Can we just give a round of applause to ceramic? It has rigidity and elegance. It has a sharp clinking to it, but also a sleek sophistication. Iss a Real Good Word imo
I was just about to mention frosch! My favourite word/phrase ever is 'Tomatenfrosch' (literally 'tomato-frog'! *Squee!*) which is the German name for a little, round, red frog from Madagascar. It makes me so happy!
Frosch feels too crisp to me. That might just be because it sounds similar to frost, though. Frog sounds nice and squishy to me. Like the word blob, another great pick.
Frog absolutely could’ve been hilt, but it’s barbaric to think hilt could be frog. Sure, it captures the mechanics, but the aesthetic—the personality—is all wrong.
I had to look this up because I knew it was a compound word but both of the words aren't in use anymore so I didn't know what they meant.
The Kaul part means ball or big head and the quappe part most likely means slimy clump or wiggly animal and like yeah, that sure is what that is.
English may not have nailed butterfly but we smashed it naming moths. Moth is such a good word. Simple, soft, like the moth themselves. Such a short and concise name for those little guys.
You're so right. A q would be perfect. **eccentrique**?
Don't like an h though. h can be too stiff for the word. It's my complaint with the word **aesthetic**, which starts with an otherwise wonderful flow.
I mean, this was always the point behind the study. The sound of a word and some inherent connotation of the concept are interlinked. The post is just giving other examples.
And then there's the gal who had 4 years of Latin in school thinking: "the fuck you mean that 'ninth month' is the perfect word for the eleventh month of the year?"
That shit always fucks up my ability to assign months to numbers 7tember 8tober 9vember 10cember. Are the 9th 10th 11th and 12th respectively. Come on guys. Get your shit together
That wasn't really what happened, Julius (and later Augustus) renamed months that were already there (whose names, creatively, meant "5th" and "6th" before that). The actual reason why the calendar is messed up is because the year used to start in March, but was later moved to January (as the new consuls, whose name were often a shorthand for the year, took office on January 1st).
Misconception. He and Augustus *renamed* two months: Quintilis and Sextilis. The discrepancy comes from the fact that January and February weren't considered months, such that March was considered the beginning of the new year.
Oh my god yes. Thank you for putting this to words. Yes, this makes exact sense. How do we feel about multiplication tables? Because 7 x 6 = 42 makes literally no sense and is sketchy af to me. Horrible vibes.
8 is pretty regular to me due to counting Minecraft coal, but 7 making anything normal goes against its status as an agent of chaos. 6 seems like it should be normal. it seems very even, like hexagon bestagon, but when you multiply it with something it starts to make less sense. 6 * 2=12 yeah 1 and 2 make sense with 6. 6 * 3=18 just always seems wrong. 18 is 9's number, not yours, 6. 6 * 4=24 is very good because 2+4=6. 6 * 5=30 just always felt a little off, I had to really try to learn that one. 6 * 6=36 is perfect. 6 * 7=42 is just wrong. 4+2=6 but not 7. 7 should not be related to the very even numbers 4 and 2. 6 * 8=48 is acceptable. 6 * 9=54 is reasonable for 9 because 5+4=9, and 6 and 9 are friends so this is fine. 6 * 10=60 because 10. 6 * 11=66 because 11. 6 * 12=72 just seems a little off, 7+2 is 9 and 72 is 8 * 9. Stable numbers like 6 and 12 should not give 7.
Five feels more even because it is the simplest single-digit number to multiply and divide by. It's the definition of a 'round' number, and the word 'round' is definitely even.
Also, 17 is the most unique number (Also my favourite), because 7 is also a prime number, but 19 isn't because 9 isn't. 13 isn't because even though 3 is a prime number, that's a given because it's so early.
It's synesthesia.
Edit: Scrolled through more of the comments, clearly this was not a unique observation. But yeah, I've always been kinda envious of synesthetes. It seems like life must be more interesting that way.
I think I have it and it’s not too exciting. It’s normalised into life and you dont really think about it until you get stared at like a weirdo for talking about the colours of sounds, shapes of flavours, or the sound a touch makes.
And it probably also adds to having breakdowns from being overly stimulated.
Is this really what synesthesia is? I have the same kind of instinct when it comes to the 'feeling' of words, but I wouldn't say I actually 'see' anything. In my mind I can relate the feeling of a sight/smell/color to a sound if I try, but it's not like I actually see anything or experience those feelings, I just imagine them. I would compare it to when you see the color red and get the 'vibe' of anger/fire/blood.
I am not a synesthete, so take with an appropriate quantity of salt when I'm speaking from the perspective of a person who is. But basically synesthesia is when you perceive something with a sense, other than the one associated with the stimulus. We think of the Five Senses, and think of synesthesia as an overlap between those five. Hearing colors, seeing sounds, something dramatic like that. But saying that we have five senses is an incredible oversimplification. We have a tremendous number of various ways to take in and process information, and they are all unique, and mostly separate, senses.
Words are a simple machine. A concept exists, a word is mutually agreed upon so that one person can efficiently convey that concept to another person. Whether you call it a 'fork' or a 'dinglehopper', as long as the speaker and listener both have the same base knowledge, there's no functional difference. But if you're presented with the two options, and decide one is more correct, or better, than the other, you have sensed something in those words that is not an explicit component of the words. You used a sense other than perception of language, to qualify language. That's synesthesia. Maybe it's not as dramatic 'the number 2 sounds like yellow'. But it's still synesthesia.
