About 20 years ago, I started collecting ‘colorful’ words. I realized that some words sound a bit funnier and
have a somewhat greater emotional impact than others.

Some examples: aghast, amok, begrudge, besmirch, bliss, bogus, chafe, coy, crave, cringe, dawdle, dote, dwindle, eke, feisty, ferret, fester, festoon, fickle, finagle, finicky, flabbergasted, flutter, foible, frazzled, frenzy, frolic, frumpy, garble, gawk, gibberish, glimmer, glitch, gloat, gruff, guffaw, hubbub, ilk, irk, lush, mayhem, mollify, mull, nab, ogle, paltry, pander, penchant, plight, plummet, posh, pummel, quibble, raucous, ravage, rebuff, rubble, scoff, scour, scrimp, scrounge, sham, shenanigans, sizzle, splurge, spree, squalid, squeamish, squelch, squirm, sully, surly, swath, throng, thug, thwart, trounce, trudge, woo, zeal.

Whenever I read or heard a colorful word, I added it to my list. By 2001 I had about 200 such words. But the
list was burned up on 9/11 because I worked in 7 World Trade Center, a building that came down in the afternoon.

So I continued to compile the list. As of now, I have almost 1190 words, all gems