The Daily Word for August 10, 2021

 

erubescent - adj. - reddening, blushing (Lexico.com)

Erubescent is one of a few words that possess the suffix, escent. Like fluorescent and phosphorescent, erubescent relates to a visual sensation. I was just thinking that I haven't seen anyone blush recently, perhaps because masks protecting us from COVID have covered complexions. Usually, we blush out of embarrassment. Brides blush out of virginal innocence. They used to anyway. No one is that innocent anymore, and few of a certain age are virgins. But I digress. 

Masks aside, if we white folks stay out in the sun too long, we'll wind up looking erubescent. If we happen to suffer from rosacea, we are erubescent. If we laugh too hard at a joke, we take on an erubescent glow. If we drink too much, we become erubescent over time. But why are so few erubescent out of embarrassment these days? Is it because we have transitioned somehow into toughness? Maybe. Since just about everything short of murder has been deemed acceptable these days, it is not surprising that we are no longer surprised. Our facial coloration and expressions remain unchanged in the face of societal aberrations.

Although we may not have noticed, there is a lot going on that falls under the nomenclature of things that have changed. Change can be positive or negative depending on our perspective. Maybe it is a good thing that we don't blush easily. Maybe not. 

Enjoy your Tuesday. 

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The Daily Word for August 9, 2021

 

gee-gee - noun - British informal - a horse (Lexico.com)

Once again, I am borrowing Lexico's "Word of the Day" to make a point: Be careful of what abbreviations or nicknames you go with these days as you never know what they might remind people of or even mean in another part of the world. As mentioned in yesterday's post, the Brits like slang. Informal English usually doesn't bother me at all, but it depends on the word and its meaning, though. The English can do what they like since they are responsible for the language we Americans speak although we tend to take advantage just to make it our own, particularly when it comes down to pronunciation. Admittedly, before today, I had never seen or heard "gee-gee" used in any context. I'm glad I found it as I've gotten dangerously close to using it as a shortened form of my own name. I have nothing against horses, but to refer to myself as one might have been an insult to them as well as to me. 

My name, Gwyn, Welsh for blessed, is constantly misspelled and mispronounced as Gwen, the more common form, in the United States. The Brits have no problem with it. (Maybe I should move there.) Because I own such a difficult name, I have explored a range of nicknames as possible alternatives. My sister and some of her friends call me "Quimp" or "Quimpie, " which is a hybrid term, a combination of "Quimble" and "Shrimp," two somewhat derogatory monikers she assigned to me as a pre-adolescent. My father called me "Pinkie," which wasn't much better. And "Q," which my nephews invented, is too close to Q-anon for comfort. God forbid someone should mistake me for that individual. Sometimes I call myself "Gee" for G., but after today, I think I'll refrain from getting too close to horse country. Now I could just change my name to Gwen to make life a lot easier, but I have an aversion to anything common or easy. I do not perceive of myself as either. If you met me, you'd agree. 

So, I'm stuck with my name. Apparently, very few people genuinely like their names, but are too ensconced in them to consider change. Who likes change? Very few. 

If you are in the aforementioned category and really despise your label, you have my deepest empathy. Just remember Shakespeare's line from Romeo and Juliet: "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Even if you were to alter your name, you would still be wonderful you. 

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The Daily Word for August 8, 2021

 

wowser - noun - (Australian) - a puritanical, prudish person or killjoy

As you already know, the English language is spoken throughout the world. As the United States has such a particularly loud voice no matter what the forum, many speakers of other languages have heard it. Desiring to echo its strength or merely to understand it, many systems have instituted educational requirements to include it in curricula as a second language. The non-indigent Australians, however, have always spoken English as originally Australia was a penal colony of Great Britain, the founders of modern English. Whether or not the reason relates to their former status, Australians have always had a sense of humor unlike some of their British relations although the Brits tend to have more documented and used swear words than any other people, which does say a lot. The Aussies embrace words like today's wowser to express themselves effectively with a comedic sense, something indisputably admirable.