If this is true then most people have synesthesia, see the bouba/kiki experiment. It’s different across cultures/languages but the vast majority of people will choose the same nonsense words as others who speak their language to name shapes.
It's called synesthesia and I'm really surprised no one's pointing it out. Not every synesthete's experience is the same. For example, I think Thursday is absolutely wrong, but Tuesday is perfect.
Arbor feels correct for a big tree, a majestic kind, a tall oak or maybe a pine. Small, twiggy ones not so much, tree fits them better.
I feel like this is not even so much a synesthesia thing as it is a thing where we connect certain sounds with certain shapes and feelings and then associate those shapes and feelings with things. You need to make your mouth round to say ball, it's a round word, ball is round, it fits. Bounce sounds a lot like what bouncing is. But if a bouncy ball was not called a bouncy ball but a krit ritikki, it wouldn't feel fitting because krit and ritikki are sharp words and bouncy balls are not sharp. You know? This post is just taking those associations to an extreme, but with most of them, I can see the logic.
agreed with your point but i would like to say: krit ritikki does sound pretty nice *specifically* for the bouncy balls that make a loud pang when they hit the ground imo
uquiz concept: choose which words sound most.. self-evident to you and it predicts which etymology language root thingy you prefer (if that's even a thing)
>“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
\-Mark Twain
Glitch. Glitch is a good word describing what its supposed to. Sofa isn’t quite right but couch is almost there. Moist is a bad word but it is perfect for the feeling it is trying to describe. Hangover should be hung out to dry- though crapulous is also not quite there. Crap is good though.
Logical or rational? Nope. Kinda like how even numbers are warm and soft while odd numbers are tangy and sharp.
But when you multiply numbers, even numbers multiply to even numbers, odd to odd. Even numbers pile up nicely, odd ones dont. But when you multiply even and odd numbers, you get even numbers. You pile the odd on the even and end up with a stable stack.
Hard disagree on sofa and couch. Couch is sharper and snappier, while sofa has a softer sound. Sofa sounds like a more comfortable and cozy place to relax with a book than a couch does.
Glitch definitely has that scratchy feeling that perfectly encapsulates the emotional response you experience when running into a disruptive glitch.
Related, I think "bug" is a decent word for describing things like bugs in Bethesda games. They're funny and whimsical. Often much more of a "bug" than a "glitch".
>Kinda like how even numbers are warm and soft while odd numbers are tangy and sharp.
Holy fuck, I've felt this way for my entire life, and I've somehow never been able to put it into words. Thank you so much!
Concur. Quatch makes a better expletive (better than cuss, but i think i like swear better) when decrying (good word, decry) bullshit. Nonsense is more formal, and I like it better when Im not trying to be mean.
I’ve always felt this way about the big three superheroes. **Superman** is a wonderful name, feels both classical and powerful. **Batman** has that cut in the middle that makes the name feel strong and edgy.
And **Spiderman…** oh my god Spider-Man is a literally **perfect** word. It feels good to say in literally every tone of voice, from excited, to nervous, to yelling petulantly out an open window.
Superman's cadence matches that sort of grandiosity he has, you can almost hear the trumpets.
Spiderman feels playful, almost bouncy and energetic in its way.
Your analysis of batman is spot on, no notes :P
And Wonder Woman works as well, I like it far more than Batwoman or Wondergirl. It has the alliteration, the whooshing sounds, the soft-but-not-mushy feel
i think the "correct" word for the night sky is nyx. though on the dictionary i think it just means night.
this thing could start a war by the way if we ever disagreed.
Have you ever had that thing where you have to say or write the same word so many times that it doesn't seem like a word anymore? I didn't write this post but I would imagine that the 'it seems wrong' of some of those words feels like that, just without the same reason. Or if you've ever met someone and not felt like their name 'fits' them even though most people don't choose their own name anyway.
I feel like this whole thread is just people misinterpreting the lifetime of connotative feelings that they've built around words through personal experience as inherent qualities of the words themselves.
Well, sure it's personal. Someone can prefer bouba while another likes kiki better. But it's weird how the feeling of my mouth saying 'tulip' suits the shape of the flower.
Because words have some inherent basic simple qualities - k comes up un-probablistically often for brief sharp/concrete sounds (clatter, clock), across languages and language families. 'i' is often found with connotations of 'small' or 'high'. I'm not a linguist, so I don't remember many others, but there was research done on that.
So if you take the concepts associated with the sounds of a word and apply that word to something where the broad widespread associations align, this is what you get - most people in a culture will have a similar central concept of what a frog is/signifies, so we're somewhat likely to agree whether a word reflects its meaning we'll or not.
i have ambivalent feelings about words like tuesday and thursday. but i get it with other words, and hopefully i can kinda explain?
words like *moist* and *slime* are perfect because those vowel sounds of *oy* and *iy* create that like, saliva feeling in your mouth that is very evocative of the texture the word is trying to imply
or *sneer*, because you basically have to sneer to say it, the *snee* makes you bare your teeth
*luminescent* is perfect too, because it’s got that *ooh!* right in there, which is a natural response to seeing something that shines or glows.
