Superlatives

Do you ever get tired of using the same old words to describe something — can I say it just once — “amazing”? Consider the white-fisted mountains that knock the breath right out of you, or the sinuous body of a glacial river that silvers along in the late-day sun. Do you look at those things and say:

Wow. Awesome.

I do.

And then I feel kind of dumb.

On one of my first trips to Alaska, Stewart and I laughed all the way from Fairbanks to Seward because everything we saw was “amazing” or “quite something.” We needed some new superlatives.

So the next time we had internet access, I visited several online thesauri and scribbled a long list of new ways to say “cool.”

Because I just returned from Alaska, where I confronted this linguistic difficulty anew, and because I know I’m not alone in running out of words for great things, I thought I’d share my list — or at least a clipped version of it so it will fit here.

I mean, if a large black bear lumbers across the trail in front of you, you’re going to need something to say on the spot. (Most likely your choice will be more along the lines of a surprised expletive than an enthusiastic pronouncement, but this list will help you get ready just in case.)

For your exclaiming pleasure, here is a cache of glorious, electrifying, fantasmo words you can use to describe things that are intoxicatingly mindblowing or singularly marvy.

Cuz Alaska, man, it’s boss.

Just one more thing. Spike wants you to know how much he enjoyed his stint as a blogging porcupine. He was needling me a little about how well he was received — even porcupines need a few strokes — and he was tempted to stay on. But he couldn’t resist the call of the wild, and how could I hold him back?

Maybe we’ll see him again next year.