Beautiful Words

Good were pointing yesterday to a list of the 100 most beautiful words in the English language (at least by their author, a someone who goes by the moniker Dr. Goodword of the site Alpha Dictionary.com).
For a words lover as myself, discovering those beautiful words was such a delight! Some of them are completely new to me (well, there is a debate going on on the Good's post page, whether some of these are in English or not...) so I couldn't stop walking around while murmuring to myself "What a Dulcet Lagniappe!" and "Oh, The Petrichor this morning is just fantastic!"

Here are some of my favorite from the list:

Demure: Shy and reserved
Diaphanous: Filmy
Dulcet: Sweet, sugary
Ebullience: Bubbling enthusiasm
Halcyon: Happy, sunny, care-free
Lagniappe: A special kind of gift
Lissome: Slender and graceful
Mellifluous: Sweet sounding
Petrichor: The smell of earth after rain
Scintilla: A spark or very small thing
Seraglio: Rich, luxurious oriental palace or harem
Sumptuous: Lush, luxurious

How do you like discovering new words? Which are your favorite?

Advice to Writers

Even if it keeps you up all night,
wash down the walls and scrub the floor
of your study before composing a syllable.

Clean the place as if the Pope were on his way.
Spotlessness is the niece of inspiration.

The more you clean, the more brilliant
your writing will be, so do not hesitate to take
to the open fields to scour the undersides
of rocks or swab in the dark forest
upper branches, nests full of eggs.

When you fiind your way back home
and stow the sponges and brushes under the sink,
you will behold in the light of dawn
the immaculate altar of your desk,
a clean surface in the middle of a clean world.

From a small vase, sparkling blue, lift
a yellow pencil, the sharpest of the bouquet,
and cover pages with tiny sentences
like long rows of devoted ants
that followed you in from the woods.

Billy Collins
from Sailing Alone Around the Room

It came right on time.
This line - 'Spotlessness is the niece of inspiration' and also 'a clean surface in the middle of a clean world'.

I'm going to devote Easter Monday to cleaning. Oh, you wait and see how bright and brilliant I'll become after that!


Found at bobulate (via the always inspiring SwissMiss)