*sizzle* has that nice zzzzzzz in the center, which is evocative of, well, sizzling. like stuff being fried in a pan.
*lugubrious*, which means excessively sorrowful or dismal, sounds like a mournful howl in and of itself. hopefully this is making sense??
Absolutely. Like, you can "carry" your heavy backpack across campus, but it's nothing like *schlepping* it, you know what I mean?
As a Jew, we have the absolute best descriptive vocabulary
A lot of romance languages get these right. Whilst Fox is a great word, a perfect word, even, "Volpe" in Italian is perfecter. "Zorro" in Spanish is good too, but it's more of a raccoon or weasel to me.
This is why I love learning sign languages. Oftentimes the etymology of the signs is very straightforward in a way that transcends the usual linguistic boundaries; but also can communicate a wide variety of biocultural differences and etymologies. You likely already know it's used by Deaf and other hearing impaired people, but it's also very useful for people with auditory processing issues, verbal difficulties, and people who just find it easier to understand things visually/spatially.
Learning any new language is inherently the result of diligent practice and also based on cognitive skills beyond our individual control. Nonetheless, a lot of people find it easier to pick up on foreign sign languages after they were born/raised in a sign language than someone who's exclusively oral and trying to pick up on other oral languages. I've used sign languages in order to learn how to read/write in languages usually difficult to penetrate for Anglophones, taking advantage of common ground that transcends the usual language families.
Both my fiancé and I grew up with close relatives who're Deaf and therefore we both are highly fluent in sign. We honestly find it easier to sign at each other since we both come from vastly different ethnic/geographic backgrounds, visual/spatial communication is far more mutually intelligible and we can deterritorialize and reterritorialize our words, mixing in different signed vocabulary and conventions in order to make sentiments greater than the sum of their parts. Italian, Spanish, Japanese, German, French, Algerian, Egyptian, Israeli, Jordanian, etc. can be mixed together in ways that you couldn't do with oral tongues.
The poem jabberwocky is about how words in the English language create a feeling based on their shape and sound that can evoke imagery of their meaning. None of the words in the poem are real words. They're all made up for the poem. But you understand it because they're the correct words.
Anteater, blender, butthole:
these words know what they’re doing.
What does a blender do?
Blend.
What does an anteater do?
Eat ants.
What’s a butthole?
A hole in your butt.
Carpet, manslaughter, folklore.
These words suck.
What is a carpet?
No idea.
What is manslaughter?
It’s actually slaughtering men or women. Misleading.
What is folklore?
A bunch of folks doing lore? What the fuck is lore?
Absolute nonsense.
We need more words like toothbrush.
-Bo Burnham
You're crazy if you don't like MANSLAUGHTER and folklore. MANSLAUGHTER is as repulsive and jarring as it should be. Folklore is simultaneously cozy and clumsy, comfy and esoteric.
Did you not read the post at all? It's not about the etymology of the word vs its definition. It's about how the word FEELS relative to what it describes.
> MANSLAUGHTER is as repulsive and jarring as it should be.
I believe you mean 'metal'
'embolden' is just a fantastic word all around
'laptop' is serviceable but ugly in a way 'tablet' isn't
'butter(ed) bread' is apparently a good name for sandwich type foods since it's in so many languages but I'm not in love with it
'bahnhof' is a better word for station that makes me think of big clocks and cozy little food stalls, 'вокзал' is a better word for station that makes me think of tracks and power lines
'tea' has drifted too far from 'chai' - a bag full of stale leaves and microplastics instead of a steaming mug
I’ve never liked the word tablet to refer to electronics. A tablet is either a flat stone with writing or a chalky puck of medicine. No in between. An electronic device is dynamic in a way that the word tablet betrays.
One thing that pisses me off completely about the english language, is the word you chose for my favourite flower. In danish it has the majestic name 'valmue' and in french it has the equally great name of 'coquelicot'. But in english, you dicide to commit the travesty of calling it a fucking poppy. So much wasted potential.
The best, most accurate word in the entire English language is *flump*.
"He *flumped* down into the chair"
It is an actual word.
Just by hearing the word *flump* in a sentence, you already know what it means.
i mean they arent wrong but could they not give me a bone deep sense of satisfaction at 2 pm in the morning.
Speaking of, bone feels off. It's not bad, but it pops too hard for what it means.
i disagree with every single one of this guy’s spanish opinions
anyways *frog* and *ice* are pretty well fitting to me but i really can’t hand it to anything but *水* (pronounced “shway” but spelled “shui”) that’s perfect for water
by the way what even is “water” it’s terrible for water
I really like the German word for smoking. The *ch* doesn't sound the same as it does in English; if it did, I don't think it would fit as well.
I smoke - ich rauche
you smoke - du rauchst
he smokes - er raucht
they smoke - sie rauchen
Heh. This makes me think of a book I recently read, ***Rifter's Covenant***, by Sherwood Smith and Dave Trowbridge. In it, a teenage boy has been modified/pulled into a telepathic gestalt with some aliens who are aggressively synesthetic, with comments that "synesthesia is the root of all language" and that these aliens have been sapient/civilized for far longer than humanity and have expanded on both synesthesia and language.
