Friday, November 11, 2016

The Most Beautiful words

After having read "The Most Beautiful Words" by Hugh A. Mulligan, I've realized all of the words or phrases he listed evoked an emotion. "Summer afternoon" evokes a feeling of happiness, simplicity, and of serendipity. "Enclosed check" evokes a feeling of excitement. "Free lunch" during the Great Depression evoked a feeling of hope and relief. For me, my favorite words evoke a feeling of ambiguity, yet also a feeling of possibility and greatness.
In the English language, words are carefully picked to express different things, however, sometimes we stumble to find the right word to use in the context. This is why one of my favorite words is "ineffable", meaning too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words. "Ineffable" replaces those words that we stumble to find, while also expressing that something is too great or too strong to be expressed in the words -- essentially defeating the entire English language. "Ineffable" also evokes a feeling of grandeur, accomplishment, and honorability. When we use "ineffable" in a sentence, although there is a profuse amount of words to use, we are saying that there is absolutely no words to either honor or truly reach the extent of what we are trying to convey.
My second favorite word is "tomorrow." "Tomorrow" brings possibility; "tomorrow" brings hope; "tomorrow" brings new and fresh beginnings. Though the future is ambiguous, we can always expect the sun to rise and the East and set in the West. "Tomorrow" also evokes a feeling of hope. Although I have bad days, when I wake in the morning, I realize that a new day has come and things aren't as bad as they might've seemed. Finally, if we dwell on the past, or "yesterday," we cannot grow as people, but "tomorrow" gives us a chance to make what we want of our lives. Although we cannot be certain about what may happen tomorrow, "tomorrow" brings so many possibilities.

1 comment:

  1. Wonderful, Steph. I, too, love the word "ineffable." I believe that other languages have far more words that can describe those vague, though important, feelings. English is limited. Ineffable is a good word.

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