What follows is a jungle of words woven from — in my head — notes for future blogs posts. Rarely laconic, this post might be stretching it, even for me. I wrote in it a coffee shop this afternoon while waiting for a friend. Be gentle.
Notes: ugly happens, complaints about not being able to have a dog, NYT list of most looked up words.
It’s far simpler to use the words from the NYT list than to write about the list. There are many posts, searchable via Google, about the merits of the words. Instead I incorporated, good or bad, many of the words into a preconceived post. I think I managed 37 out of 50. The list is here in pdf —->bafflingwords.
I sometimes wish I was Elle Woods from the bildungsroman, Legally Blond. Not because I woke up this morning, looked in the mirror, shrieked at the louche individual peering back, and running late with no time for a fix, shrugged my shoulders and muttered to myself unconvincingly “ugly happens”. No, it wasn’t that.
I’ve been enviously perusing pictures of dogs belonging my contemporaries over at the 20 something forum. I love dogs, and contemplated getting one some time ago. Currently my fish are the ersatz for what I really desire. My fealty to my swimming pets is real, but these two creatures are not fungible. Fish live a banal life, and their life mimics their entertainment and companionship value. I receive neither love or gratitude from my fish, and I don’t love them. My dog, well that was a different story.
The lack of a canine is for penury of time not will. I’ve yet to figure out how people who work, or work and go to school, manage to have dogs. My old dog, though she traveled around the word, caged and quarantined as we moved from place to place, was very accommodating, but she required a lot of attention and could not be left alone for long periods of time. Though not peripatetic, I’m not home for extended periods of time. I’m beholden to analyzing and evaluating Sisyphean policy and sumptuary rules, frequent dinners out, and days away for outside endeavors. A compromise is not possible at this time, presenting an enervating circumstance for a dog.
I envision myself the main character in an Elle Woods scenario. In sartorial elegance I carry a large Louis Vuitton to class. In my bag, one of many appurtenances, a mini dog.
Suffering apoplectic looks from saturnine PhD’s, my profligacy unforgiven, a label of “solipsistic attitude” quickly written in some folder with my name on it, and my fecklessness assumed, I’d survive. I’d endure the face off with the dauphins of academia. The situation would be parlous for a graduate student, but manageable. It’s the paroxysms of laughter I would face from peers, as the recondite student, the abstruse young women, that would bother me most. In addition, the schadenfreude, especially of those with no inclination toward me, would be hard to tolerate.
Better a bonobo to my work office, as an interlocutor, where the atmosphere of comity would be accepting of something close to human, something other than a mini dog. A pup would be frowned upon, a contretemps, a risible creature, but objectionable.
To end what some might consider more of a peroration than a blog post, though the Elle Woods scenario works in my head, in real life it would be a different story. Elle was sui generis, and we mustn’t forget, a character in a movie. I’m merely an inchoate young woman, yet to prove myself worthy of apotheosis, with epistemological leanings toward skepticism, who can’t for the life of me find reason to use the words phlogiston, antediluvian, and hagiography, to name a few, in this blog post.
And I’m still without a dog.
Tags: Blogging, dogs, New York Times
Standing O. That doesn’t stand for orgasm, though some might think it the case.
I read somewhere a lot of the words came from Maureen Dowd’s column. It’s probably why I don’t read her and my wife does.
I’m attracted to females with large vocabularies.
Dogs take time and patience. Enjoy your freedom.
Thanks for bringing the edit comment function back.
jacob´s last blog ..2009 PGA Championship
“I read somewhere a lot of the words came from Maureen Dowd’s column”
ha ha, of course
john-m´s last blog ..We Have Death Panels
Very nice.
For what it’s worth, I think working single people can have happy dogs if:
A) The dog is tiny, so that running all over an urban apartment can be an adventure, or
B) The yard is large and backs up to wilderness so the dog(s) can wander and chase rabbits and squirrels during the day and wear themselves out at night doing evil across the desert.
Doug´s last blog ..Severalty
I go back and forth on this. It’d have to be a small dog, and I’m used to a large dog. I have the room, and enough people to sit for the dog, but it would have some alone time during the day. I’m not apt to pay for doggie day care.
We’ll see. Looking at dog photos gives me a case of the “wants’.
I have the best of both worlds, the dog here isn’t mine, and he periodically goes to visit his human grandmother but I benefit from the dog love. We could lease Tucker to you.
bildungsroman, schadenfreude, they threw me. I think a link to the definitions would have been.…..swell. I bet no one will have to look at that word.
breaks over
g´s last blog ..More Robots
I love Tucker, he’s a big dog though. Is he there most of the time? I have thought of golden poo’s, they are relatively shed-less and could run with me, unlike a small dog.
Good lord… have I entered a Stanley Kaplan SAT Review Course?
Not sure I ever see, or hear used, the word fungible outside the legal field. Let’s hope it stays with the lawyers. :-)
I like dogs. Well, except for those taco bell thingies. And dobermans.
sauerkraut´s last blog ..Cheerleading coach Tommie Hill earns Asshat of the Week Award
You mean a chihuahua? They seem a little crabby for me. I know a few of them. Wouldn’t fit my personality. I’m not as crabby as I seem, at least not most of the time.
Dobermans I like but they can be vicious if trained to be.
Despite the words I love the first paragraph.
Always disliked Elle Woods little dog, what are they called?