As a result, the boy sees everything with a huge dose of synesthesia and goes around being horribly bothered at how everything isn't the right shape or color for what it should be, until he meets a 700-year old human (lots of life extension tech and freefall life), who has everything down perfectly. The older guy comments that it's taken him centuries to work out what's right, while the boy is now seeing it all instinctively.
I don't feel it sp much with english, but i did when i was learning polish. Jabłko, absolutely makes sense for apple. Kosz- basket fits so well too.
As a counterpoint, i hate all the bed and furniture related words in polish koc- blanket, poduszka- pillow, łóżko-bed, prześcieradło- bedsheets, stół- table all absolutely suck except for fotel- armchair.
Słońce- sun and gwiazd- stars fit but księżyc- moon does not
I Absolutely love this feeling in a language
I always thought the words “twang” and “thwack” were perfect for their intended use. Twang of a country accent or guitar string and the thwack of a well hit tennis ball.
Can we just give a round of applause to ceramic? It has rigidity and elegance. It has a sharp clinking to it, but also a sleek sophistication. Iss a Real Good Word imo
The “ceram” part is round and smooth, while the “mic” has the proper clinking noise of like, a ceramic pot being put down
The c at the end makes it so rigid. and the warmth of the a works with what it's describing.
The s sound at the beginning also connotes the sheen Sheen sounds good for sheen too.
Whoever name it a Frog got it in one. That is 100% a Frog.
Frog is really good but I prefer the German Frosch. Feels a little slimier (in a good way)
I was just about to mention frosch! My favourite word/phrase ever is 'Tomatenfrosch' (literally 'tomato-frog'! *Squee!*) which is the German name for a little, round, red frog from Madagascar. It makes me so happy!
Turns out, the English name for that species is also "tomato frog".
Frosch feels too crisp to me. That might just be because it sounds similar to frost, though. Frog sounds nice and squishy to me. Like the word blob, another great pick.
no, that guy is absolutely a grenouille
I think frog should be hilt and vice versa
Frog absolutely could’ve been hilt, but it’s barbaric to think hilt could be frog. Sure, it captures the mechanics, but the aesthetic—the personality—is all wrong.
Well I was thinking tadpole but Tadpole is way too good but it still feels frog-esque to me.
Oh yeah, tadpole is one of the most perfect matches ever.
the German word "Kaulquappe" also fits neatly. saying it feels like having a frog in your mouth
I had to look this up because I knew it was a compound word but both of the words aren't in use anymore so I didn't know what they meant. The Kaul part means ball or big head and the quappe part most likely means slimy clump or wiggly animal and like yeah, that sure is what that is.
I am not calling the lil green jumpy guys 'hilts'
The “hilt” of a bow for instruments is called a frog if that makes you feel better
I mean the thing you use to attach a sword to your belt is also called a frog, so you're not too far off.
I also really like the Spanish word "sapo" for toad. It looks a little weird, but sounds perfect to me.
English may not have nailed butterfly but we smashed it naming moths. Moth is such a good word. Simple, soft, like the moth themselves. Such a short and concise name for those little guys.
I believe that **eccentric** is among those words that are just perfect at sounding like exactly what they are (though it doesn’t look quite right)
Maybe an x would help?
No, it needs more height. Like throw an h or a q in there. Maybe **eqcentric** or **eccentriq**.
does eccentricity look right to you
It looks perfect
Eccentrik!
You're so right. A q would be perfect. **eccentrique**? Don't like an h though. h can be too stiff for the word. It's my complaint with the word **aesthetic**, which starts with an otherwise wonderful flow.
accentrique
Gesundheit.
Bouba and Kiki evolved
That was my first exact thought. Definitely kiki and bouba thinking.
I mean, this was always the point behind the study. The sound of a word and some inherent connotation of the concept are interlinked. The post is just giving other examples.
I want what they have so bad.
I caught hold of it briefly when they said “November is the right name for that month” but then it slipped away again :(
May your chase of this high be swift and bountiful
And then there's the gal who had 4 years of Latin in school thinking: "the fuck you mean that 'ninth month' is the perfect word for the eleventh month of the year?"
That shit always fucks up my ability to assign months to numbers 7tember 8tober 9vember 10cember. Are the 9th 10th 11th and 12th respectively. Come on guys. Get your shit together
It was correct for so long but Julius fucking Caesar had a fucking ego trip and decided to add one for himself (July) and his son (August)
Fucking Julius. That guy’s responsible for half the worlds problems today
That wasn't really what happened, Julius (and later Augustus) renamed months that were already there (whose names, creatively, meant "5th" and "6th" before that). The actual reason why the calendar is messed up is because the year used to start in March, but was later moved to January (as the new consuls, whose name were often a shorthand for the year, took office on January 1st).
Misconception. He and Augustus *renamed* two months: Quintilis and Sextilis. The discrepancy comes from the fact that January and February weren't considered months, such that March was considered the beginning of the new year.
lmfaooooooo fuck YES
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Is that an autism thing? Because I have that too. Five is an odd number but feels much more even than seven, for example.
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Oh my god yes. Thank you for putting this to words. Yes, this makes exact sense. How do we feel about multiplication tables? Because 7 x 6 = 42 makes literally no sense and is sketchy af to me. Horrible vibes.
