Our conversation about words that are simply fun to say (such as oligopoly, or “domination of a market by just a few producers”) reminded a listener in Jackson, Tennessee, of a scene from a 1955 movie The Glass Slipper. A woman says she delights in...
Is there a term for the way words feel when they’re spoken that has nothing to do with their meaning? The word “suitcase” feels nice to say, unlike rural. “Cellar door” certainly has a different quality than “moist ointment.” Mouthfeel is an oft...
It’s been said that the most beautiful combination of words in English is cellar door. But why? After this caller raised the question, Grant did even more digging on the topic. The result: He wrote an article about it that appeared in the New York...
