There are thousands upon thousands of words in the English language. Ask any group of people what their favorite word is, and you’ll get a wide range of unique answers. In fact, many people don’t even have a favorite word. Now, ask that same group what their least favorite word is, and you’ll likely get a much more unifying answer: moist.
Can someone please explain this to me? Were you all taught this in school, and I was just sick that day? Are my ears broken? When I hear the much-hated m word, it floats on by like any other harmless adjective. To others, a simple mention of the word elicits dry heaving and disgusted faces. To all you moist-averse people out there, please allow me to make my case.
There are so many worse SOUNDING words.
Here's a short list of some of the worst words of all time: putrid, acrid, astringent, festering, phlegm, damp, fecund, secrete, and viscous. How do you think moist compares to these nightmare words? You can’t tell me you’d rather have a putrid slice of banana bread than a moist one.
There are so many words with worse meanings.
If it’s not the sound, but the meaning of moist that’s got you down, let me some suggest some alternatives. How about misery, anguish, or fatigue? I’ll just be over here enjoying my perfectly moist roasted chicken while you grapple with that one.
It’s just so basic to say you hate the word moist.
I’ve come to associate the m-word discrimination with other oft-used meaningless phrases like “I hate drama.” Or “I didn’t come here to make friends, I came here to win.” Come on, we all love a little drama, making friends is important, and it’s OKAY for some things to be moist!
There’s really no replacement.
If you look up moist in the dictionary, there are many synonyms: damp, clammy, steamy, humid, dank, sticky, the list goes on. NONE of these words are interchangeable with moist, so, I’m sorry, I’m gonna keep on usin’ it. Sure, you might not want to hear it. At least I’m not serving you a slice of clammy chocolate cake.
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