“Sonicky” Words That Feel Good When You Say Them

Once at a bar, I discussed the way words feel when they come out of your mouth. The guy I was talking with insisted there was a word that meant precisely this. I’d forgotten all about that conversation until this morning, when I said the word “Ameliorate” during a meeting.

Ameliorate feels nice coming out of the mouth. Lots of tongue folding and a light crisp T at the end… divine.

So I Googled this, and found that there is not yet a single word which describes the feeling of a word coming out of the mouth. There are several approximations, but no single agreed-upon word. The closest would be “sonicky” which was coined by Roy Blount, Jr. in his book Alphabet Juice (you can hear his use of it here, in a fantastically fun podcast where he discusses exactly this topic).

So, I decided to think during the calm of the pitter-pat of the rain falling just outside my window, with a delicious velvety cup of coffee, what other words feel good when I say them?

• Ameliorate (of course)
• Polyurethane
• Snack
• Vexed
• Finicky
• Marked (not simply “Marked”, but “Mark-ed”)
• Haberdashery
• Soiree
• Oh My God, What The Fuck Is Wrong With You Right-Wing Hatemongering Assholes Who Cannot For Even One Second Imagine A World Where Someone Else’s Feelings Might Matter More Than Your Need To Exert Your Racist, Domineering Will Over Your Fellow Man, You Fucked Up Pieces Of Selfish Human Filth Who Exemplify The Very Core Of What Agent Smith Said In The Matrix When He Called Humanity “A Virus With Shoes?” Please Go Fuck Yourself With A Rake.
• Balanced

Wow, those words felt good to say! What words do you find pleasurable to say?