Word Play

I've been feeling rather quiet the past little while. Not a whole lot to say as I drift through these lazy days of summer, and I'm trying to listen to my own rhythms. But despite my lack of things to say, I have noticed that since I started blogging I have developed quite an interest in words.

I was walking up the mountain the other day when out of nowhere, I had an intense craving for cupcakes. A cupcake. A white one with white icing, and maybe a little flower on top of it. Rarely do I give in to these cravings because if I made them myself, I would not just have one, but one dozen, and all I really want is one. We need a good cupcake store in this town.
Anyway, as I was thinking of this little cupcake that I so desired, a thought occurred to me....why are the words *icing* and *frosting* used to describe something you top a cake with, when they are related to snow and ice? Unless it is a frozen cake, it is neither icy nor frosty.

The word *understand* is another one that puzzles me. If you stand under something, can you get a better sense of it? Is that why we say we understand something? Personally, I think if I stood under something, I wouldn't see very much. I might get a slightly different perspective, but still...the bottoms of things are not all that revealing.

I have many favourite words. I'm not attached to their meaning, so much as the sounds of the words themselves. For instance, I love the word *helicopter*. I have no real interest in helicopters...it's just a cute word, and it's fun to say. Helicopter.
And *orange crush*. Just say it out loud to yourself right now. Isn't it great? It makes me thirsty... not for Orange Crush, but for something more satisfying and thirst quenching. Speaking of that, I always used to say "I need to thirst my quench" by accident when I was little..the words sounded better in that order to me. I still have to stop and think before I say that phrase to make sure I put it in the right order.

I don't speak any other languages fluently (yet), but I have discovered some wonderful sounding words. Julie once wrote a post on language, and she mentioned some interesting danish words. One of them made me laugh....the danish word for marshmallows is *skumfiduser* I LOVE that word!! I wish I could use it functionally in a sentence...I will have to find a way.
My friend's grandfather used to call her his *kukla mou*. It's greek for little doll. So sweet.
And I have fallen in love with a new french word. * Coquelicot* (pronounced as koklieco) is french for poppy. A beautiful word for such a beautiful flower...I have lovingly embraced it for many secret reasons.

There are so many wondrous words. I might have to post about this more often as new words come to me. All of you positively *pulchritudinous* poets and writers who visit me...do you have any favourite words or phrases?
My thesaurus doesn't seem to uncover many of the most beautiful gems. Maybe it's because often, words sound best when they are carefully strung together to form their own unique melody..their own music. A daisy chain of beautiful sounds that gently roll off the tongue and linger in our hearts.

What's another word for thesaurus?
~Steven Wright