Logophiles of the world...

Funny! This is the No. 1 Favorite Word
Are we so discombobulated by the plethora of daily kerfuffles that we're ready to defenestrate the whole mess? We must be. Why? When Merriam-Webster OnLine conducted a survey to find out the top 10 favorite words, No. 1 on the list was: "defenestration."

Derived from the Latin word "fenestra" (window), defenestration means: "a throwing of a person or thing out of a window."

"Projects like this remind us once again of the deep level of interest that people attach to the words in their language," said John M. Morse Merriam-Webster president and publisher. "Using language can be a little like serving up a meal, with words as the ingredients. I think people were sharing with us their favorite ingredients--the ingredients that add spice and flavor and a personal touch to their everyday use of language."

One thing the top 10 favorite words have in common is sound--a cadence and lilt that makes them fun to say and fun to hear.

The Top 10 Favorite Words

1. defenestration: a throwing of a person or thing out of a window
2. serendipity: the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for
3. onomatopoeia: the use of words whose sound suggests the sense (Examples: buzz, crash, whirr, clang hiss, purr)
4. discombobulate: upset or confused
5. plethora: excess, superfluity, profusion, or abundance
6. callipygian: having shapely buttocks
7. juxtapose: to place side by side
8. persnickety: fussy about small details
9. kerfuffle: disturbance or fuss
10. flibbertigibbet: a silly, flighty person