[Roger Slater]

I've noticed that the majority of words people have chosen cannot be easily rhymed. And no one has gone with a one-syllable word. Make of that what you will.

[Duncan Gillies MacLaurin]

Originally Posted by Roger Slater

And no one has gone with a one-syllable word.

I chose several.

Duncan

[Douglas G. Brown]

Uniformitarianism
Diatomaceous
Platypus

[John Isbell]

Many of our lexical choices are indeed both erudite and recondite. I could expatiate further, as I am wont, but I digress. The nub - the crux - of my argument is an old one: brief words have weight.

[Shaun J. Russell]

Originally Posted by John Isbell

Many of our lexical choices are indeed both erudite and recondite. I could expatiate further, as I am wont, but I digress. The nub - the crux - of my argument is an old one: brief words have weight.

He's not a formalist, but Larry Levis' "Elegy With an Angel at its Gate" leans heavily on the importance of "its" -- in the title, to be sure, but also throughout. Such an insignificant word, yet so weighty in that long poem.

There are many other examples, of course, but that one springs to mind.

[Jan D. Hodge]

Velleity

my favorite didactylic: minimifidian

my favorite diamphibrachic: uxoriophilic ["being in love with being in love with one's wife," a rather apt description of Petruchio?]

[Jayne Osborn]

Skanky - it's not a pleasant way to describe someone or something, but I love it all the same, and use it a lot!

Magical

Dodecahedron

Jayne

[Aaron Poochigian]

Skanky! That's great, Jayne. I also love the noun "skank": she's a skank!

Do you know "skink" as well? Here's a link to a skink: https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...Ls1oW4CA#spf=1

I could provide a link to a skank as well, if you wish.

A kink for skanks? No thanks!

[William Thompson]

chthonic
Theotokos
steatopygia
okra
siguiryas

[Shaun J. Russell]

Originally Posted by Jayne Osborn

Skanky - it's not a pleasant way to describe someone or something, but I love it all the same, and use it a lot!

Originally Posted by Aaron Poochigian

Skanky! That's great, Jayne. I also love the noun "skank": she's a skank!

Ahh! Good one, Jayne...and it reminds me of it's "Sk" counterpart, "Sketchy," which I also love (and use far more often than I should).

And as per John's post, I was thinking of another short word that I adore -- "peep." It comes up in Shakespeare all the time, and I love it -- peeping out between Caesar's legs, for instance. It's so innocuous, and a strangely "cute" word, yet Shakespeare in particular often uses it in highly charged contexts.