Disclaimer:
The opinions of the author of this post in no way reflect the opinions of the writer of this post. Or in words that may be understood by people who actually expect stuff to make sense, I know I’m wrong, I accept I am wrong, I just want to write about how grumpy I am.
I mean I’m wrong. Language is an ever evolving thing that must change to support the changes in our society. While one might be able to argue the beneficence or malignancy of individual changes or even trends, to attempt to hold our language sacrosanct and unchanging would be impossible and stultifying even in its attempt.
It is not feasible to separate our language into foreign words we use, old words most people have forgotten, new words that fuddy duddies don’t understand (Fuddy duddy is a word used by fuddy duddies to describe other fuddy duddies that are even fuddier duded, look it up), and other stuff. There may be a specialist dictionary that does indeed separate these words out but I am too cheap/can’t be bothered/don’t know where to find it.
So okay ages ago I wrote a post about doing puzzles: It’s A Puzzle. This is a continuation of that.
I was tempted back into Codewords by the cute picture of the dog on the cover. I know, I should know better, I’ve met cute dogs, I know what they are like, but still I lose a third of most meals to my two, and half the rest to my four cats. Why do I want to hum the theme song to ‘My Three Sons’ every time I think ‘my four cats’? Don’t answer that. The answer is because I am old and crazy and I have my family to remind me of that. Besides, think about it; to even get that reference you would have to be OLD. Don’t give yourself away.
Anyway in order to soothe my ire at words that I don’t believe should be there, something that didn’t involve shouting at my family, they got a bit stroppy, or banging things, I am too cheap to risk breakages, or punching walls, Gavin made me stop, I decided instead to write down the offending words. Then I would do something with the list.
I started checking words on Google. This is useless, every thing is on Google. I could look up:
wDYGPJ.
A word created by randomly mashing the keyboard, and get a meaning by using Google.
(I tried I didn’t get a dictionary definition but it did throw up some possibilities. I am scared).
So I am being a word snob and pretending I am too educated for Google. Like I don’t use it all the time. If for nothing else than appearing smart, in front of my husband, of 28 years, who knows everything about me. OMG I am so shallow.
Anyway I will only accept words that are in my high school dictionary. Which I still have. Unfortunately I have well over 200 thousand books and Gavin has organised them. So I would have to ask him to find the dictionary. And then he would know what I was doing. And he would ask the result. And then I would have to admit to him I was wrong. This would shatter his illusion that I know what I am doing. Undoubtedly smashing his entire world view and leaving him confused and vulnerable, and even possibly unstable.
Can I really take that risk?
No that would be irresponsible. I must prioritise my family and forego my own certainty and unassailable rightness.
Shut up, this is what I am going with.
But I am going to rage about words in my puzzles that I don’t think should be there with absolutely no regard to accuracy or sense. Like I approach most things in life. But the important thing is I admit I am doing it. And you can get all the way off my back about it. (badly messed up quote from a phenomenal You Tube Series). An example.
I appear to have wasted this entire post on disclaimer. Come back for the actual words some other time.
autistsix 