Fun With Words: Mellifluously and fellifluously speaking

What do you do for fun? In the summer, any number of outdoor activities are available--water sports, such as peeing in the pool or lake, for example. In the winter, avoiding the yellow snow when snow shoeing or cross country skiing keeps you alert in the zesty air. Some people, however, may prefer more sedentary activities. I, for one, enjoying saying words aloud just for the sweet feeling of the word rolling around my on tongue and hearing the pleasing tones. On June 16, 2013, I posted a blog, "Thingamabob (Cha-Cha-Cha)” about such sport. While “thingamabob” remains my favorite word to say, I mention in passing a few other words. One of them, “mellifluous,” is probably my second favorite word to say. I have even dreamt about the word.

“Mellifluous” begins with a satisfying nasal sound, “m-m-m-m,” the sound many people make to express pleasure or enjoyment, particularly regarding food. Bologna sandwiches for lunch? M-m-m! What’s that I smell cooking for supper? Mashed potato jambalaya! M-m-m! Next, the sound moves to the short “e” in the middle of the mouth, then the tongue presses behind the teeth for the fluid “l” sound, then the sound goes back to the middle of the mouth for the short “i” sound. Then the teeth rest on the bottom lip for a nice fricative (providing a rest in the gliding sounds).

Then the tongue slips up for another fluid “l,” which shifts to a long “u” sound, another sound used to express satisfaction or enjoyment (ooh-ooh, we’re going swimming!), before shifting to the back of the mouth for the short “u” and ending at the front of the mouth with a sibilant “s.” The word rolls for the first part of pronunciation, then takes a pause at the “f” before gliding to an indefinite ending. “Mellifluous” does not rocket or bounce around the mouth like “thingamabob” does. It wades through the space in your oral cavity, at a slow pace, as if wading through warm water.

Now that the fun of saying the word is done, what does the word mean? Actually, the meaning closely follows the fun of speaking it. According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (AHDEL), “mellifluous” means “Having a pleasant and fluid sound.” It is almost onomatopoeia. The word comes from two Latin words, “mell-“ which means “honey” and “fluous” which means flowing—flowing honey. Sweet.

I have long enjoyed the word “mellifluous.” It is a soothing word, so imagine my surprise when I received the word “fellifluous” as the “OED Online Word of the Day” recently. While “mellifluous” is in my AHDEL, “fellifluous” is not. When I looked for “fellifluous” in the Merrian-Webster Dictionary associated with my spellcheck, I got the message, “The word you’ve entered isn’t in the dictionary.” Sadly, my set of the Oxford English Dictionary is on the shelves (yes, plural) in Folly Beach. However, the Oxford English Dictionary on-line entry defines the word as “flowing with bile; (figurative) bitter, rancorous.” The OED on-line entry does mark the word as “now rare,” although it supplies a literary reference from 2007, which involves “a tipsy fellifluous Irishman.”

I did know that “fell” means “of an inhumanly cruel nature; fierce” or “capable of destroying; lethal.” “Fellifluous” begins with the fricative “f,” starting with friction. Even though the rest of the word has the honey-sweet sounds of “mellifluous,” “fellifluous” when you are saying it never recovers from its derisive start—fie! phooey! and other “f-words” that I will not list in this family-friendly blog.

Today has been a rainy day. Now that I have finished writing this blog, I think I will indulge in a round of saying fun words. Diaphonous!

Thingamabob (Cha-Cha-Cha)

Most of the time when we think about words, we think of a collection of vowels and consonants that combine to represent an object, an idea, or such—a small unit of communication.  We can play with words by punning—I once named a rescue cat “Clawdio” (see Note 2).  We can switch words around to create clever sayings—“truth is beauty, beauty truth,” as in “Ode on a Grecian Urn.”  We can reverse expectations—no good deed goes unpunished.

What is your favorite word and why is it your favorite?  Do you like its meaning, as in “vacation”?  Do you like the way it sounds, perhaps its alliterative quality, as in the word “essence”?  Do you like the way it looks, such as an anagram?  How many of you like a word because of the way it feels to say it, the way it rolls, bounces, or slides in the mouth, its sensual quality?

My favorite word to say is “thingamabob” because it uses all parts of the mouth, has a veritable dance party in the mouth, and because it is a silly, informal, all-purpose word.  When said aloud, “thingamabob” resonates.  It starts in the front of the mouth with the tongue against the teeth, creating the “th” sound.  Then, it travels back to the middle for the long “e” sound and immediately scoots up the nose for the twanging “n” before it slams against the back of the mouth for the guttural hard “g.”  It takes a pause in the middle with the “uh” (schwa) sound and then sneaks up to the lips and nose for the tingling, tickling “m” sound—a kazoo without the actual instrument.  Next, it slides back to the middle for another “uh” sound before bouncing to the lips for a plosive “b,” rocketing to the middle for the final “uh,” and ending with a resounding plosive “b.”  (In the “bob” part, the word does the Cha-Cha in your mouth!)

Recently, in conversation on this topic, someone asked about the word “thingamajig.”  “Thingamajig” differs basically only in the final sound, the hard “g.”  The “jig” starts as does “bob” in the front of the mouth with the tongue behind the teeth instead of with the bouncing “b” of “bob.”  The short “i” slides to the middle, as does the “uh” of bob.”  However, “jig” ends in the back of the mouth with the guttural hard “g” swallowed instead of bounced out as the final “b” in “bob.”  After some time spent repeating the two words, I personally prefer “thingamabob,” as I like to end with the exploding “b.”  (An influence, perhaps, of Monty Python?)

While my intent here is primarily the fun of saying the word, I cannot end without discussing meaning.  “Thingamabob” started its life as “thingum,” an informal, or colloquial, variation of “thing,” with the “um” a meaningless suffix.  Soon thereafter, the “bob” joined the word, yet another meaningless hanger-on.  The OED lists its first usage in 1680.  “Thingamajig” joined the linguistic nonsense around 1751.

I used to dream about words, such as “mellifluous,” “diaphanous,” and “avuncular.”  While these words are fun to say, especially “mellifluous,” “thingamabob” remains my favorite word to speak aloud.

NOTE 1:  In researching “thingamabob” and “thingamajig,” I took a look at the word “thing.”  The entry in the OED is quite long, including some amusing variations on the word, such as “thingness.”  Soon, I will devote a blog entry to the word “thing.”

NOTE 2: Many years ago, I adopted an older cat from the Humane Society.  As most people prefer to adopt kittens, I figured I had saved the cat from death row.  I named him “Clawdio” after Claudio in Measure for Measure, who is also on death row.  I tried my best to teach Clawdio to mew Shakespearean speeches.  Ultimately, I abandoned my efforts, realizing that I could not teach an old cat mew tricks.