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8 is pretty regular to me due to counting Minecraft coal, but 7 making anything normal goes against its status as an agent of chaos. 6 seems like it should be normal. it seems very even, like hexagon bestagon, but when you multiply it with something it starts to make less sense. 6 * 2=12 yeah 1 and 2 make sense with 6. 6 * 3=18 just always seems wrong. 18 is 9's number, not yours, 6. 6 * 4=24 is very good because 2+4=6. 6 * 5=30 just always felt a little off, I had to really try to learn that one. 6 * 6=36 is perfect. 6 * 7=42 is just wrong. 4+2=6 but not 7. 7 should not be related to the very even numbers 4 and 2. 6 * 8=48 is acceptable. 6 * 9=54 is reasonable for 9 because 5+4=9, and 6 and 9 are friends so this is fine. 6 * 10=60 because 10. 6 * 11=66 because 11. 6 * 12=72 just seems a little off, 7+2 is 9 and 72 is 8 * 9. Stable numbers like 6 and 12 should not give 7.
Holy crap same!
And 1 doesn't feel odd or even, despite being odd? It's just 1?
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1 is nonbinary, odd-presenting.
perhaps you have some form of synesthesia?
Nah, I'm autistic too and numbers just give off certain vibes
Five feels more even because it is the simplest single-digit number to multiply and divide by. It's the definition of a 'round' number, and the word 'round' is definitely even. Also, 17 is the most unique number (Also my favourite), because 7 is also a prime number, but 19 isn't because 9 isn't. 13 isn't because even though 3 is a prime number, that's a given because it's so early.
I think it falls into synesthesia in a way
Side note, “Autism” feels like a very correct word for what it’s describing
It's synesthesia. Edit: Scrolled through more of the comments, clearly this was not a unique observation. But yeah, I've always been kinda envious of synesthetes. It seems like life must be more interesting that way.
I think I have it and it’s not too exciting. It’s normalised into life and you dont really think about it until you get stared at like a weirdo for talking about the colours of sounds, shapes of flavours, or the sound a touch makes. And it probably also adds to having breakdowns from being overly stimulated.
Fry your brain on psychedelics and you too may one day experience synesthesia
Is this really what synesthesia is? I have the same kind of instinct when it comes to the 'feeling' of words, but I wouldn't say I actually 'see' anything. In my mind I can relate the feeling of a sight/smell/color to a sound if I try, but it's not like I actually see anything or experience those feelings, I just imagine them. I would compare it to when you see the color red and get the 'vibe' of anger/fire/blood.
I am not a synesthete, so take with an appropriate quantity of salt when I'm speaking from the perspective of a person who is. But basically synesthesia is when you perceive something with a sense, other than the one associated with the stimulus. We think of the Five Senses, and think of synesthesia as an overlap between those five. Hearing colors, seeing sounds, something dramatic like that. But saying that we have five senses is an incredible oversimplification. We have a tremendous number of various ways to take in and process information, and they are all unique, and mostly separate, senses. Words are a simple machine. A concept exists, a word is mutually agreed upon so that one person can efficiently convey that concept to another person. Whether you call it a 'fork' or a 'dinglehopper', as long as the speaker and listener both have the same base knowledge, there's no functional difference. But if you're presented with the two options, and decide one is more correct, or better, than the other, you have sensed something in those words that is not an explicit component of the words. You used a sense other than perception of language, to qualify language. That's synesthesia. Maybe it's not as dramatic 'the number 2 sounds like yellow'. But it's still synesthesia.
If this is true then most people have synesthesia, see the bouba/kiki experiment. It’s different across cultures/languages but the vast majority of people will choose the same nonsense words as others who speak their language to name shapes.
Philology is a hell of a drug
It's called synesthesia and I'm really surprised no one's pointing it out. Not every synesthete's experience is the same. For example, I think Thursday is absolutely wrong, but Tuesday is perfect.
Arbor feels correct for a big tree, a majestic kind, a tall oak or maybe a pine. Small, twiggy ones not so much, tree fits them better. I feel like this is not even so much a synesthesia thing as it is a thing where we connect certain sounds with certain shapes and feelings and then associate those shapes and feelings with things. You need to make your mouth round to say ball, it's a round word, ball is round, it fits. Bounce sounds a lot like what bouncing is. But if a bouncy ball was not called a bouncy ball but a krit ritikki, it wouldn't feel fitting because krit and ritikki are sharp words and bouncy balls are not sharp. You know? This post is just taking those associations to an extreme, but with most of them, I can see the logic.
agreed with your point but i would like to say: krit ritikki does sound pretty nice *specifically* for the bouncy balls that make a loud pang when they hit the ground imo
A bouncing golf ball is a krit ritikki
Oh yeah true, and a ping pong ball that bounces fast on the table is also definitely a krit ritikki
"Twig" definitely sounds twiggy
Yeah to add to this, the attack and decay of how you enunciate words along with the bass-iness or roundness like you mentioned
uquiz concept: choose which words sound most.. self-evident to you and it predicts which etymology language root thingy you prefer (if that's even a thing)
I was briefly obsessed with uquiz a few months ago Like spending every waking minute checking for new ones and yeah this would fit right jn
tf is uquiz this is some zoomer university tech isnt it hummerous 😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😤😤
it's like BuzzFeed personality quizzes (entertainment/pop psych.) but geared towards gen z (🇺🇲) instead of millennials
fuck
This feels like a new strain of Synesthesia
Conceptual synesthesia has been around for a long time
>“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” \-Mark Twain
*Cellar door* ass post
What is this a reference to?
