Cellar door (phrase): Difference between revisions
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#REDIRECT [[Phonaesthetics#Cellar door]] |
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'''Cellar door''' is a combination of words in the [[English language]] once characterized by [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] to have an especially beautiful sound. This observation has later, seemingly by mistake, been attributed to [[Edgar Allan Poe]]. It is also claimed that [[United States|American]] writer [[H. L. Mencken]] once said that he had heard a [[China|Chinese]] student express the same appreciation for this phrase. |
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J. R. R. Tolkien wrote in an essay, commenting on his affection towards the [[Welsh language]]: |
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:"Most English-speaking people...will admit that ''cellar door'' is 'beautiful', especially if dissociated from its sense (and from its spelling). More beautiful than, say, ''sky'', and far more beautiful than ''beautiful''. Well then, in Welsh for me ''cellar doors'' are extraordinarily frequent, and moving to the higher dimension, the words in which there is pleasure in the contemplation of the association of form and sense are abundant." |
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Some sources also refer to a [[statistical survey|survey]], possibly conducted some 60 years ago, probing the word in the English language generally thought to be the most beautiful. Contributing to this survey, H. L. Mencken supposedly claimed that a Chinese student, who knew little or no English, especially liked the phrase ''cellar door'' — not for what it meant, but rather for how it sounded. |
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The phrase is also introduced in the [[2001]] [[film]] ''[[Donnie Darko]]'', in which the character Ms. Pomeroy, a [[literature]] teacher, states: "A famous linguist once said that of all the phrases in the English language, of all the endless combinations of words, that ''cellar door'' was the most beautiful." In the [[DVD]] commentary, director [[Richard Kelly]] attributes this remark to Edgar Allan Poe, though no true evidence of this can be found. |
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The production company that created the television game show ''[[Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?]]'' is called [[Celador]]. |
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Latest revision as of 15:04, 28 September 2022
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