What's Your Favorite Word?
Do you have one?
I’d like to have a word with you—
When my son, Dylan, was about 6 years old he asked me, “What’s your favorite word?” I told him I’d have to think about it. He then announced his was “running.”
Twenty years later I have an answer for him, Good. As in, Good Humor, the title of my Substack.
Good is a good word, isn’t it? It’s got a solid construction. G is a rounded yet capable letter followed by two O’s. If it had one O we’d be praising this word. Two O’s signifies an extension of its meaning. It’s twice as fine as Okay which was allocated with one O at the onset. But two OOs. Now that’s gOOd. The “d” at the end almost looks like a backwards G creating a nice bookend to the word.
Good makes me smile. It’s solid, trustworthy, and according to the thesaurus there are some impressive synonyms: Moral, Virtuous, Noble, Helpful, Polite, Useful…
When asked, “How are you,” we tend to say Good when the grammatically correct answer is Well. But Well is dull. It’s a water source not a feeling. Well is a proper answer by someone who admits to reading Dostoevsky for fun. Good gets away with its improper usage. I’m Good.
I recently decided to try on Fantastic.
“How are you?”
“I’m Fantastic.”
At first it felt fake. My brain’s reaction was, What the F-k? I’m not Fantastic. Liar. I kept at it until finally I realized I was truly having a Fantastic day. It’s got two more syllables than Good but pulled apart the prefix, Fan, sounds like Fun and tastic sounds like taste as in something yummy. Fun and delish. Fantastic also means everything is going your way. You’re not just in the zone you’re walking on white fluffy clouds. And it has 2 As instead of 2 Os. Like getting two As on the same test! (Maybe that last one was a stretch; Hubby’s observation. Hehehe.)
But Fantastic is not a word to share with everyone
I try to read the room before saying, I’m Fantastic. And honestly, if I’m having a crappy day, I don’t want to hear you say, Fantastic, about yours. Therein lies the problem with Fantastic. It’s usually one-sided.
One time a friend referred to her airline trip this way:
“It was a Fantastic flight.”
“Uh, no one has a Fantastic flight.”
“Oh, but I did.”
“I dare you to repeat that to my compression socks and neck pillow.”
Some will have a problematic reaction to Fantastic. An envious snarl. They’re thinking, “What makes you so Fantastic?” It shuts them up, ends the conversation.
Others might respond this way:
“I guess there’s nothing to complain about if you’re so Fantastic.”
You’ve heard of “toxic positivity?” Yes, there is such a thing as toxic negativity.
If I was Meh then there’s room for a grievance. A commiseration. A gross form of bonding. Meh is a word on a slope; it descends into Crap.
“This day sucks.”
“Right?”
That was Carol. We bond over Crap, Meh, Sucks… The tone of that friendship was set years ago when I had an awful day and expressed it. Now the two of us are always expecting the other to have a gripe. I call Carol when I’m having a sh-tty day. And visa-versa. Hey, those friends are needed. But it’s also the friend I avoid when life is Fantastic.
Fantastic is miles and miles above Good. If Good is the moon, then Fantastic is Jupiter. What’s the equivalent of Mars? Somewhere in between… Great. Ah, the red planet. Great is less than Fantastic and more than Good. Great is reasonable.
People can accept Great without the grumble. They can proceed with the conversation. You can share why you’re Great but be careful. Make sure it’s not Fantastic, especially around Carol, your toxically negative friend. And if you do share with Carol, mention your merit bonus was Okay. If you must use the word Great, use a trivial occurrence:
“I got a Great parking spot today.”
“I love when that happens.”
“Right?”
Or
“No line at the UPS store. It was Great.”
(No line at the DMV is neither Great nor Fantastic; it’s Impossible.)
Here are other reasons why Good is good
Good comes in all shapes and sizes:
Good restaurant
Good neighbor
Good news
Good word—although that usually needs The at the forefront. The Good Word. It’s biblical.
Life is Good. That motto made two brothers gazillionaires with T-shirts.
Good china—interesting that our expensive, fancy plates we use on the holidays is just Good. We don’t say, “I’ll use the Fine china for Thanksgiving.” Because nobody says, Fine anymore unless they are ever so slightly less than Good when someone asks how they’re doing.
What about Good shoes? I’ll wear my Good shoes tonight. Why aren’t they fancy? Maybe they’re considered Fancy when worn to a wedding. Good shoes are never Fine.
Good day—Does anyone say that anymore? “Have a good day, madam.”
Finally--
Good Humor—Not the ice cream bar but your neighborhood, friendly Substack.
Fantastic Announcement! New Feature on Good Humor!
Once a month I will publish an interview with a funny female. Comedy has always been a boy’s club. There are studies and articles about why men are funnier than women. Huh? I aim to disprove this myth. In these interviews you’ll get to know what makes a woman funny and why she pursues the joke.
Would love your input on title ideas with this survey. Or let me know in the comments if you have one of your own.
Also, let me know if you can recommend a funny gal. She doesn’t have to be on Substack.
1. What’s your favorite word?
2. Are you good with Good?
3. Have you ever been Fantastic? Did you call yourself a liar?
4. Do you have a Carol?
FANTASTIC! Said with emphasis on TA.
My mother in law always used to say this word. Everything you said or would share with her, she would say, “FANTASTIC” in her Dutch accent. As she slowly went further into her aphasia, it was one of the last words she could fully say. Until it was no more. So we would say it for her and as a reminder to ourselves. Even if it’s tinged with sorrow now it still puts a smile on my face. Good post! Great post, no fantastic post. Good day to you CK. 😘
Periwinkle. Is that a good (fantastic ) word or what? I wanted a periwinkle car but my wife said no, although she admitted it would be easy to find in the parking lot.