Twelve days until Christmas break. Word up!

Could anyone guess this teacher is ready for a little holiday R & R? As hinted at in a previous post, it’s time to reveal my Top 12 List of Words That Color My World. You surely have your own list of luminous words. While my actual list is miles longer, this list of 12 accurately represents a smattering of my favorites. Introducing my words worth repeating…

To learn the definition or hear the pronunciation, click on the word. 🙂

12. melancholy 

I missed this word on a literature test in college. My brain froze. I’ll never forget it again. Check out the John Keats poem entitled, Ode to Melancholy, to see what I was studying.

11. smidgen

This is my favorite dieting philosophy; I’ll have a smidgen of this and a smidgen of that.

10. serendipity

Serendipity was instrumental in my landing the copywriting job at People. Plus, Serendipity is a NYC must-visit ice cream sensation that serves the world’s best frozen hot chocolate.

Reservations are required…so don’t rely on serendipity to get you in the door.

9. pugnacious

Throughout our teen years, this word defined my relationship with my younger brother, Bob. Thank goodness, we love each other nowadays.

8. magnanimous

A generous, giving spirit is at the heart of a magnanimous person. I’ve been blessed to know so many magnanimous, uplifting people in my life.

7. flummoxed

Perplexed? Befuddled? Confused? Well then, consider yourself flummoxed. The fox was flummoxed when his feathered friend flew the coop. (A little alliteration goes a long way!)

6. stellar

In true star fashion, my students are diligently writing and revising their stellar Slice of Life stories.

5. birthday

Who doesn’t want to hear the word birthday, especially when there’s cake, ice cream, presents, and a stellar celebration involved?

My birthday is October 5th, which, according to ABC News, is the most popular birthday in America.

4. humility

Being humble changes the world. If everyone worked to notice the extraordinary in someone else instead of tooting their own overblown horn, lives would change. Seriously, humility is an incredibly honorable trait.

3. cacophony

On Christmas morning in the Rombach house, there is a cacophony of celebration as presents are ripped open and wrapping paper streamers free fall in the family room.

2. onomatopoeia

BAM! THWACK! What would the world be without onomatopoeia, a word that’s as hard to spell as it is to pronounce? One thing’s for sure. Without onomatopoeia, Batman would be POWerless!

1. splendiferous

This has been my premier word for two decades. I tried repeatedly, and without success, to include this silk-on-your-tongue word in multiple writing projects while I worked at People Magazine. My boss thought it was too wordy.  I told all of my children about my splendiferous word and its infamous demise. My son, Bryan, inserted it in one of his fifth grade writing assignments, and his teacher questioned whether it was actually a word. Not only is it a word, but according to me–and now Fancy Nancy–it’s one of the best words in the English language. If you ask me, it is the peak of perfection. What do I think of sixth graders who strive to expand their vocabulary? Splendiferous, of course!