Do you have favorite words in English? I do. Here are a few.
Robust. The word robust makes everything better - and more descriptive. Just this morning as I was revising my thesis, I changed out "good representative sample" for "robust representative sample." See?
Disingenuous. This basically means "insincere," but with more...panache. It makes you sound more intelligent when you criticize someone for trying to sound more intelligent.
Penultimate. How can all that meaning - "last but one in a series of things" - be wrapped up in one word? Another favorite is Roy Blount Jr.'s made-up portmanteau of antepenultimatum: "It's when, for instance, you're absorbed in something outdoors, and you hear your mother calling, 'For the last time, come in for supper,' and you know from the tone of her voice that you really will absolutely have to come in, not this time, and not the next time she calls you, but the time after that."
Accoutrements. It means "stuff."
Robust. The word robust makes everything better - and more descriptive. Just this morning as I was revising my thesis, I changed out "good representative sample" for "robust representative sample." See?
Disingenuous. This basically means "insincere," but with more...panache. It makes you sound more intelligent when you criticize someone for trying to sound more intelligent.
Penultimate. How can all that meaning - "last but one in a series of things" - be wrapped up in one word? Another favorite is Roy Blount Jr.'s made-up portmanteau of antepenultimatum: "It's when, for instance, you're absorbed in something outdoors, and you hear your mother calling, 'For the last time, come in for supper,' and you know from the tone of her voice that you really will absolutely have to come in, not this time, and not the next time she calls you, but the time after that."
Accoutrements. It means "stuff."