Part of my work-a-day routine is to sign into my IM accounts on Meebo – often Meebo staff greet me with a little vignette, an insight into their company or some other interesting tidbit. This morning’s was particularly interesting:
October 16 is a special day. Though rarely celebrated outside the confines of grammar school classrooms or public libraries, Dictionary Day commemorates the birthday of American lexicographer Noah Webster, born October 16, 1758. I am not sure how long Dictionary Day has been around, but it appears we have been honoring good ol’ Mr. Webster for quite some time.
Greg goes on to discuss some of the reasons he loves words. I’m inspired to let you in on a little secret: my all-time favorite word is rutabaga. I don’t know why. I don’t even particularly like rutabagas. I just like the way the word feels in my mouth. If you have any of your own, please share below.
Rutabega – that’s a good one! I have a great story about the word “rutabega,” the game “Catchphrase,” and the word “Studebaker.” One of my favorite words was “entourage,” but with the show becoming so popular it’s lost some of it’s lustre. “Elbow” is my favorite word that turns into meaninglessness when you say it over and over: “Elbow, elbow, elbow, elbow…”
Good bit of trivia. I like the word plenipotentiary, though I have never had occasion to use it.
While there are many words I enjoy,
my two long standing favorites dating
back to my childhood are: Beanball
and Fiend! Beanball always made me
laugh with my frivolously fiendish friend.
I love the word facetious. My family has a standing joke about that word. My mother once told us we couldn’t use a word without being able to spell it, so everytime we said facetious we also spelled f-a-c-e-t-i-o-u-s.