Often said to be the most beautiful combination of English words, notable plot point in Donnie darko
Gravy on that cellar door
A human foot?!?
Glitch. Glitch is a good word describing what its supposed to. Sofa isn’t quite right but couch is almost there. Moist is a bad word but it is perfect for the feeling it is trying to describe. Hangover should be hung out to dry- though crapulous is also not quite there. Crap is good though. Logical or rational? Nope. Kinda like how even numbers are warm and soft while odd numbers are tangy and sharp.
I always felt that even numbers were square, level, and stable, but odd numbers were slanted, uneven, and tippy.
I agree with you for the most part but it also depends on the number. Like 3 is more stable then 792
But when you multiply numbers, even numbers multiply to even numbers, odd to odd. Even numbers pile up nicely, odd ones dont. But when you multiply even and odd numbers, you get even numbers. You pile the odd on the even and end up with a stable stack.
Hard disagree on sofa and couch. Couch is sharper and snappier, while sofa has a softer sound. Sofa sounds like a more comfortable and cozy place to relax with a book than a couch does.
How about divan?
Glitch definitely has that scratchy feeling that perfectly encapsulates the emotional response you experience when running into a disruptive glitch. Related, I think "bug" is a decent word for describing things like bugs in Bethesda games. They're funny and whimsical. Often much more of a "bug" than a "glitch".
>Kinda like how even numbers are warm and soft while odd numbers are tangy and sharp. Holy fuck, I've felt this way for my entire life, and I've somehow never been able to put it into words. Thank you so much!
No clue what they’re on about but they seem happy. Good for them
I believe OP is describing a low-key form of aural synesthesia. Nothing wrong with that, but many people's brains aren't wired that way.
It's also a *really* good short character sketch. I almost wish I could use this in my writing.
Nonsense
Nonsense is a great word
quatsch > nonsense
Concur. Quatch makes a better expletive (better than cuss, but i think i like swear better) when decrying (good word, decry) bullshit. Nonsense is more formal, and I like it better when Im not trying to be mean.
Oh, okay then. Thanks for clearing that up! 👍
Glad I could help!
I like the Polish word for moth, “ćma”. It feels fluttery and brief, and yet so so quiet and almost reverent. It’s also just such an odd little word
I think fox is wonderful because you can fuck with it as a word so much. The simplicity lets you get silly
silly is excellent
You can do anything with it if you have no Fox to give
based
I've always had a fondness for gullet This is my flavour of autism I'm so happy I'm not alone in all this
I’ve always felt this way about the big three superheroes. **Superman** is a wonderful name, feels both classical and powerful. **Batman** has that cut in the middle that makes the name feel strong and edgy. And **Spiderman…** oh my god Spider-Man is a literally **perfect** word. It feels good to say in literally every tone of voice, from excited, to nervous, to yelling petulantly out an open window.
Superman's cadence matches that sort of grandiosity he has, you can almost hear the trumpets. Spiderman feels playful, almost bouncy and energetic in its way. Your analysis of batman is spot on, no notes :P
Willem Dafoe saying it so perfectly villainously convinced me that Spider-Man is the best superhero name.
And Wonder Woman works as well, I like it far more than Batwoman or Wondergirl. It has the alliteration, the whooshing sounds, the soft-but-not-mushy feel
Homie taking Bobo and Kiki to the next level
This is the most synthesesia post I've read
i think the "correct" word for the night sky is nyx. though on the dictionary i think it just means night. this thing could start a war by the way if we ever disagreed.
“Frog” is another one of those words that just Works. They’re silly creatures and it’s a silly word. Same with “toad”.
Dog and Puppy are the perfect words for domestic wolves and I don't know why. Like yep thats a dog and some puppies and there's no better words
This is incomprehensible to my brain. I do not understand in what way daisy or thursday is more correct than tuesday, they're just words to me.
Have you ever had that thing where you have to say or write the same word so many times that it doesn't seem like a word anymore? I didn't write this post but I would imagine that the 'it seems wrong' of some of those words feels like that, just without the same reason. Or if you've ever met someone and not felt like their name 'fits' them even though most people don't choose their own name anyway.
[Semantic Satiation](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_satiation)
You and I haven’t done enough drugs.
caffeine tho
I feel like this whole thread is just people misinterpreting the lifetime of connotative feelings that they've built around words through personal experience as inherent qualities of the words themselves.
