Hello, darklings!
I started a fun trend on discord where I share a Word of the Day. This has led to interesting discoveries of word definitions and their etymology.
Etymology is fascinating to me, especially in the English language, where we have such a conglomeration of source languages. Language is truly an ever evolving beastie, with some words being simplified to roll off the tongue easier, some being invented to describe a thing more succinctly, while other words migrate region to region, or often get plucked from vocational jargon and adapted to suit non-professional definitions.
Some words even start off with one meaning and become the exact opposite, such as “terrific”, “silly”, and “nimrod”.
We even have words that hold two opposite meanings at the same time, called contronyms or Janus words. Janus is a Greek god depicted with two faces, and he’s doubly suited here, as he’s a god of doorways, transitions, time, and duality, which suits language metamorphosis well. Examples of this are “clip”, “oversight”, and “cleave”.
It is also what makes word definitions so tricky at times, because we can hear word evolution in the works every time we hear a word being misused. Words change their meanings when they become misused enough, and especially their more subtle undertones. Even though a word definition might be neutral, it may have evolved in its use to have a negative or positive connotation, such as “cheap”, “aroma”, and “unique”.
This is not a thing to be dismayed over. Language and its usage is the tool with which we forge, and it is molten. While it can be daunting to keep track of its changes and search meanings when struck with doubt, we can also take comfort that our language changes to our needs. We are not stuck with the difficulties and limitations of a fixed word system. There are few hard and fast rules, and when we need to convey a feeling and emphasis that doesn’t suit within rigid grammar, we can break those rules.
I mean, really, if for some reason we cannot find a word that fits (though you certainly should search well first!), we can even Shakespeare it. Those scripts feature many words that were created for a play’s single use that, due to exposure to a wide audience, simply manifested into speech and thus became honest-to-goodness words in our dictionary.
Be thankful for our language, corvids. It’s vast, dynamic, varied, challenging, and full of different shades, and it also gives us the option to rebel when we need to make a point.
Write hard.
Working On:
I took a week of vacation to kind of reset and focus on fixing up the house with the savings gained from working so much overtime. It didn’t work as well as I would like. My brain is still an overwrought place. But at least this tells me this is not the overtime so much at work, but something deeper to solve.
I wish I could say I got far more construction done on the house issues than I did, but I at least have the materials and projects started, and I’m inching toward resolutions for the most ‘on fire’ issues.
Needless to say, I did not get much writing or reading done at all, and my vacation has ended. Isn’t that a strange wreck, when I can get more reading and writing done working 10+ hours a day.
Research History This Week That May Have Put Me on a List (or confused whoever monitors me):
How long individuals survive with untreated tuberculosis.
16th century slang and names
European food prior to Roman introduction of cabbage, onions, etc.
Ship galley cooking fires/hearths/stoves in 16th and 17th century.
Mast rack meaning
Carbon monoxide poisoning
Writing Whoops:
“Mortar” and “mortar” are spelled the same after all, even though one is for building and laying bricks, and the other is for explosions. It also means a round, deep dish or basin for food or liquids, a grinding bowl (pestle and mortar), a heavy, often-wheeled, piece of artillery, and also acts as a verb for throwing projectiles or missiles repeatedly, or the act of binding/glueing objects together, often with a cementing mix.
“Ambivalent” does not mean mildly uninterested . It means mixed feelings, having two or more opposing emotions about the same person/place/thing.
Things my AI bot has overheard:
“It’s not fish, Brain! It’s potatoes! Po-tay-tooooes.”
“Hey, Computer, how much antihistamine can you take in a day before it damages your liver?”
“Don’t come over here to puke, too! Why can’t you puke in one spot?”
“Vash, you asshole, I don’t spank you as you walk by!”
“Newt, if you chew that bandage off, I swear by my pretty floral bonnet…”
Beasties Update:
My elderly black lab has started on consistent pain medication this week to help with the ache of his old bones.
The youngest cat, Hecate, is doing better and bathrooming normal now. Turns out she’s likely allergic to chicken and hasn’t had near the problems since switching to a fish based cat food. However, one of the cats still has issues, but not sure who yet.
Newt’s anxiety is giving me anxiety. House repairs apparently make her a nervous wreck, and her healing hot spot on her toe has now been joined by a mass of hot spots on her feet and back legs. I’ve had to cone her now, which we both hate, but she kept ripping off the bandages or abusing new spots above them, as well as licking up the medicine.
Watching and Reading:
I finished up Rings of Power season 2 on Prime, and I still do not understand the low ratings for this show at all. Maybe because people don’t watch past the slower starting episodes to see how everything comes together? The last two episodes of season 2 are tense and rough, playing out like a full feature movie with battlefield skirmishes and solo fights, and ended much like Empire Strikes Back, with losses and retreats, but also regrouping and hope. I look forward to seeing what these heroes, familiar in name and Tolkien’s Middle-earth history, but given superb life and personality on screen, bring for season 3.
I also have finished reading Beyond Mortal, a superhero lovecraftian graphic novel by Cullen Bunn, art and lettering by Danny Luckert and Ed Dukeshire. I’ll be posting a Book Peck on that soon. It’s a gorgeous horror with stellar art and characters.
Comments