Surely, you know at least one wowser, a person that would rather complain about selfish concerns rather than kick up his or her heels and enjoy surrounding circumstances. At every party, there is at least one who pours a glass of ice water over the embers of carefree laughter by being negative. Fortunately, though, it is possible to redirect some wowsers so that they drink the ice water rather than use it as a tool to douse the delights of others. 

Case in point: last night, I attended the annual gathering of two bachelor brothers, friends of mine for forty years and members of Platonic Anonymous. Neither has ever been married. One of our mutual female friends, who has also never taken the vows of matrimony, attempted to cast a pall over the sunshine in order to communicate her fears regarding the state of the Union at present. As I got the impression that the topic was inappropriate given the purpose of the party (to drink and be merry), I removed the shroud verbally, choosing to broach another more appropriate topic: the host's talent for making Italian sausages. I think she got the message. 

Wowsers are never the life of any party. Due to circumstances beyond your control, you may be transitioning into a killjoy. If so, stop yourself immediately, and resort to watching swaths of your favorite comedian's routines on YouTube to inspire you to sit back and laugh off whatever is plaguing you. The times are tough. We all need to wear humor as though it is a uniform.

Enjoy your Sunday!

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The Daily Word for August 5, 2021

 

bouncebackability - noun - the capacity to recover from a setback (Lexico.com)

In case you haven't noticed, I tend to mine Lexico.com for "Weird and Wonderful Words." At the top right of the website, there is usually a word of the day. Today's is "bouncebackability." I decided to hijack it because it stands as an appropriate symbol of the times: what has been referred to as "dumbing down," a similar term used to describe mitigation, going from the complex to the easy. The term is not a word that you or I or anybody will find in Webster's, not the edition you or I or anybody has in back of the rarely watched DVDs on that basement shelf next to the TV set from 1990. "Bouncebackability" is a neologism or made-up word. Whoever coined the term obviously doesn't have much of a vocabulary, not reflective of English anyway. "Resilient" would be the legit synonym here. But I suppose it would be too hard to recall if pressed. And it would take too long to look it up on your iPhone if you are in a bind. 

With the aforementioned in mind, since our technological wonders are in the process of replacing our brain capacity, I am not surprised that these tell-it-like-it-is terms are replacing the gorgeous, polysyllabic lexicon we used to be responsible for knowing in order to score well on the SAT. (As far as I know, vocabulary is not tested separately on the Scholastic Aptitude Test anymore, which definitely is telling.) If we don't step up to the plate and use our minds, pretty soon the entire dictionary will be filled with hybrid words like bouncebackability. Picture this: rather than saying "I'm perturbed," you will soon be whining, "I'm wannapunchyouintheface-ish today." And won't that be economic. 

Sarcastic and cynical? You think so? Well, maybe. But my point of view is looking more and more realistic everyday. 

Happy Thursday! 

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The Daily Word for August 4, 2021

 

concinnity - noun - elegance or neatness of literary or artistic style (Lexico.com)

Let's face it. Yup, let's get close and personal for a moment. The word elegance and everything remotely related to it have become archaic along with the likes of fedoras, tuxes with cummerbunds for men, and hoop skirts, beaded gowns, and pearls for women. Unfortunately, superficial smoothness is out of style. B

However, that is not necessarily true when it comes to "neatness of literary" style or concinnity. Although I am not a book critic and never want to be, I'm going to have to praise neophyte author Brit Bennett for her concinnity in The Vanishing Half. All I have to say is that she must have read Toni Morrison's classics over and over until she was blue in the face. If not, perhaps Morrison's adept concinnity migrated into the depths of young Bennett's being via osmosis as it was once believed that if you slept with the right book under your pillow, you'd wake up equally as talented at writing as the author of choice. Did Bennett do this? I have no idea. While reading TVH, it is also possible to pick up on a bit of Colin Whitehead's voice as well. Maybe she rested her head on top of one of his books, too? If she double-dipped in this department, she must not have gotten a lot of sleep growing up since even the thickest, $425 pillow by Hotel Collection can't eliminate the sharp corners and bumps of hardcover books. But they could've been paperbacks, in which case my theory has just been debunked. 

