Nice words 1

Here are some words that are nice:

  • Scum - This is a great word because saying it aloud already brings up some bile. It's visceral, like glob or whine, but with the added bonus of describing both filth-muck-gunk and a person. Scumbag, however, is not as good. "You're a scumbag." No. Not as good as "you are scum" or even "you scum."

  • Lostral - This is a word I made up. It's a class of person in my fantasy world. Actually, it's a slang term for a class of person. I like this word because it connects the sounds "lost" and "troll" together, which imbue it with negativity and connote marginalization. It's a simple enough word, too, and easy to say. It also makes me think of Robert Jordan's trollocs. 

  • Petrichor- Probably my favorite word, not only for the sounds, but for the meaning. The smell of fresh rain on dry earth. There's a car in our neighborhood with a version of this as a vanity plate. I'm jealous. It also sounds like a nearly perfect band name. I'd probably call my act The Petrichor if I were musical. 

  • Riven - I also love the word "mist." Though I never played them, the cover art of the PC games Myst and Riven from the early 90s must have burrowed itself deep in my mind. At one point I was writing a story with a place called Clockriven. Currently, the main city of the fantasy series I'm working on is called Saltriven. It's both a verb and adjective that sound grand and ancient. The first three letters, "riv," work so well together. And the concept of things being split or broken in two is such a fundamental one captured much more succinctly and punchily than the word divided or division. 

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