Word Nerd

I confess: I’m a word nerd. I found it fascinating that when I asked you in the last post to describe yourself in one word, the following were typical of the non-joke responses:

Complicated
Curious
Eccentric
Flexible
Misunderstood
Determined
Inscrutable
Fabulous
Eclectic
Oblivious
Moist
Provocateur
Skeptical
Awesome
Enigmatic
Clever

Then I did a Google search on positive personality adjectives, to see how they line up with your choices. Surprisingly, there is a poor correlation with your descriptions of yourselves and an extensive list of positive personality adjectives. For example, skeptical, clever, eclectic, fabulous, and flexible aren’t even on the list, let alone moist.

(As a side note, if you read the list of positive personality adjectives quickly, it actually makes you feel slightly upbeat. It’s a subtle form of hypnosis.)

Try it…

adaptable
adorable
agreeable
alert
alluring
ambitious
amused
boundless
brave
bright
calm
capable
charming
cheerful
coherent
comfortable
confident
cooperative
courageous
credible
cultured
dashing
dazzling
debonair
decisive
decorous
delightful
detailed
determined
diligent
discreet
dynamic
eager
efficient
elated
eminent
enchanting
encouraging
endurable
energetic
entertaining
enthusiastic
excellent
excited
exclusive
exuberant
fabulous
fair
faithful
fantastic
fearless
fine
frank
friendly
funny
generous
gentle
glorious
good
happy
harmonious
helpful
hilarious
honorable
impartial
industrious
instinctive
jolly
joyous
kind
kind-hearted
knowledgeable
level
likeable
lively
lovely
loving
lucky
mature
modern
nice
obedient
painstaking
peaceful
perfect
placid
plausible
pleasant
pleasant
plucky
productive
protective
proud
punctual
quiet
receptive
reflective
relieved
resolute
responsible
rhetorical
righteous
romantic
sedate
seemly
selective
self-assured
sensitive
shrewd
silly
sincere
skilful
smiling
splendid
steadfast
stimulating
successful
succinct
talented
thoughtful
thrifty
tough
trustworthy
unbiased
unusual
upbeat
vigorous
vivacious
warm
willing
wise
witty
wonderful
zany
zealous

Feels good, doesn’t it?

Here is my source: http://www.examples-help.org.uk/parts-of-speech/personality-adjectives.htm

I find this fascinating, which is also an adjective that is not on the list, and describes some of my favorite people.

Comments

[StuartH]

Yes that's a smiley list, it describes me to a T, and of course the list of negative adjectives in the same source describes my cow-orkers. They get one or two each.

Harking back to last week's topic (and now that I look, the first comment on this one) - can we now refine the oft-stated conclusion that listening to Death Metal music makes you suicidal, or murderous, or whatever it is that the words are about, but_only_if_you_can_hear_what_they_are?

[Melanie]

Scott?

You wrote that words like "fabulous" did not even make the list.

Incorrect.

I find it FASCINATING that after reading the list your posted, it clearly *is* listed in your list.

And I think that's FABULOUS :-)

[Kate]

It took me a while to come up with my word, but I figure I'll throw my belated two-cents-worth in at this point. In one word, I am: overachiever.

[paul monroe]

Comparing your list with the twelve points (virtues) of the Boy Scout law, your list omits loyal, courteous, clean and reverent. Are these obsolete? Politically incorrect? Not British?

[friskybeaver]

How is moist not a joke?

[Bryan]

As I scanned the list and saw "pleasant" in there twice, my brain switched out one of them and replaced it with "pheasant" and I had to stop and wonder what type of person would be described as such.

[steph]

I've never been able to describe myself easily. One word doesn't seem enough because I feel that who I am is somewhat transient. At times I'm incredibly simple, but other times mind bogglingly complex. I'd just end up with a list of oxymorons.

Maybe I could actually use that as my one word, I am an onxymoron?

[Jonathan]

"This reminds me of something I read in the book "A touch of wonder" by Arthur Gordon. He talks about an English professor he met as a boy while fishing, who tried to show him the magic of words; about how each word actually *felt* like what it was supposed to convey or describe. If you actually pause and try it, "annoy" does have an annoying sound to it, and "wonder" does induce a sense of wonder. You can actually try this with most words, as long as you actually try saying it aloud slowly.

If we think a little though, language is just a form of expressing ourselves - that's why we would've started speaking in the first place. And it is unlikely that words were born of sounds that depicted/evoked a certain emotion?"

I'm kinda skeptical of this but I suppose there's an easy way to test. Find someone who doesn't speak English (and therefore, doesn't know what those words mean) and ask them what they think of it based on sound alone.

