Is there a single word or a combination of 2 words that mean "items of
personal significance"?  Even a word that eludes to "items of personal
significance" would work.
Incidentally, should the phrase be "items of personal significance" or
"items of A personal significance"?

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Clarification of Question by bby-ga on 13 Nov 2002 07:08 PST

No.  Memorabilia, mementos, keepsakes, sentiments, nostalgia,
treasures..are not what I'm looking for.  Perhaps because they speak
of things past, and are sentimental.  I would like a word that speaks
of personally significant articles: past, present and
future(inspiring)
Thank you for helping me to clarify my question.
(and yes, I did mean "alludes to" rather that a "eludes to"..opps)

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Request for Question Clarification by sgtcory-ga on 13 Nov 2002 11:59 PST

Hello bby,

Since we are narrowing this down, I really don't want to give an
'incorrect' answer. Would the term 'lares and penates' fit the bill?

Here is a definition:

"Treasured household possessions"
http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=lares%20and%20penates

Merriam webster also lists this as a definition:

"personal or household effects"
http://www.m-w.com/

Combine the two and you get close to what you needed. Let me know if
this is along the lines of what you are looking for :-)

Thanks,
SgtCory

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Request for Question Clarification by johnny_phoenix-ga on 15 Nov 2002 08:04 PST

Is there a context that you would like to use this phrase in ?

"I realised as I opened the door that he had been through all of my
........... "

I'd personally use "personal effects" here. 

or is it going to be used in the context of; 

"These belong to me, they have considerable sentimental value they are
my ............."

Here I would plumb simply for "belongings"

n.b. just to add to the throwing of new words into the hat, how about
"Gerovdemzmine"

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Clarification of Question by bby-ga on 15 Nov 2002 19:40 PST

Please wait for further clarifiction.  My long winded definition has
disappeared from this page and I need to a little time to replace
it(unfortunately for me, I have a job that interferes with my spare
time), and to respond to those who took the time to comment.  BBY

<Both phrases ‘items of personal significance’ and ‘items of a
personal significance’ may be used. The second phrase is more specific
as it points to one personal significance.

There are two words that refer to physical articles that are not
sentimental. They are:
1. Personalty which means personal property, chattels. Its plural is
personalties.
2. Chattel which means personal property. Its plural is chattels.

To give some items of personal property an added significance, the
word valued can be added to give valued personalties or valued
chattels. This would indicate that particular items are more important
to the person than others.

These words can be found by performing a search on Merriam-Webster
Online at http://www.m-w.com/netdict.htm


The easiest way to find words of a similar meaning is to use a
thesaurus in conjunction with a dictionary. By performing a search
with a thesaurus you will be given a list of words with a similar
meaning. You can then look these up in a dictionary to get a more
precise meaning. There are a number of  thesauri and dictionaries
online. Links are given below.>


<Additonal links:>

<Roget’s Thesaurus>
<http://humanities.uchicago.edu/forms_unrest/ROGET.html>

<Dictionary.com – dictionary and thesaurus.>
<http://dictionary.reference.com/>

<Wordsmyth – dictionary – thesaurus>
<http://www.wordsmyth.net/>


<Search strategy:>

<dictionary>
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=dictionary>

<thesaurus>
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=thesaurus>


<Hope this helps.>

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Clarification of Answer by belindalevez-ga on 16 Nov 2002 07:34 PST

There appears to be something wrong with the page as your
clarification was not there when I answered the question. If you post
your clarification, I will be happy to respond to it.

Although the answer is "technically" correct (but not what I'm looking
for), belindalevez-ga did not honor my request to "hold on" for
re-posting of the *lost* clarification of my question.  Had she done
that, she probably would not have posted this answer.-Zero stars for
that.
The one star is for answering the "incidental" part of my question

memorabilia -- things that are remarkable or worthy of remembrance

The phrase should be "items of personal significance."

Also, I believe the word you wanted was "allude" rather than "elude."

If this word fits your needs, I'll post it as answer.

Dear BBY

	I wanted to give you a list of appropriate words to use.   As you can
see Nellie left you memorabilia.    This is a good choice but there
are many others you might want to consider.

Memento - a physical reminder, such as a small object, of a past
event, period, or relationship; souvenir or keepsake.   Memorabilia
would be the collection of such mementos.

