The Sweetness of Words
Just when you think you have heard or read them all.
‘Vellichor’ is an intriguing word. It stood out to me on one of those mundane and redundant BuzzFeed lists entitled “32 Of The Most Beautiful Words In The English Language”.
We all have our obscure and odd guilty pleasures; mine happens to be searching through books, and in this case BuzzFeed, for mellifluous words, an obsession I’ve most definitely had since childhood. There are words that ring with sweetness like ‘ethereal,’ and strength like ‘epoch.’ And then there are those words you thought could not possibly exist. There could not be a word sufficient to describe the overwhelming feeling of being situated in a musty, used bookstore (see adj. ineffable).
Just like that, BuzzFeed proved me wrong and produced a list of the most satisfying words I’ve yet to come across. Since I can remember, bookstores have been my sanctuary, and there has never been a limit to the spending damage I can wreak. I have strolled through the scenic neighborhoods in Brooklyn Heights, only to admire the mammoth-sized bookshelves noticeable from street-view, and I have spent hours pouring over books in the quaint (tiny) Community Bookstore nestled in Park Slope. For me, there is nothing like words sprawled across a page and nothing more poignant, more powerful than finding ourselves in an author’s creation.
Vellichor: n. the strange wistfulness of used bookstores, which are somehow infused with the passage of time—filled with thousands of old books you’ll never have time to read, each of which is itself locked in its own era, bound and dated and papered over like an old room the author abandoned years ago, a hidden annex littered with thoughts left just as they were on the day they were captured. Sweeter words have never been read.
Books I Am Reading Now
The President’s Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity – By Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy
Hard Choices – By Hillary Rodham Clinton