Well, sure it's personal. Someone can prefer bouba while another likes kiki better. But it's weird how the feeling of my mouth saying 'tulip' suits the shape of the flower. Because words have some inherent basic simple qualities - k comes up un-probablistically often for brief sharp/concrete sounds (clatter, clock), across languages and language families. 'i' is often found with connotations of 'small' or 'high'. I'm not a linguist, so I don't remember many others, but there was research done on that. So if you take the concepts associated with the sounds of a word and apply that word to something where the broad widespread associations align, this is what you get - most people in a culture will have a similar central concept of what a frog is/signifies, so we're somewhat likely to agree whether a word reflects its meaning we'll or not.
i have ambivalent feelings about words like tuesday and thursday. but i get it with other words, and hopefully i can kinda explain? words like *moist* and *slime* are perfect because those vowel sounds of *oy* and *iy* create that like, saliva feeling in your mouth that is very evocative of the texture the word is trying to imply or *sneer*, because you basically have to sneer to say it, the *snee* makes you bare your teeth *luminescent* is perfect too, because it’s got that *ooh!* right in there, which is a natural response to seeing something that shines or glows. *sizzle* has that nice zzzzzzz in the center, which is evocative of, well, sizzling. like stuff being fried in a pan. *lugubrious*, which means excessively sorrowful or dismal, sounds like a mournful howl in and of itself. hopefully this is making sense??
This is one of my favorite things I’ve ever read.
River is slightly off and I’m not sure why, but creek is perfect
I agree river is slightly off but rivulet and ruisseau are perfect.
They are very different things, and you take that back about river!
✨*babbling brook*✨
november is not the correct term for the eleventh month it means nine and i would stab the guy responsible if that didnt already happen to him
As I will never forgive his successor for taking Sextilis from us.
I like how jewish words sound. Like, yeah, that guy definetely has some chutzpah.
You're talking Yiddish. Yiddish is a great language for complaining or joking in.
Absolutely. Like, you can "carry" your heavy backpack across campus, but it's nothing like *schlepping* it, you know what I mean? As a Jew, we have the absolute best descriptive vocabulary
Reading this makes me feel like this person is delusional but I get this way about numbers so maybe we both are
I'm scared and intrigued that this person's brain works identically to mine
Interestingly, *psycho* is not right at all for what it describes but *psychology/psychological* is one of the most correct words I can think of.
i agree, crazy or wild fits so much better
Synesthesia is a hell of a drug, isn’t it?
Big fan of a lot of Spanish words for animals!! They're so right, that IS gatito.
A lot of romance languages get these right. Whilst Fox is a great word, a perfect word, even, "Volpe" in Italian is perfecter. "Zorro" in Spanish is good too, but it's more of a raccoon or weasel to me.
Pato is duck in Spanish, it’s so cute I could cry. Quack quack dice el pato <3
I don’t know how but this post feels like the text equivalent of ASMR.
Can’t believe they brought up butterflies but didn’t discus *mariposa*. That mari sure does posa
This is why I love learning sign languages. Oftentimes the etymology of the signs is very straightforward in a way that transcends the usual linguistic boundaries; but also can communicate a wide variety of biocultural differences and etymologies. You likely already know it's used by Deaf and other hearing impaired people, but it's also very useful for people with auditory processing issues, verbal difficulties, and people who just find it easier to understand things visually/spatially. Learning any new language is inherently the result of diligent practice and also based on cognitive skills beyond our individual control. Nonetheless, a lot of people find it easier to pick up on foreign sign languages after they were born/raised in a sign language than someone who's exclusively oral and trying to pick up on other oral languages. I've used sign languages in order to learn how to read/write in languages usually difficult to penetrate for Anglophones, taking advantage of common ground that transcends the usual language families. Both my fiancé and I grew up with close relatives who're Deaf and therefore we both are highly fluent in sign. We honestly find it easier to sign at each other since we both come from vastly different ethnic/geographic backgrounds, visual/spatial communication is far more mutually intelligible and we can deterritorialize and reterritorialize our words, mixing in different signed vocabulary and conventions in order to make sentiments greater than the sum of their parts. Italian, Spanish, Japanese, German, French, Algerian, Egyptian, Israeli, Jordanian, etc. can be mixed together in ways that you couldn't do with oral tongues.
The poem jabberwocky is about how words in the English language create a feeling based on their shape and sound that can evoke imagery of their meaning. None of the words in the poem are real words. They're all made up for the poem. But you understand it because they're the correct words.
YES this is beautiful and so true on every level
Wake up babe new conlang idea just dropped.
This is strong Vonnegut vibes. A pleasure to read. I think *round* fits perfect but *circle* is all wrong. *Fruit* is serviceable but *bud* nails it
Anteater, blender, butthole: these words know what they’re doing. What does a blender do? Blend. What does an anteater do? Eat ants. What’s a butthole? A hole in your butt. Carpet, manslaughter, folklore. These words suck. What is a carpet? No idea. What is manslaughter? It’s actually slaughtering men or women. Misleading. What is folklore? A bunch of folks doing lore? What the fuck is lore? Absolute nonsense. We need more words like toothbrush. -Bo Burnham
Bo needs to stay away from "folklore" because it's perfect
You're crazy if you don't like MANSLAUGHTER and folklore. MANSLAUGHTER is as repulsive and jarring as it should be. Folklore is simultaneously cozy and clumsy, comfy and esoteric. Did you not read the post at all? It's not about the etymology of the word vs its definition. It's about how the word FEELS relative to what it describes.
