The other day, I was inspired by a radio station up in the Poconos/Scranton-Wilkes-Barre area (WKRZ)*. They were having a call-in survey that seems apropos to discuss, both in this blog and on this particular day.
"What words out there make you cringe/think eww, gross?"
Respondents chose a lot of words I never thought about being gross, or even, cringe-worthy, but I'll disclose to see what you think. Granted, I missed part of the survey since they must have started before I was off from work, but still, nevertheless...
"moist," "gush," "soiled," "gurgle," "chunk"...
How about it? What words do you find particularly gag-inducing?
As an archaeologist, even though I do know the other contexts that make some of these words gross, I'm not too easily fazed by any of the words proffered by the listeners. Actually, I can't think of ANY. This is a shame, since I do like to make people gag with lame jokes and puns. Words could be another happy medium (pun noted). I'll avoid the cringe-worthy verbiage, but only if you let me know what makes you wish you could take a Sharpie to an OED (Oxford English dictionary) or good ol' Webster's.
Although I don't think Stephen King will stop anytime soon.
To that I conclude this entry. Happy Halloween and if you can't gross anyone out with your costume, by all means, your vocabulary could!
* WKRZ, (C) 2008 Entercom Wilkes Barre LLC, Intertech Media LLC, October 21, 2008 Broadcast.
I had to stop in and say that I'm from that area so it was neat to read your mention of Wilkes Barre although I'm in Florida now! Thanks for a great post!
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that came to my mind is it'snot funny. I don't like to handle slimey things and I don't like to think about them either. But, sometimes I think about what might gross out a reader. LOL
ReplyDeleteI was in PA a couple of weeks ago, but not that far north. I lived in FL a couple of times too. I lived in Pompono Beach and a few years later in Daytona Beach.