Why this word is great
FLYTING — [Noun] A poetic contest of insults or invective, often in verse, or a noisy argument or scolding. From Middle English fliting, flytyng, from flyte ("to quarrel") + -ing (verbal noun suffix), with flyte deriving from Old English flītan ("to strive, quarrel"), from Proto-Germanic *flītaną ("to strive, contend"). Unlike "invective" (which scatters abuse like buckshot) or "debate" (which parries with reason), flyting is a duel of wit and venom, a performance where the sharpest tongue wins. It is the Viking skald composing a verse about his rival’s cowardice, the Elizabethan playwrights trading barbs in iambic pentameter, or the modern rap battle where syllables cut deeper than fists—a reminder that language, even at its most vicious, can still aspire to the condition of music.