Word Whimsy

I find some words so interesting and usual, as to be uniquely rich and powerful, and definitely worth being used whenever possible. The magic and poetry of the word:

discombobulate

has always been my absolute favorite. I first came across this word whilst reading William Steig's 1985 book, Solomon The Rusty Nail, to my children. The three of us immediately fell in love with the sound and feel of the word. It certainly encapsulated the feel of how it is to be confused, an onomatopoeic sense of the mind's workings. 

Since then, I've always appreciated how wonderfully skillful Steig's work is in surreptitiously expanding the vocabulary of kids. He never shied away from complexity; didn't try to simplify. It made his strange stories magical and fun. He did cartoons and covers for the New Yorker during the Depression, and began writing children's books in his Sixties (he was the creator of Shrek!). He didn't try to 'dumb down' his language to get kids to understand. To me it shows a deep respect for children's mental capabilities, and to the potential of their minds to stretch and grow.

Another word I'm quite fond of is 

persnickety!

It's light and fun, and conveys everything we need to know about being fussy and fastidious about details (hmm, my self-reflective side is cringing here!). Okay, so yes, I'm probably a word-geek, and proud of it! Does this mean that words are my

bailiwick?

Do you have any words that you particularly like, or is it just me?