it. A word that means "to throw out a window" is just too damn cool for, uh, words.


What's with all the rutabaga love?

Also squaloid, especially when applied to lawyers.
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:48 PM on November 25, 2003

Avuncular. Don't know why, I just always liked it.
posted by yhbc at 7:24 PM on November 25, 2003

I have some words that I read for years, but never heard them aloud. One I was so disappointed in was surreptitious. I wanted to pronounce it ser-rup’-chew-us (I think I equated it with voluptuous). I also like phenylalanine.
posted by tio2d at 7:34 PM on November 25, 2003

rubricate
posted by Dick Paris at 7:46 PM on November 25, 2003

Vulpine.

(OT Am I the only one who spent years thinking disheveled was pronounced diss-hee-vuld? /OT)
posted by CunningLinguist at 8:05 PM on November 25, 2003

Defenestrate is my favorite word! Not to say so much as the fact of it. A word that means "to throw out a window" is just too damn cool for, uh, words.

The definition is very cool. But the first time I heard it, when I was a tot, I assumed it meant the same as "castrate." It just sounds that way. Ugh.
posted by Shane at 8:27 PM on November 25, 2003

I've always enjoyed the fact that there was a word "clayey," though I keep waiting in vain for opportunities to say it.

And in the phrases category, this is one of the all-time greats:

Veritable Proustian Madeleine.
posted by soyjoy at 8:45 PM on November 25, 2003

the dough I tried to make pie with ended up too clayey to be used? : >
posted by amberglow at 8:48 PM on November 25, 2003

As an Albemarle County resident, I can assure you that few Central Virginians can wrap their tongues around "arle" either. It usually comes out sounding like "Albemaro."


caucus
glacial
sesquicentennial
posted by mbd1mbd1 at 8:58 PM on November 25, 2003

Hootenany!
posted by arto at 10:01 PM on November 25, 2003

kerfuffle. quinquagenarian. sarsaparilla. succotash.

A steady diet of sarsaparilla and succotash caused a kefuffle among the quinquagenarians.
posted by madamjujujive at 11:10 PM on November 25, 2003

word nerd. It's got everything going for it.
posted by palegirl at 11:12 PM on November 25, 2003

Quagmire.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 11:15 PM on November 25, 2003

One hen, two ducks, three squawking geese, four Limerick oysters, five corpulent porpoises, six pairs of Don Alfonso’s tweezers, seven thousand Macedonian warriors in full battle array, eight brass monkeys from the secret sacred ancientcrypts of Egypt, nine sympathetic, apathetic, diabetic old men on roller skates with a marked propensity for procrastination and sloth, ten lyrical, spherical, diabolical denizens of the deep, who haul stones in and around the quarries of the Queasy of Key, all at the very same time, eleven neutramatic synsthesizing systems owned by the seriously cybernetic marketing division shipped via relativistic space flight through the draconian sector seven.
posted by palegirl at 11:15 PM on November 25, 2003

What no mention of lemur and zebu?

The drawn out 'e' is callin' y'all.

leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemur
zeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeebu
posted by Katemonkey at 11:59 PM on November 25, 2003

Revelvance should be a word.

And it should be a word that describes a fabric so erotic it's vulgar.
posted by WolfDaddy at 1:36 AM on November 26, 2003

Oh, and...

What's with all the rutabaga love?

Used to be the safest site to which to send people during ISP tech support calls. Coz, y'know, www.bambi.com was, like, not. Safe.
posted by WolfDaddy at 1:42 AM on November 26, 2003

Anamorphic. Codswallop. Pericope (peh-RIK-oh-pee). Curmudgeon. Geoduck (GOOEY-duck).

And yes, Katemonkey, lemur, lemur, lemur, leeeeeeemurrrrrr! Ahhhh . . .
posted by wdpeck at 2:04 AM on November 26, 2003

(OT Am I the only one who spent years thinking disheveled was pronounced diss-hee-vuld? /OT)

When I was a kid I pronounced bedridden be-DRIDD-en and thought it was the past participle of a verb bedride. Don't know what I thought the verb meant, though.
posted by languagehat at 6:28 AM on November 26, 2003

Thanks, amberglow. Taking off from your suggestion, I think I could make it even more inclusive...

The Veritable Proustian Madeleine I tried to make ended up too clayey to be used.

Oh, and for PHC fans, don't forget the ever-popular Piscacadawadaquoddymoggin.
posted by soyjoy at 7:48 AM on November 26, 2003

spelunking

rill

Skookumchuck (apparently Chinook for "turbulent water", "rapid torrent")
posted by lobakgo at 11:04 AM on November 26, 2003

Moist.
posted by feelinglistless at 3:44 PM on November 26, 2003

Tranquillity. Gossamer.
posted by Tarrama at 4:45 PM on November 26, 2003

Salubrious. Inconsequential. Advertorial. Succinct. Supercalifragi... oh forget it.
posted by cbrody at 5:34 PM on November 26, 2003

Just because only us word freaks are still checking this thread, I had to come back to share this: I was just browsing amazon and reading reviews and found an otherwise literate person referring to the item's wonderful "antique dotes."
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:35 PM on November 26, 2003

*looks around to see if Matt's looking*

..... Zippity BOP!
posted by webmutant at 7:58 PM on November 26, 2003

waterbottle. say it many times in a row.

waterbottle.
waterbottle.
waterbottle.
wadderboddle . . .

mmmmmm . . .
posted by lubricumlinguae at 1:31 AM on November 27, 2003

oh, and . ..

Banana Nut.

I can never say that without breaking into the "Mna Mna" song . . .
posted by lubricumlinguae at 1:41 AM on November 27, 2003

shoot. one more yummy one . . .

sesquipedalian.
posted by lubricumlinguae at 1:45 AM on November 27, 2003