Not sure if I'm supposed to present my reasoning but I will.
Good word: Demonstrably.
I know that the etymology refers to something that is able to be demonstrated, but I like the *monstr* section because it actually sounds like "to a monstrous extent." So when I say "You are demonstrably wrong" I really mean it.
demonstrably: good word made even better by your thorough explanation. to sneak the word monstr into a word like that is A+ stuff not many words could pull it off but demonstrably does and does so in a demonstrably sort of way - epic
porcine: bad word this word sucks makes me think of porcelain get real this word should go to jail
yeah, that etymology has alwyas stuck with me - I think someone pointed it out in college and I'm always excited to share that. If I remember correctly, they said that to "demonstrate" was to "Take away the monstrous qualities of something" aka reveal it, becuase monsters aren't really "monsters," you know, they're just things we don't understand (although I do think that there are some monsters in our midst, and for them I think we need a different good word)
I currently live in Panama and am actively working on improving my Spanish.
It is CRAZY how much more sense some of our words in English have now - because quite a few are derived from Latin. For my wife who is fluent in Spanish there's nothing abnormal about "porcine."
Pig is puerco in Spanish.
Porco in Portuguese.
Porca in Italian - although I'm told that's not a very elegant way to say pig (lol?)
Hmm this is the only take I disagree with. I think 'foodie' was always bad, always an attempt to distinguish people - from what? people that don't like food? I don't know, I think the elitism is baked in (food terminology that's fine and useful)
Defenestrate: honestly this feels like a buncha lil bad words got together and became a mega bad word but ya know what? You saying this is a good word has me convinced. No idea what it means and no care to find out. Good word.
Gerrymander: this word sucks. Bad word bad idea also whenever I hear it I picture Jerry in my head. Jerry the name did nothing to deserve this association
bingo! - good word one of the goodest. to transcend its role within a particular game and become something so universal, so true, so needed to express the idea that is bingo? incredible. yatzhee could never
matriculate - bad word this word needs to lighten up and take psychedelics
phlegm - also a good word i mean is there any word that sounds more like what it is than phlegm? that word commits 1000% to expressing itself and sure it may not be a pleasant experience but neither is phlegm itself more words could be like phlegm if you ask me
shenanigans - good word
shenanigan - bad word. a lone shenanigan is a spooky thing indeed
movie - good word in addition to what you said which is true, it also is a cute word. ppl sleep on this fact but its true. aww look at that lil moooovie. cute and good
gestate - bad word needs a makeover needs to do something with that 'g'.
gesticulate - good word. a roller coaster ride worth the price of admission
pizzazz - good word amazing word honestly one of the best. putting aside the way is houses an entire pizza inside of it, the word pizzazz captures fully and without reservation the idea of pizzazz.
synergy - bad word. so bad it has become a joke of itself and even as that joke it still sucks. this word needs serious help
fathomless: good word! no idea what it means honestly is it like something that cannot be fathomed? how does it differ from unfathomable? frankly I don't give a shit in fact the very truth that it exists given all these questions makes it a great word
journey: bad word that I'd file in the same bucket as "radical" when used in book titles - radical honesty, radical acceptance it's like come on it's all radical! accepting yourself is as radical as it comes you dont need the word its a bad word shoo word bad
spectrum: good word because you said it was I would have thought this a neutral word but sometimes a word is as good as the person who believes in it
zealot: this is a good word. zealot is a bad thing to be but the word zealot does a great job and explaining why that's true. zealot. also its great to see the letters 'ze' doing something different for once. those two letters are cursed to forever be zebra. to see them shine like this is great
I saw ‘spectrum’ as a good word because it wide and broad. It has a quality of vastness. Likewise, it can be equally narrow in scope. It is multidimensional.
Not sure if I'm supposed to present my reasoning but I will.
Good word: Demonstrably.
I know that the etymology refers to something that is able to be demonstrated, but I like the *monstr* section because it actually sounds like "to a monstrous extent." So when I say "You are demonstrably wrong" I really mean it.
Bad word: Porcine
Too high culture a word to just mean pig. No.
demonstrably: good word made even better by your thorough explanation. to sneak the word monstr into a word like that is A+ stuff not many words could pull it off but demonstrably does and does so in a demonstrably sort of way - epic
porcine: bad word this word sucks makes me think of porcelain get real this word should go to jail
yeah, that etymology has alwyas stuck with me - I think someone pointed it out in college and I'm always excited to share that. If I remember correctly, they said that to "demonstrate" was to "Take away the monstrous qualities of something" aka reveal it, becuase monsters aren't really "monsters," you know, they're just things we don't understand (although I do think that there are some monsters in our midst, and for them I think we need a different good word)
I currently live in Panama and am actively working on improving my Spanish.
It is CRAZY how much more sense some of our words in English have now - because quite a few are derived from Latin. For my wife who is fluent in Spanish there's nothing abnormal about "porcine."
Pig is puerco in Spanish.
Porco in Portuguese.