I understand why you couldn’t incorporate phlogiston, but come on, you could have found use for antediluvian.
john-m´s last blog ..We Have Death Panels
You do it. I think that is a chihuahua. I like those mini pugs that look like gremlins. Can’t remember their names. I think too much inbreeding causes problems, so I would want to get some mini mixed breed cheap dog — probably. Preferably a non shedding breed combo.
Thank you for the ITALICS. Like someone might not get that “schadenfreude”, “solipsistic”, and Sisyphean would be part of the most looked up group. I did pretty well the rest of the way, bildungsroman being very Harry Potter.
This was fun.
I have a dog. He was a rescue dog, a 5 year old lab. He does OK at home all day as long as he is walked in the morning. He watches television all day when I’m at work. I have a lot of dog sitters. I have younger brothers who still lives at home and if push comes to shove I can leave the dog with my parents. My girlfriend volunteers to dog duty too.
He’s too big to fit in my computer bag..
jake´s last blog ..Take Me Out To The Ball Game
YOUR WELCOME.
I’m jealous. I didn’t know you had a dog jake. I wouldn’t have figured it.
Phlogiston is a tricky word to use, and I think it needs a new definition so that we have new reasons to break it out.
Maybe it can be a word for something that we as a culture spent a lot of time worrying about only to find out that it wasn’t real.
EsotericWombat´s last blog ..The Obama Death Panel: An Autopsy
Yea, gotta think of something else to do with the world.
Sung to Call Me Al, it’s a song of tragedy, we need more of those.
“If you’ll be my phlogiston
I can be your Lavoisier
I can call you conjecture
conjecture when you call me, you can call me cal”
I always thought it was L Woods.
You learn something every day.
nice one joe
I thought you’d have used “shibboleth” given your background.
That “swine” was one of the words was kind of surprising.
I like cats, they’re easier, they can give or take human beings. They also like staying forever by themselves.
kait´s last blog ..Black Coats
For a minute I read your post at black cats. I hate a cat too, she was sweet but definitely did her own thing. I know too many people who are allergic to them which sometimes causes visitor problems, a cat would be easier though.
Fantastic!!
Also, the fact that people are in a position of either reading or wanting to properly use these words frequently enough that they are the most looked up makes me a little self-conscious about my own vocabulary.
I got a puppy in 2005. By four months of age she had developed a neurological problem leaving one of her front legs mostly paralyzed and her back legs quite wobbly. Cornell U couldn’t even diagnose it. Still have her. I love her to bits and pieces, but she is a lot more work than I ever thought I was signing on for when I thought, “I can afford shots, spaying, dog food, a bowl…and I love dogs, so I should get one.”
Just something to think about when you find yourself pining for a dog, but not quite ready — crazy stuff can happen.
Diana´s last blog ..What I’m Reading
Evidently, and I never knew this, though I read the NYT a lot, when you highlight the word a question mark appears, if you click it it takes you directly to that word in a dictionary.
Yea, I’m giving the dog due consideration, because it’s for better or worse.
I envision myself the main character in an Elle Woods scenario. In sartorial elegance I carry a large Louis Vuitton to class. In my bag, one of many appurtenances, a mini dog.
In a word salad jumble of great sentences this stood out. While it lacked the psuedo-sophistication of the words that people have to look up, it totally cracked me up
Cooper as Elle Woods. The idea is baffling but makes sense. I love it.
I’m a consummate NYT reader and never knew that about highlighting words. I can’t stand Maureen Dowd for many reasons but to give her her due don’t think she’s mostly responsible for the words. Not even William Safire who does write about words would be responsible for these world. I have to find out as this will drive me nuts
(I’m thinking about getting a dog but would have to get a little one that could travel with me on airplane seats – and my sister probably would ban if from her house so…) I am adopting a cat who currently stays with friends but can’t go to their winter home – birds
pia´s last blog ..Dear Blog
After reading this over without the Elle Woods fixation, it is Dowd, Verilyn something, David Brooks and even Frank Rich & Paul Krugman – they’re not the most difficult words :)
pia´s last blog ..Dear Blog
I was surprised that some of them were looked up, and yea I never knew about that highlight look-up feature either.
I can see you with a small pooch.
This was great, and fun. I’m all about fun on weekends. I like words, they’re important. They should be used sparingly, except in this case.
I was surprised at some of the words on the list, inchoate, recondite, adenoidal, banal???? WTF.
Phlogiston was understandable.
dane´s last blog ..My monthly food allowance
I noticed you posted one or twice recently. yea, inchoate is a favorite word of mind, it explains so many things. ;)
Einige dieser Worte sind direkt aus der deutschen Sprache. Die anderen habe ich nicht verstanden.
I made sure there were some words just for you Inde.
Labs are the best. Or Golden Retrievers. I miss my dog so much. I would get one now but I’m not home enough and would feel terrible at leaving it alone all day long.
Chris´s last blog ..End of Reform
My dog was a Golden, though I’m looking for less hair and smaller for right now, if at all.
Less hair? No way. Well, yeah they do shed a lot.
Chris´s last blog ..Basic Sanity
Feel like I mostly understood that. What a great way to learn new words! Seeing them used in context like that is so much more interesting.
Either interesting or tedious and annoying — sometimes I think they are both.
I refuse to look up all these words. Call me feckless.
A feckless swine then? Swine is something I’m sure you know, they have them in Alabama.
I’ve always wanted to make a blog post completely composed of uncommonly used words as a joke, but too somnolent.
Excellent post.
Get a small lap dog. Tiny poo is so much easier to deal with. Plus they are so helpless you can’t help but feel risibly commiserative.
Bennet´s last blog ..I like that I’m not the only person thinking about these ideas