Cellar Door

kwisatz haderach   Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:01 pm GMT
Some people say that "cellar door" is the most beautiful and most pleasant sounding combination of words in English. Do you agree? Can you think of any other? What about your own languages? Do you have one of these,and if not which one would you choose?
furrykef   Mon Dec 17, 2007 12:51 am GMT
This use of the phrase "cellar doors" originates from an essay by J.R.R. Tolkien called "English and Welsh". In the same essay, he remarked that Welsh is full of "cellar doors". He also later developed a passion for the Finnish language as well, but I don't know if it was for the same reason.

There was a joke I read once that plays upon this theme:

An Englishman was talking to his friends about how beautiful the English language is. He said, "Just listen to this: 'butterfly'." The Frenchman scoffed, "That is nothing, compared to 'papillon'." And the German asked, "And what is wrong with 'schmetterling'?"

(Of course, some people do find "schmetterling" to be a beautiful word, which shows that personal tastes vary widely in this area!)

- Kef
Guest   Mon Dec 17, 2007 12:55 am GMT
I do find schmetterling the most beautiful of the three ones.
Guest   Mon Dec 17, 2007 1:23 am GMT
My personal favourite is the Dutch "alsjeblieft" (please)
Guest   Mon Dec 17, 2007 1:30 am GMT
There are lots of words more beautiful than "cellar door". I just love the sound of the word "rennaissance" (although it's French).
K. T.   Mon Dec 17, 2007 1:32 am GMT
To me, cellar door means "Tornado", so no, I do not think of it as "beautiful." It means "safety" or used to mean that.

Actually the "Schmetterling" joke is funny, but I don't find the word ugly. German can be an extremely elegant language when spoken well by people with pleasant voices. I know that many people are biased against German because of the Nazis, but remember Einstein, Mozart, Beethoven (BD today), Bach and many others spoke German and none of them were Nazis.
Guest   Mon Dec 17, 2007 4:53 am GMT
I think "cellar door" sounds ugly. My favorite word is "senescence" or maybe "soliloquy".
furrykef   Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:30 am GMT
<< To me, cellar door means "Tornado", so no, I do not think of it as "beautiful." It means "safety" or used to mean that. >>

Tolkien was speaking of the phrase isolated from his meaning. His exact words were, "Most English-speaking people...will admit that cellar door is 'beautiful', especially if dissociated from its sense (and from its spelling)." Imagine it being spelled Selador and the appeal may be more obvious.

- Kef
Guest   Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:41 am GMT
Oh. I see. If you say it in a British accent, it does sound nice.
Guest   Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:01 am GMT
The most beautiful English word by sound only is:

Wretchedly

So many nice exotic sounds! In one word, the meaning isnt nice, however!
OïL   Mon Dec 17, 2007 9:13 am GMT
Now I see why I always found the toponym 'Morgantown' so fascinating.
It loosely replicates the harmony of 'cellar door'.

(Incidentally it has some Welsh content)

Or maybe was it just for Joni Mitchell's voice when she sang 'Mornin' Morgantown'
Guest   Mon Dec 17, 2007 1:28 pm GMT
From some years ago:

window sill


And, for you consonant lovers:

sixths
Guest   Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:01 pm GMT
De quoi parlez-vous? Je ne comprends presque rien.....
What are you talking about? I can't understand almost anything
De qué hablais? No entiendo casi nada
De que falam? Nao percebo quase nada
Was sprecht ihr? Ich verstehe das wirklich nichts
Di che cosa parlate? Non capisco quasi nulla
Guest   Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:08 pm GMT
Fart (ignore its meaning)
guest   Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:06 pm GMT
when I was a child in Germany, a teacher told us that her favorite English word was 'irrigation' because she loved the sound of it.

personally, I do not have one.

'willow' is nice though
so is 'thimble'