What do you think is the most beautiful-sounding word in English? Consider these unpredictable choices by well-known writers, and then encourage your students to write about their favorite words. In a "Beautiful Words" contest held in 1911 by the Public Speaking Club of America, several submissions were deemed "insufficiently beautiful," among them grace, truth, and justice. In the judgment of Grenville Kleiser, then a popular author of books on oratory, "The harshness of the g in grace and the j in justice disqualified them, and truth was turned down because of its metallic sound" (Journal of Education, Feb 1911). Among the acceptable entries were melody, virtue, harmony, and hope. Over the years there have been countless playful surveys of the most beautiful-sounding words in English. Perennial favorites include lullaby, gossamer, murmuring, luminous, Aurora Borealis, and velvet. But not all recommendations have been so predictable—or so obviously euphonious. Read more...
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