It DOESN'T have to be a word that can be interpreted as naughty! I started this thread, remember that, and I am saying that it doesn't, okay? Mark is off the mark.

Sanguine is a very neat word! Nice choice, Desdemona. I suspect that 3/4 of the people walking down the streets of Orillia have never once used the word "sanguine" in conversation, and don't even know what it means. I further feel assured that not one in 10,000 of them has ever used the word "puissant" in conversation...or ever will...despite the fact that it is apparently being taught to young Germans studying English! I wonder what other arcane and even archaic English words German students are being schooled in....

I can just picture an enthusiastic young German traveller, visiting Canada for the first time, just itching to get a chance to use the word "puissant" in a conversation with a Canadian...only to receive a blank stare or a puzzled look when he does. Ha!

We are living in an eternally amusing world...puissant in its dimensions...sanguine in its possibilities.

- LH