Porca in Italian - although I'm told that's not a very elegant way to say pig (lol?)
anticipating literal fistfights in the comments
In 2012, I threw the word ‘foodie’ from the 9th floor of an Omni Hotel with an implied threat to a handful of other words.
foodie: a good word made bad by the community that's gathered around it. this is a sad and rare thing but it can happen.
using the word foodie as a threat at the Omni Hotel - good word
Hmm this is the only take I disagree with. I think 'foodie' was always bad, always an attempt to distinguish people - from what? people that don't like food? I don't know, I think the elitism is baked in (food terminology that's fine and useful)
'foodie' is a good word if you're using it to describe food. example: "hmmmm, this food tastes kinda foodie to me"
Mustard's good word: kerfuffle
Mustard's bad word: kumquat
kerfuffle: good word
kumquat: not a bad word. this word is trying its best and doing great with the hand it was dealt. kumquat is a good word
Mustard sees kumquat in a whole new artificial light now. Woah. Thank you for providing this perspective.
good word: defenestrate
bad word: gerrymander
Defenestrate: honestly this feels like a buncha lil bad words got together and became a mega bad word but ya know what? You saying this is a good word has me convinced. No idea what it means and no care to find out. Good word.
Gerrymander: this word sucks. Bad word bad idea also whenever I hear it I picture Jerry in my head. Jerry the name did nothing to deserve this association
if the world still used words like defenestrate, I feel like we'd all feel more alive. Gerrymander is the death of soul in word and deed
Defenestrate has been in circulation before and it will be in circulation again. It is up to us.
We have our
Work cut out for us
I know fenestra is window in Italian/Latin?
dewindow?
unwindow?
Throw something/someone out the window?
I defenestrated my hopes and dreams for learning Italian. - is that a good use?
Yup, you got it. Though I also like de- and unwindow.
Good word: Bingo!
Bad word: matriculate (c’mon people)
bingo! - good word one of the goodest. to transcend its role within a particular game and become something so universal, so true, so needed to express the idea that is bingo? incredible. yatzhee could never
matriculate - bad word this word needs to lighten up and take psychedelics
i back this comment
What's wrong with matriculate?
Matriculă is how we say license plate in Romanian.
I'm fairly confident I've used this word and its adjacent verb thousands of times 😅
Good: Euphoria
Bad: Phlegm
?: shenanigans
euphoria - good word
phlegm - also a good word i mean is there any word that sounds more like what it is than phlegm? that word commits 1000% to expressing itself and sure it may not be a pleasant experience but neither is phlegm itself more words could be like phlegm if you ask me
shenanigans - good word
shenanigan - bad word. a lone shenanigan is a spooky thing indeed
good word: bad
bad word: good
both are true
bad: good word where would we be without the word bad we'd have to say 'not good' to mean 'bad' and those aren't the same
good: bad word but in a way that's endearing and kind.
:)
Good word:turnip
Bad word: jocularity
turnip - good word. fantastic word the way it pulls off the whole turnip thing.
jocularity - bad word one of the worst words around this word needs a vacation
my personal tastes would switch these round. but maybe i'm blinded by my hatred of turnips and my love of jocularity
We are now mortal enemies and I will see you tomorrow morning for our turnip duel.
turnips at dawn!
make sure you both turnup
Good word: gravy (as the sauce and as in in London slang 'that's gravy that is')
Bad word: grave
gravy - good word. gravy train etc.
grave - good word. our final resting place and also how you describe someone who is being very serious. death stuff is good stuff
Megillah— for Purim but also its guttural. A word you can choke on. Like dry Hamantaschen.
megillah - good word - it knows what it is and goes hard. good word
Hamantaschen isn't so bad! In fact we named our weiner dog, "Zipporah Karnatzlach Hamantaschen". Megillah Gorilla??
Zip for short?
Close! We called her Zippy! This was all over Sixty years ago!
Awww.
Good word: movie (it's makes me almost giddy with its absurdity: a picture that moves is a movie
Bad word: gestate (too ugly)
movie - good word in addition to what you said which is true, it also is a cute word. ppl sleep on this fact but its true. aww look at that lil moooovie. cute and good
gestate - bad word needs a makeover needs to do something with that 'g'.
gesticulate - good word. a roller coaster ride worth the price of admission
Good word: Pizzazz
Bad word: Synergy
pizzazz - good word amazing word honestly one of the best. putting aside the way is houses an entire pizza inside of it, the word pizzazz captures fully and without reservation the idea of pizzazz.
synergy - bad word. so bad it has become a joke of itself and even as that joke it still sucks. this word needs serious help
Ditto
Good word: Fathomless
Bad word: Journey {as in "my wellness journey/my parenthood journey/my writing journey" -- shut up, I'm sick of it, pick a different word!!!!!!!!!!!}
fathomless: good word! no idea what it means honestly is it like something that cannot be fathomed? how does it differ from unfathomable? frankly I don't give a shit in fact the very truth that it exists given all these questions makes it a great word
journey: bad word that I'd file in the same bucket as "radical" when used in book titles - radical honesty, radical acceptance it's like come on it's all radical! accepting yourself is as radical as it comes you dont need the word its a bad word shoo word bad
the only "radical" I accept is a kind of "guy on a skateboard outside a pizza hut in 1992 saying it to his friend" way
fathomless IS good
lol
Good word: Spectrum
Bad word: Zealot
spectrum: good word because you said it was I would have thought this a neutral word but sometimes a word is as good as the person who believes in it
zealot: this is a good word. zealot is a bad thing to be but the word zealot does a great job and explaining why that's true. zealot. also its great to see the letters 'ze' doing something different for once. those two letters are cursed to forever be zebra. to see them shine like this is great
I saw ‘spectrum’ as a good word because it wide and broad. It has a quality of vastness. Likewise, it can be equally narrow in scope. It is multidimensional.
Good: Frazzle
Bad: gubernatorial
frazzle: good word
gubernatorial: bad word that gutteral 'goob' at the beginning should be reserved for Rated R movies