What is your favorite uncommon word beginning with “C”?
Post your answer in the LEAVE A COMMENT section below. I’m not the boss of you, though. Don’t write anything for all I care! But I’m pretty sure I’ll “C” you down in the comments.
. . .here are my thoughts.
What is your favorite uncommon word beginning with “C”?
chutzpah: extreme self-confidence or audacity
The word chutzpah is the very embodiment of its definition. Very few words have the self-confidence to include a silent “C.” Even fewer have the audacity to put that “C” right up there in front—middle finger extended to the world. And here you thought pneumonia was a bastard of a word. I’ve made no secret that I’m far from the greatest of spellers. Any word so wack-a-doodley spelled that the vast majority of folks would hear the dreaded bell at a spelling bee, or would pronounce it incorrectly when reading it aloud, makes me feel just that little bit better about myself. Even if someone demonstrates chutzpah immediately prior to their incorrect attempt at spelling chutzpah, they have little reason to fret misspelling this Yiddish word. Both Yiddish and German tend to create words that are quite densely packed with meaning. It’s no wonder, then, that we borrow them directly into English, often without changing their spellings or pronunciations. Why mess with a good thing? Not even the Germans would experience schadenfreude if some 10-year-old in the Scripps National Spelling Bee spelled out: C-H-U-T-Z-P-A. Ding!