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Satiate

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valentina

Entry posted by valentina ·

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I think "satiate" is a great word to say out loud repeatedly. It's difficult to say it out loud a number of times without putting a bit of an inflection into it, but that's part of the fun. Let's head off to the dictionary:

 

Pronunciation: [v]'seyshee`eyt, 'seyshi`eyt

 

Etymology: satiate (v.) c.1440 (implied in pp. adj. satiate), from L. satiatus, pp. of satiare "fill full, satisfy," from satis "enough," from PIE base *sa- "to satisfy"

 

Satiate is the root of "insatiable" and while I also love that word, it takes on a harder edge when said out loud. However, if Beth ever made a LE called "Insatiable," it would rank right up there (at least in my own private universe) with Smut and Monster in the Panties. I would buy it even it had jasmine and gardenia and rose and leather and everything that amps up and doesn't smell good on me. I'd decant it into imps and keep the bottle.

 

My tendency to talk about words that I like to say out loud, repeatedly, comes from a character in a short story called "The Smoker" by David Schickler. That story ran in the new fiction edition of The New Yorker in 2000, and as legend has it, Schickler had a book deal by noon on the day the story was published. You can find the story as a chapter in his book "Kissing in Manhattan," but I prefer to read the story as it stands on its own. It's a funny, mysterious little fantasy about a young man who's an English teacher at an all-girls private school in Manhattan and his most extraordinary student. The student, whose name is Nicole, likes to point out that certain words are nice to say out loud, repeatedly. I think "rinse" is one of them. "Trauma" is another.

 

But I like satiate the best.

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inkdarkmoon

I myself have always been partial to "dubious", or "nefarious", or "perfidious".

 

hmmm...that just speaks VOLUMES about me, doesn't it??

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darkitysnark

I like the Poe-ish words: tintinnabulation, susurrate, mumur... all that onomatopoeia stuff. As much as I dislike hearing people read their writing (a hang up developed in Creative Writing camp back in the day) I absolutely love to hear words rolling around in certain select mouths.

 

(I also like shorter, non-Scrabble triple-word-score use up all your tiles words like "yoink", "smack" (as an action and a noun), and "thunk" (also as sound or the bad grammar third-person past tense for "think" as in "whoda thunk it?".)

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valentina

I like the Poe-ish words: tintinnabulation, susurrate, mumur... all that onomatopoeia stuff. As much as I dislike hearing people read their writing (a hang up developed in Creative Writing camp back in the day) I absolutely love to hear words rolling around in certain select mouths.

 

 

I think if it's a word you enjoy, it's going to sound good when you say it, because you relish it. indarkmoon probably makes "nefarious" and all the other "-ious" words sound deliciously diabolical.

 

And because I love a good juxtaposition, I picture darkity saying: "You know, I love all that onomatopoeia stuff, and whoda ever thunk it?"

 

I too dislike listening to other people read their own writing. It reminds me of a Matt Groening "Life In Hell" cartoon, where Akbar and Jeff were advertising their coffee house. The open mic poetry night was billed as an "atonal hootenanny." :ack:

 

I believe hootenanny is a good example of onomatopoeia?

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darkitysnark

I too dislike listening to other people read their own writing. It reminds me of a Matt Groening "Life In Hell" cartoon, where Akbar and Jeff were advertising their coffee house. The open mic poetry night was billed as an "atonal hootenanny." ;)

 

I believe hootenanny is a good example of onomatopoeia?

 

:ack:

 

Since Matt Groening isn't on the boards you get a gold star for Best Band Name for the week.

 

Hootenanny is right up there with kerfluffle (you can almost hear the ruffling of upset feathers and chicken squawking) for evocative-yet-down homey nomenclature.

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filigree_shadow

I like the words rabble-rouser and lollygag when spoken. Wonder what that says about me. :ack:

 

But I don't like dwarf. It's fine in print, but I can't say that combination of letters. It comes out like I'm either faking an English accent ("dwouf") or like I'm an imbecile ("drarf"). And I have to say the word all the damn time due to my immense love for the Red Dwarf series. Blast!

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