Perfect words and phrases. Have you got some?

[AG31]

Throughout my life I've enjoyed finding the perfect word or phrase or sentence to crystallize my understanding of something. But this has intensified in later years. More time after retirement? Like minded people to chat with in AH? Most likely, age related difficulty in finding words... great relief when they pop up.

I've been keeping a list for a while. It's below. Do you have particular words or phrases or sentences that showed a bright light on some idea?

people on the spectrum may be characterized by appealing literalism
heroic self sacrifice
air of ridicule (describes how people refer to pornography, or stories just about sex)
discursive - writiing style of Ruth Rendell, P. D. James, Elizabeth George
norms - the things that BDSM communities claim apply to all of BDSM
Dark bdsm - BDSM that doesn't adhere to the norm of "care"
authenticity - the otherwise indefinable quality that can make me like any kind of erotica.
Most notably for me, applies to a now-deleted story about a foot fetish.
impersonality - the absence of a relationship that I like in erotica
dignity - what I require of my MCs
(almost) formal - my writing style

Does this spark some memories of your own Aha words, phrases or sentences?

 

[crookedletter]

No particular examples come to mind, but this reminds me of a quote that I think of often while writing:

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
(Mark Twain)

 

[THBGato]

people on the spectrum may be characterized by appealing literalism

Oh, I like that!

I remember as a teen being a little bit wowed when I realised that "significant" is a synonym of both "important" and "meaningful", but that those words aren't themselves synonyms.

 

[GuiltyCowboy]

I've always loved the word 'ineffable'.

Anything that can lay claim to that word has always seemed very special. And no other word seems to do it justice.

On a slightly different note, I recently came across a word that's used in anthropology that seems to explain something that we can call recognize. The word is 'schismogenesis' and it describes how neighboring groups define themselves as being different from their neighbor and how that dynamic escalates into polarization.

 

[StillStunned]

I've always loved the word 'ineffable'.

I hate it. I used to think I was ineffable, but as it turns out plenty of people have no problem effing me.

 

[StillStunned]

Getting back to the OP: for me, the perfect word always depends on the context. How it fits in the sentence, how the sentence fits in the paragraph. What the sounds are, and how they relate to what I'm trying to convey. And then the simplest word can be the perfect one.

 

[GuiltyCowboy]

I hate it. I used to think I was ineffable, but as it turns out plenty of people have no problem effing me.

Given the choice, probably better to be effable than ineffable, no? I'm sure your wife finds you very effable.

Also, I'd expect anyone with a legal background to take against a word that suggests some things cannot actually be described with words!

 

[AG31]

I'm adding "solipsistic" to my list. It's the quality cultivated in people who engage in "relationships" with AI characters.