Keepsake -   something intended to be kept as a remembrance of some
person, place, or occasion

Token -   something that serves to represent, signal, or symbolize a
feeling, value, event, or the like.

Souvenir - something kept as a reminder of a place, event, friendship,
or the like; memento.

Relic - something valued for its past association with some person,
place, or event; souvenir.

Additional Resources: 

Wordsmyth: Search
http://www.wordsmyth.net/home.html

Dictionary.com/memento
http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=memento


Search Strategy:
Word Meanings
Dictionary
Thesaurus

    I hope this gave you a broad enough range of words to use.   If
you are not satisfied please give me some more information on the
context of the word you are using and I will more than happy to oblige
in getting you the correct answer.    If this answer more suits your
needs please let me know and I can post it to the answer section.


Thank You, 
Morningstar

My initial candidate would be "cherishable."  "Cherish" means to "hold
dear."

Although "cherishable" is not a dictionary-defined noun form, it is
often used in commercial contexts as a noun to refer to gifts of
antiques.  Here is a link to the results of Google search for
"cherishables":
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=cherishables

It seems to me that it would be correct to use the noun form of
"cherishable" to mean anything that "has characteristics that attract
cherishing."   That is, anything you "hold dear" would be a
"cherishable."  An apt analogy is the noun form of the relatively
recent term "collectible," which is defined in the American Heritage
Dictionary, Third Edition as "one of a class…of objects…prized by
fanciers."

Let me know if you think I am on the right track.

markj-ga

At least since the 1960s, many Americans refer to their items of
personal significance as "my stuff." It's not very poetic, but
everyone knows what it means. "Hey, man, don't mess with my stuff." "I
had to rent a mini-storage for my stuff." "My mom threw all my stuff
away."

Well I'm going to say the obvious since no one has said it yet.

Valuables

If an invented word will do, consider "treasurables".

Beth

Along the lines of invented words, how about 

"signifitems"?

bby,

just to add to the whole foray 8-)

i think the technical term for the long list of items that you have
listed is called in a severe and "unfriendly" term:  Personal
Artifacts

i am 2nd guessing that you want to start a shop dealing with such
items and is trying to find a catchy name for the products that u are
going to sell...

so here's a feeble attempt at creating some new words:

(1) datsme (n) pl. (s): for that-is-me, represents item/s that depict
a part of an indvidual.
Example of usage: Have you distributed grandfather's datsmes to the
rest of the family for keepsake?

(2) soulstuff (n) : for items that has great personal significance to
individuals.
Example of usage: Hey, Joe, you sure about selling that guitar? It's
soulstuff man!

(3) JiZhen (n) chinese : combinatory word of Ji (self) and Zhen
(precious/treasures) i.e. self-treasures, things of significance or
value to an individual.

best of luck 4 your business 8-)

You have said that two-word phrases would be acceptable, so I offer:

   - significant items
   - significant stuff
   - core stuff
   - key items
   - special stuff
   - special things

If you are considering coined words, I offer:

   - significalia
   - significantia
   - keystuff

Or a similar invented word, how about  
 
"significants"? (deliberate misspelling of the noun "significance")

aceresearcher

One more to consider - "heartifacts".

This is fun. Let me try again.  How about "pregnant paraphernalia."

Per the American Heritage Dictionary, "pregnant" can be defined as
"full of meaning," and "paraphernalia" simply as "personal
belongings."

As a bonus, the words are alliterative.

mark-ja

English:
"personable collectables"
"valued collectables"
"soulful collectables"

Made up:
"soulitems" (pronounced "sole - et - ums")
"heartables"

French:

"choses de coeur" (meaning things of the heart)

Frenglish:

"coeuritables" (meaning heart items) or "collectable coeuritables"

... or "precious [i.e., cherished] paraphernalia [i.e., personal belongings]."

markj-ga

personabilia

Hello all!

Thank you for all your fabulous input.  My question has been
"answered" by a researcher whom did not honor my request to hold off
untill I re-posted the lost question clarifican. (which really fine
tuned what I was looking for, displayed that I've already done my
homework and that I know how to use a dictionary and thesaurus)

To all that have commented, Great Job!!  It's a tough one.

Please watch for this question again.  As soon as time permits, I will
re-post it with the lost definitions and address all comments.