(Stickers are still not here. They had better arrive soon, because the more time I have to think about it, the more outrageous my sticker bomb targets become.)
In general, I get along okay in the world... but sometimes I lose it. Today, I lost it. I "went off" on someone who misused the word "dilemma"... it wasn't that I was feeling ungenerous... it was that the word "dilemma" is so often abused that I felt it was time someone stood up for it. I felt a little bit bad about it... because really, what are the feelings of a word compared to the infinitely more fragile feelings of a person? Luckily, she's super cool and didn't mind the freak out. I guess she accepts that I am just a little bit weird with words sometimes. I work with some truly generous people, and am grateful for the privilege of being around them.
And... on a somewhat related note. I got busted for using the word "whence" in an official communique. I had gotten it past all but one person. It was approved without comment by everyone who had to approve it for publication. It was published, distributed, advertised &c... and no one had made any remark about it. But then at lunch today, one guy looked at me and said "WHENCE???" Initially, all I was going to do was to make a face... but then I felt that, since so many people seem to have totally and without remark accepted its use, this must be the time for "whence" to return to regular usage! Perhaps it has already returned to regular usage. Perhaps its return has been so widely accepted that everyone uses the word, and it wasn't even I who used it! So I posited that it's a regular, everyday word. He didn't buy it, but I really believe that it's an irreplaceable and necessary word... there really is no substitute for it... it works better in compound phrases and never presents the dangling preposition problem. Bring "whence" back!
I had to go to a work thing this evening, and so didn't get to surf. Tomorrow night, though, will be a surf team night. It's supposed to go up to 3 to 4 meters... which is bigger than I now need it to be... because all I want to do is walk the blue path.
And... on a somewhat related note. I got busted for using the word "whence" in an official communique. I had gotten it past all but one person. It was approved without comment by everyone who had to approve it for publication. It was published, distributed, advertised &c... and no one had made any remark about it. But then at lunch today, one guy looked at me and said "WHENCE???" Initially, all I was going to do was to make a face... but then I felt that, since so many people seem to have totally and without remark accepted its use, this must be the time for "whence" to return to regular usage! Perhaps it has already returned to regular usage. Perhaps its return has been so widely accepted that everyone uses the word, and it wasn't even I who used it! So I posited that it's a regular, everyday word. He didn't buy it, but I really believe that it's an irreplaceable and necessary word... there really is no substitute for it... it works better in compound phrases and never presents the dangling preposition problem. Bring "whence" back!
I had to go to a work thing this evening, and so didn't get to surf. Tomorrow night, though, will be a surf team night. It's supposed to go up to 3 to 4 meters... which is bigger than I now need it to be... because all I want to do is walk the blue path.
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