Why ‘Diphthong’ is the Best Word Ever

Ted McCagg is a creative director in advertising in Portland, Oregon. In his spare time, for the past five years or so, McCagg has been keeping a blog,”Questionable Skills” — the content of which consists almost entirely of drawings, some of them the bracket-style rankings that are a familiar feature of March Madness.

A few months ago, McCagg began using his blog and his bracket system to answer a question: What is the best word ever? Not the funniest word or the most erudite word or the most whimsical word … but The Best Word, full stop. What if, you know, the scallawag could eke out a thingamajig that would help him select the least milquetoast morsel from our linguistic smorgasbord? 

Yesterday, McCagg has answered his question.

Read more. [Image: Ted McCagg]

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   Diphthong: (n) A sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable, in which the sound begins as one...

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    Really, diphthong cooler than hornswoggle? Really?

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15. livinglikelemonade reblogged this from dailybungalow and added:

    This is just all sorts of great.

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19. normanshapiro replied:

    

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    My favorites include: envelope, taciturn, cavalcade, a bunch of others I can’t think of, and in Spanish,...

39. izwanders reblogged this from theatlantic and added:

    I’d give honorable mention to lack luster, too, but yes! This is awesome.

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