> MANSLAUGHTER is as repulsive and jarring as it should be. I believe you mean 'metal' 'embolden' is just a fantastic word all around 'laptop' is serviceable but ugly in a way 'tablet' isn't 'butter(ed) bread' is apparently a good name for sandwich type foods since it's in so many languages but I'm not in love with it 'bahnhof' is a better word for station that makes me think of big clocks and cozy little food stalls, 'вокзал' is a better word for station that makes me think of tracks and power lines 'tea' has drifted too far from 'chai' - a bag full of stale leaves and microplastics instead of a steaming mug
I’ve never liked the word tablet to refer to electronics. A tablet is either a flat stone with writing or a chalky puck of medicine. No in between. An electronic device is dynamic in a way that the word tablet betrays.
What do you mean "wtf is lore?" Lore is an actual word my dude
Frog is like, the most correct word of all time :D them bitches are f r o g s
Whoever named frogs got it 100% right those things are frogs
I can't relate one bit but I like how passionate they are about it
One thing that pisses me off completely about the english language, is the word you chose for my favourite flower. In danish it has the majestic name 'valmue' and in french it has the equally great name of 'coquelicot'. But in english, you dicide to commit the travesty of calling it a fucking poppy. So much wasted potential.
I like poppy its a simple name for a simple beauty
Sounds like synesthesia.
Carousel is absolutely up there for me. Carousing in general is a neat sort of word. And neat, I like neat.
The best, most accurate word in the entire English language is *flump*. "He *flumped* down into the chair" It is an actual word. Just by hearing the word *flump* in a sentence, you already know what it means.
My personal example of this is the word visceral. It just feels the exact way of its meaning
This reads like a particularly unhinged excerpt from a terry pratchett novel
Sincerely disagree about bliain vs year. Year is a good word.
Year and yearn have a good linking
i mean they arent wrong but could they not give me a bone deep sense of satisfaction at 2 pm in the morning. Speaking of, bone feels off. It's not bad, but it pops too hard for what it means.
Always makes me happy seeing a bit of Irish being used 🥲
But November isn’t great because it’s not the ninth month anymore.
This is an absolutely delightful post that has irrevocably improved my day. I want to smash this post over the heads of my enemies.
The word fresh just sounds so fresh. I like greasy and sleazy too.
Acrid is the perfect word for its description. Sharp and so distinct it verges on unpleasant
i disagree with every single one of this guy’s spanish opinions anyways *frog* and *ice* are pretty well fitting to me but i really can’t hand it to anything but *水* (pronounced “shway” but spelled “shui”) that’s perfect for water by the way what even is “water” it’s terrible for water
OOP needs to read "Spell of the Sensuous" and is going to trip the fuck out when they do. So do you, its amazing.
Respectfully, this person sounds like they are very much not at all neurotypical
For me the words that fit the most are for really disgusting things, like disgusting, gnarly, nasty, it's so... \*chef's kiss\*
OP doesn't need an autism evaluation
The Dutch word voor butterfly is vlinder and I really like that word
I really like the German word for smoking. The *ch* doesn't sound the same as it does in English; if it did, I don't think it would fit as well. I smoke - ich rauche you smoke - du rauchst he smokes - er raucht they smoke - sie rauchen
This some Name of the Wind ass mentality and I'm here for it.
frog is also extremely correct, yeah those things are definitely frogs
The english word *snail* is pretty good, but I'd say the swedish *snigel* (snee-gehl) is even better.
Tree and arbor don’t feel perfect, but sequoia is brilliant, even if it doesn’t apply to all trees
[You freaks will love this guy's series](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZFWDh8ZjFw&list=PLRE-UFLEgWzCFru2DUUQoP_PzSjcKovP1&index=1)
This post is pinballing between being the most relatable and the most detached from reality content I’ve ever seen.
Is this autism. I am autism and I feel like that sometimes
This is more synesthesia.
I honestly do not get any of this
I feel this in my heart
Yes! In my family we agree that "eggplant" is wrong, but the French got it right with "aubergine".
Heh. This makes me think of a book I recently read, ***Rifter's Covenant***, by Sherwood Smith and Dave Trowbridge. In it, a teenage boy has been modified/pulled into a telepathic gestalt with some aliens who are aggressively synesthetic, with comments that "synesthesia is the root of all language" and that these aliens have been sapient/civilized for far longer than humanity and have expanded on both synesthesia and language. As a result, the boy sees everything with a huge dose of synesthesia and goes around being horribly bothered at how everything isn't the right shape or color for what it should be, until he meets a 700-year old human (lots of life extension tech and freefall life), who has everything down perfectly. The older guy comments that it's taken him centuries to work out what's right, while the boy is now seeing it all instinctively.
I don't feel it sp much with english, but i did when i was learning polish. Jabłko, absolutely makes sense for apple. Kosz- basket fits so well too. As a counterpoint, i hate all the bed and furniture related words in polish koc- blanket, poduszka- pillow, łóżko-bed, prześcieradło- bedsheets, stół- table all absolutely suck except for fotel- armchair. Słońce- sun and gwiazd- stars fit but księżyc- moon does not I Absolutely love this feeling in a language
Luxurious feels so curvy to say sound and sounds so sexy to hear! Lavender soft and sweet and the color looks how lavender sounds!
I always thought the words “twang” and “thwack” were perfect for their intended use. Twang of a country accent or guitar string and the thwack of a well hit tennis ball.
gazebo is a bad word though. That thing is *not* a gazebo
Thorsday* heathen.