Now admittedly as a snobbish, fastidious bibliophile, I would rather pick up one of Richard Wright's or James Baldwin's masterpieces, but since they and their concinnity are no longer around to contribute to the current market, Brit Bennett will do just fine. Call up your local library and reserve a copy today as the waiting list is long. 

The takeaway? It is comforting to know that concinnity hasn't gone the way of the aforementioned clothing or even the Oldsmobile. 

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The Daily Word for August 3, 2021

 

zetetic - adjective - proceeding by inquiry or investigation (Lexico.com)

Here's a rare one for you, and it begins with a z, too. You probably don't have too many go-to words beginning with that letter. Neither do I. I chose this little ditty because this morning I was awoken by the strident sounds of large trucks. It was the audio equivalent of waking up alongside an interstate highway sans the swoosh of forward movement. Needless to say, I wasn't happy about it. 

One of the houses across the street was recently sold for 600K and marked for removal. In the soon-to-be present, a sweet, 1940s Cape Cod will be crushed to pieces, its ashen remains carted away to prepare for its successor, a million-dollar McMansion with no real personality and chatty children and their clueless parents as inhabitants. Such is the way of the New York City suburbs these days. 

To continue, I stood poised in my bedroom window awaiting the first crushing blow to the roof that I was thinking of filming for TikTok as a subtle political statement. I can't think of what that could be right now, and it doesn't matter because I have no video to post. A local police officer put a stop to progress by asking for the necessary papers that the demolition crew couldn't produce. The whole zetetic process took a few minutes although the crew had been loitering, frozen in front of the house for two hours, most likely waiting for the cop. So much for that. Who knows when the poor overgrown house that looks like Bo Radley's will be put out of its misery? I hope soon. 

The takeaway? Anything zetetic in nature will most likely take time and will inhibit a degree of forward movement. It is what it is. At least we got a new word out of the deal. 

Happy Tuesday! 

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The Daily Word for August 2, 2021

 

zoolatry - noun - the worship of animals (Lexico.com)

I have a few friends that practice zoolatry. You probably know a few yourself. I call them "animal people," folks that care more for critters than clans of human beings, or individuals for that matter. Of the animal worshippers, some prefer dogs over cats for companions. Some prefer cats over dogs. Others need both around them 24-7. I have one friend, the husband of a close gal pal of mine and the curator of a top zoo, has a doctorate in zoology, is known internationally for zoolatry and even has his own reality TV series. Clearly, his life revolves around creatures. 

For the most part, I have nothing against zoolatry as I am fond of animals myself and have had many pets throughout my life. However, there are extremists out there from whom you may wish to keep an arm's distance, especially romantically. Take one of my ex-beaus, for instance. He is a cat man, but no ordinary one as he takes zoolatry to a whole new level. His cat, a female that he had rescued from a dumpster years ago, transmogrified into his "daughter." As he never had children of his own, the cat became the substitute. One of the reasons why I broke things off with him ultimately was because he loved the cat more than he loved me–an obvious deal breaker. 

Now I can understand why there are persons that get caught up in zoolatry as there are pets out there that are more intelligent or likable or intuitive than most humans. I owned two dogs myself that were more emotionally invested in me than their co-owner, my ex-husband. But we have to keep a proper perspective. People need us more than most animals that could survive pretty well without us as they once had thousands of years ago before domestication. 

Words for the wise: love your mate, your children more than your dog or cat. Even if you claim you do, show your people that you do because after all, love is an action. 

Happy First Monday in August!

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