School: 'Eloquent' pretty, 'vomit' ugly

STARKVILLE, Miss., April 13 (UPI) -- A Mississippi State University professor said a survey of students suggests "eloquent" is a beautiful word while "vomit" is ugly.

Robert Wolverton Sr., a classics professor at the school, said his annual survey asks students to submit words that they consider to be "beautiful" or "ugly."

This year's survey, which involved 75 students, yielded 148 "beautiful" words, including eloquent, which was submitted by six students; love, which was chosen by four students; symphony, which received four submissions; and beautiful, which was chosen by three respondents.

The students also submitted 138 "ugly" words, including six mentions for vomit, five submissions for moist, five mentions for puke and four for ugly.

Wolverton said fewer students chose religious words as beautiful than in previous years. He said words with multiple syllables were more likely to be considered beautiful while monosyllabic words were more likely to be considered ugly.