UKC

I want a word or short phrase that means "Excellence" without the clichéd, hackneyed associations. Snappier the better. Thanks for any ideas.

In reply to MG:

Context?

In reply to MG:

"Bo selecta"

In reply to MG:

'In Excelsis' ..?

In reply to TheDrunkenBakers: Promotion of opportunities to do imaginative/innovative/adventurous things. Open-ended, blue-sky. That sort of thing.

In reply to MG:

Exceptional
Superior
Extraordinary
Eminence
Finess
preeminence
illustrious
kudos


depends a lot on the context

In reply to balmybaldwin:

unrivalled

In reply to PeterM: Interesting idea. Thanks.

In reply to MG:
My vote goes to 'superior'.

In reply to MG:

Jolly splendid.

In reply to MG:

Terrific.

In reply to Removed User:

Spiffing

ALC

In reply to MG:

Oh rather, what ho!

or 'frickin' awesome dude!'

In reply to MG: Brio, kudos

In reply to MG:

Flange

I freely admit I didn't read the op - it's just such a great word

In reply to MG:

I like to use "Absolutely F*cking Mango!"

In reply to MG:

"word"

In reply to MG:

The cat's pyjamas

In reply to Carless:
I bought wheels for my road bike ( http://www.nicholsons-cycles.co.uk/productdetails.asp?productid=41881 ) because they were relatively light, but more importantly had huge hub flanges..which meant I could use the word flange more often....which is a good thing

In reply to MG: 'Quality' is a word much underused nowadays.

In reply to MG:

skill

In reply to MG:

Bostin'
Unsurpassed
Ace
Quality
Magic
Shit hot
Dogs bollocks
First eleven

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Not a single one of those is a synonym for excellence.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

I'd like to offer a contribution from my house's resident eight year old: 'sick'.

In reply to MG:

The lick

In reply to Gordon Stainforth: I never get this synonym business. There are very few synonyms in English - every word is subtly different.

In reply to MG:

Thesaurus. Crocodile.

Boom diggity?

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Agreed. But excellence has a very precise meaning. It's also a noun. 'Quality' is certainly a rough equivalent, used in the modern (sloppy) sense of 'high quality', but of course there can be low quality as well. Also, excellence is virtually a superlative i.e. highest or very high quality, whereas 'quality' may simply imply something of notable quality.

In reply to MG:

Tha's well good innit

In reply to Yanchik:

legendary

In reply to frankcp87:

Many bad things or people become 'legendary' e.g Ghenghis Khan

In reply to MG:

The best I can think of is 'perfection'.

I've got a feeling, though, that what you want is not exactly what 'excellence' means, but simply 'a very high standard'

In reply to MG:

PS. The word excellence means (literally, from the latin) a level of achievement that 'outruns' or 'surpasses' the competition. I think

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

it's the new age ... we're not restricted by dictionaries.

for example: that climb was "bare sick bruv init"(sp) ...

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

Nah. Latin, sure. But it's to be eminent, rarely in the physical sense, based on rise or raise, from cellere, related to celsus (high) and columna (column.)

Unless I misunderstand the Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology which lives on my desk (beneath the sign that says "Pseud.")

The thesaurus is sending me to look at great, supreme, perfect and splendid. That may take time.

Y

In reply to MG:

Piece de resistance? (with some accents unavailable on my phone!)

I have a brand new shiny copy of Roget's thesaurus in front of me, but am not sure exactly what sort of word you want...

In reply to frankcp87:

You're still restricted to making sense/being understood.

I like it. But it'll not be clearly understood by more than a mere fraction of the whole English speaking world. Of course you're joking, unless you only want to be understood in a very small part of this planet.

In reply to Yanchik:

Note: I did say 'surpass'. OK so the original means something like 'overtop'. Seems to mean the same to me.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

Funnily enough I spend most of my time correcting peoples English. Ah the delights of working with North Americans.

The heathens don't even know what biscuits are!

In reply to frankcp87:

Many educated North Americans put our standard of English to shame.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

But biscuits!

Thanks all, something to work with there.

Regarding the pedantry over Excellence. I don't think it really has a meaning any more since it is so over- and mis-used. Hence why I don't want to use it. But I do want to convey something "very good" with a memorable phrase.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth: Surpass is good, thanks. Also to whoever said "shit hot"! There is space for more than one in what I am working on!

In reply to frankcp87: Biscuits for breakfast, cookies with tea. What's the problem?

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

But... you dunk biscuits in your tea...

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

If it's good enough for your purposes, who am I to demur ?

Anyway, your graceful initial contention was that you didn't know what you were talking about.

I shall get back to polishing my sign.

Y

In reply to MG:

Hot diggity dog ziggity boom!

In reply to MG:

"top"
"banjo"
"funkiest"
"dogs cock"

In reply to MG: virtuousity