[Cyrus]

Mmmm...that does feel good.

Cyrus
http://explosive-cash-flow.com

[Real Live Girl]

Thanks Word Nerd. I feel better about myself and friends already -- even if a few words that describe us didn't make the list of positive personality adjectives. (Seriously? "Sexy" didn't make the cut? I was so positive that we were!)

[Larry]

How about "fertile", "fertilized", "fruitful", "formidable", "fortunate", "formal" ?

[Dayin]

Haven't seen the cue for posts waiting to be approved, somebody's probably already mentioned this, but Fabulous is in both lists. It's an easy oversight, but just wanted to point that out.

[jerry w.]

Actually, when I read the list you included of positive personality adjectives,

more than upbeat, it made me think of one who is at least slightly gay.

i.e.: alluring, cultured, dashing, dazzling, debonair, decorous, delightful, detailed, discreet, eager, efficient, elated, enchanting, etc. etc. etc.......

And as always, the standard disclaimer: "not that there's any thing wrong with that".

http://boskolives.wordpress.com/

[Adrian Rodriguez]

hey man, why you did you refuse to post my last one? cause I said you were scottish? c'mon it's just a demonym

man I'm disappointed

smell ya later

[Charley]

__________________________________________

On first meeting N., I found him to be rhetorical, righteous, and zealous; in short, barely endurable.

[rita mae]

Is "PIZZLE" a feel good word? Just wondering.

Rita Mae

[Peter Whelan]

Thanks for this list Scott and creating your blog and your entire body of work. I've read it all and continue to do so. God's Debris is my favorite.

Pleasant appears on the list twice. Too bad it wasn't the word "perfect" and I cld hve said ironically it apprs on th lst twc.

I'm currently working on a blog entry entitled
"How Scott Adam's Dilbert Helped Me Develop a Social Life"
Inspired by the Liz character and the fact that you are now married.

Coincidentally I have been looking for a list of positive emotions, beyond the "Ren and Stimpy" happy, happy, joy joy. Here is what I found so far. I got the idea from listening to a Tony Robbin's tape where he talked about how important "Transformational Vocabulary" is but then didn't provide a comprehensive list.

When is the last time you used "merry" or "tenacious" in a sentence?

abundant
adored
assertive
attentive
blissful
bravely
calm
cheerful
cherished
compassionate
delighted
ecstatic
elegant
enthusiastically
excellent
forceful
friendly
glad
glowing
good-natured
graceful
grateful
happy
harmonious
helpful
heroic
hopeful
joyfully
jubilant
kind
lighthearted
loved
loyal
lucky
marvelous
merciful
merry
optimistic
organized
passionate
patient
persevere
pleased
popular
positive
precious
respect
revitalized
sensational
splendid
strong
successful
tactful
tenacious
thankful
thoughtful
thrilled
tickled
triumphant
wise
wonderful

[HALiverpool]

I just want to know where my comment went.

-HAL

[John-Boy]

Odd. I can't imagine "endurable" being positive. If someone is "endurable" to me, that means, well, exactly what endurable means: I can handle being around them but I'd much rather not. The word sounds so much like torture or a long-winded political speech. It can be endured but you're none the better for it.

Now, "enduring" is much more upbeat....

No list is ever complete.

[BobUK]

Hmm... that looks like a small subset of the adjectives used to describe members of the DNRC.

Also, I wonder if there is a gender correlation with the word "moist".

[Michele]

I'll try writing that list on my bathroom mirror. I may no longer be able to see myself, but I'll smile more.

[Thayu]

This reminds me of something I read in the book "A touch of wonder" by Arthur Gordon. He talks about an English professor he met as a boy while fishing, who tried to show him the magic of words; about how each word actually *felt* like what it was supposed to convey or describe. If you actually pause and try it, "annoy" does have an annoying sound to it, and "wonder" does induce a sense of wonder. You can actually try this with most words, as long as you actually try saying it aloud slowly.

If we think a little though, language is just a form of expressing ourselves - that's why we would've started speaking in the first place. And it is unlikely that words were born of sounds that depicted/evoked a certain emotion?

Maybe that's the reason why we feel upbeat when we read a whole list of positive stuff - it simply sounds too positive! :)

[John]

Any special reason you put "pleasant" in the list twice? Could it be that pleasant people are more important to you?

[CLB]

Word nerd = word wizard!

Your work is FASCINATING to read.

[Me]

Interesting. I would not count the word "perfect" as a positive adjective to describe a person, though. "Perfect" people give me the creeps...