Sobriquet

I came across a lovely word.
Mellifluous. French?

Sobriquet

It means a fanciful name or nickname. It can be spelled sobriquet or soubriquet. It is from French, so be sure to say, so-bri-kay!

So my sobriquet is Philolog!

more soothing sounds:
somni FA cient--hypnotic!
somniferous--soporific
soporific--tending to cause sleep or dull awareness, also hypnotic according to Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary.
somnolent--drowsy or sleepy, but no mention of hypnosis.

You can also say soporiferous instead of soporific! They are synonyms. However, soporiferous sounds more soothing to me.

May you be spared Mayhem

Those commercials are so funny that feature a man in a suit who claims to be Mayhem.

Mayhem -- violent accident; needless or willful damage; crippling mutilation, or disfigurement of any body part.

It is a mellifluous word for a disaster.

It comes from Old French.

Soothing Smoothness

I always want to put an "e" on the end of smooth.

I guess that is because of the word "soothe." They are both soft-sounding words and good to use when helping a client to relax or reduce pain.

Smooth --adj. meaning: not rough, easy, calm or suave. Verb meaning: to mollify, soften or make free from obstructions. It comes from Old English.

Sooth -- they say it's an archaic word, but I've heard "sooth sayer" many times....it means truth. From OE. But curiously, the dictionary also lists "soothsayer" as one who foretells the future.

Soothe -- v. meaning to comfort or alleviate; from Old English.

Soothe and smooth are synonyms.

Are desires bad?

Desire. It has an interesting, appealing sound. Why do I hesitate to use the word? Must be those 12 years of Catholic School!

The word "Desire" comes from French. That figures.

Synonyms: covet, crave, wish and want

Okay, "covet" is worse, from the Catholic School perspective...

Crave is like a need.

Wish is like a dream. One of those things you never truly expect to happen.

Want is an overused word. Everybody wants something. And yet no one knows what they want.

Melliflous Words

I admit it. I was wrong.

Yes, even the philolog is fallible.

I was wrong about the origin of the word "luscious." Luscious did not come to us from Latin by way of French. My dictionary says that it comes from Old English, from the word "delicious." I was disappointed by this etymology, until I figured it out. Just try to say delicious with your mouth full of a peanut butter sandwich!

Luscious

Another melliflous word that I'd like to add to the previous article is...

Luscious.

I would have to guess it is from Latin, maybe by way of French.

Spendid!

Cherish is a lovely word, all cherry blossoms and adoration. Just so sweet (like cherries). It starts with a harsh sound, CH, and ends with a whisper, Shhh! The vowel sounds are short and neutral. Like exquisite. I savor that word! It sounds like a caress (another sweet word). I like the soft mellifluous sounds of some words. But another word I like is Splendid. And that has mostly strong harsh sounds and an abrupt ending. Abrupt is rather abrupt-sounding, too. So what is it about Spendid?! It's related to Splendor, which is a bit softer.

I'll update the etymologies later.