On World Poetry Day I thought it would be a nice touch to write about the most beautiful words in the English language. We have all seen the lists, they range from one to some infinite number, as, it seems, everyone has a favorite word. Poetry is not always made up of beautiful words, sometimes it is harsh and cruel, truthful to the extreme, but beauty can be found even in the acerbic.
One of my favorite words is ‘chimes’, the noun or the verb, doesn’t matter which. The sound of it always makes me tilt my head and hope to hear its tintinnabulation. Ah, I’m am doing it now. I haven’t used the word chimes much in my writing. I think I might be keeping it secret, a hidden trigger to pull out when needed. Strange, you may think, to so love a word.
In researching the most beautiful words in the English language, I was surprised to find a list of the most annoying words in the English language. In looking through them, I found that most were just overused or being currently used in a way different from the past. The word ‘people’ for example. Its meaning is human beings in general or considered collectively. Nowadays, I hear someone, sometimes at the top of their voice and clapping their hands, yelling, “People, People, PEOPLE.” Yes, annoying.
Some others that were considered annoying words: epic, minion, irregardless, literally, bae and the #1 most annoying word according to many is the word: whatever.
So, I sit at my keyboard and wonder. Should we not use these annoying words, leave them, shun them? No, all words are useful, so I will use them. On World Poetry Day, I will give them a chance, use them in one of our most sublime writing genres…poetry.
I am a minion of words
Oblivious to the world as I write,
I forge ahead in my epic task.
People literally shake their heads
Irregardless of my indifference.
I can only say, “Whatever, bae.”
On this day, World Poetry Day, declared such by UNESCO 1999 to further the reading and writing, and teaching about poetry, take the time to read or write or share a poem. Poetry, in all its forms is a transcendent and wonderful experience, and the sheer volume of superb poems would make it difficult to choose a favorite, a most beautiful. I can tell you though, where to find one of the most annoying…right here in this blog post.
Andi Marchal ~ Author 