Sunday, September 8, 2019

Words I Dislike

In contrast to the Good Words of yesterday, there are some words that I do not particularly like. I am a word aficionado, so it's unusual to find a word to be unappealing. Nevertheless, it does happen on occasion.

Two words that I will never purposefully use are:
Snuggle.
Cuddle.

It's not that I have any aversion to the actions contemplated by those words. Context is everything: these words have juvenile connotations that are uncomfortable and inappropriate when discussing adult relationships and interactions. When I see/hear an adult exclaiming, "I love snuggling with my sweetie!" or something similar, I cringe. Snuggling and cuddling are for small woodland creatures and very young children. Not for grownups.

Perhaps I am too rigid in my definitions, but this is how I see these words. Is there an applicable word for such an activity between adults? I have yet to determine what that might be.

I would like both the appropriate word, and perhaps even a little bit of the activity embodied therein.

This might be as close to snuggling with one another as the small dogs ever get.

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