Probably not everybody suffers from Specific Word Phobia (SWP) (if anybody can come up with a pseudoclinical name for this, please do), but I’m guessing I’m not the only one, so I’m starting a new list.
What I’m looking for are words that horrify–not because of what they mean (rape, Akin, etc.) but just because of the way they look, lolling or crouching there on the page, the way they sound, insinuating in the ear. The ugly, icky word is physically repulsive. One is literally taken aback. One blinks, scowls; one’s mouth waters in an unpleasant way. One simply hates the word. One does not know why, nor does one care.
I’d be stunned if any universal truths emerge from this project. I have no purpose here beyond curiosity. I can’t be the only one with SWP. Or am I?
I’ll go first. Remember, the meaning of the word can be innocuous. Appearance is all. And just to clarify: These are words you hate to use and when forced to, you find the experience unpleasant. You probably grimace.
besom
From Laura Preble:
veiny
From the Magic Hermit:
velour
punctilious
ocular
moor
From Lynn Heilman:
smarmy
From Lisa Roche:
pus
From John Kornhauser:
louche
From Billy Frolick:
moist
beverage
From Karen Worley:
sanguine
scrotum
From Kathy Kulpa:
cremains*
smegma
From Anne Baker:
necropsy
From Elizabeth Carrera:
obese
*I share “cremains.” It’s like “clamato.” Using it, one feels degraded.
14 Comments
The word I wish to submit is VEINY. I would have just written it here, all by itself, but the posting engine God said my comment was too short, so I am adding innocuous commentary to go with my word, VEINY.
Velour
Punctilious
Ocular
Moor
I nominate “smarmy” for sound and appearance
One of mine……Pus
MOUND(S)
BOUNTY
All forms of the word whinny are bothersome. I just read “whinnied” in a book, and felt a little sick.
“Sebum.” It’s just plain awful.
Ewwww! You’re right. Also, and rather unusually, it’s both a gross thing and a gross word. Excellent, Garrett.
I do what I can.
I’ve always been squeamish about the word FECUND.
I’m always surprised at the number of people who hate MOIST.
You’re right– FECUND is hideous. MOIST somehow looks like what it means…
Language Log has several posts on this lately. It’s called WORD AVERSION.
Saw this in Slate (late to the party). It’s so hard to keep people on-point with respect to these lists. Word-aversion discussions always veer off into examples of words people hate because of what they mean, or because they’re ungrammatical or politically objectionable & etc., rather than of words to which people have an irrational, visceral aversion simply because of how they sound and look on the page.
Also, I noted that one of the Slate commenters claims that words with “oo” sounds in them are apt to cause word aversion. I think this is dead wrong. People love “oo” sounds. OOOO is probably the most pleasing of all vowel sounds, in fact, as evidenced by the behavior of baseball (and other) crowds, who love to shout words like Boomer and Lou. So there’s that.
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