Month: May 2024

What do I do when I see an aging stranger in my mirror: a.cry, b.smile,  c. scream or d. All of the above? That’s easy, the correct answer is”d”. I’m not  talking just a bad hair day here, I’m flirting with Dorian Gray!  I troll myself and since I know best what’s gets to me, I hurl some pretty good zingers at myself. I’ve got wrinkles on top of  wrinkles, and what about that hair-do and the hair on my  chiny, chin,chin. That deer in the headlines look is not very flatttering. I don’t think my teeth should be brown.  Heads up, my insides don’t match my outsides, so what you see is not what you get.

 Aging is a messy situation. Should I fight it, embrace it, or ignore it?  I could look younger with the right anti-aging potions and lotions and cosmetic surgery,  but I I still wouldn’t have had fewer birthdays. Denying aging will never change the reality of aging. It is a relentless process, stopped only by death….. not a warm fuzzy feeling….

Instead of focusing more on old news or “old”news,  I decided to take a writing break and drive downtown to see an “old” friend.  A Canada goose was about  to cross the street on Centre Avenue, and as I put my brakes on I saw that she was a Mama Goose followed  by 4 goslings and bringing up the rear was Papa goose.  Of course,  I had to come to a complete stop as they ambled across the street. I smiled when I realized I had gotten my warm and fuzzy feeling after all. That moment I was ageless, just a fellow Mother and traveler on the road of life. I had helped my son Tyler cross the street many times. Being in the moment and witnessing the innocence of the goslings made me feel blessed.  It was what I needed to change the direction of my day and take a “right” turn.

Then I remembered my blog about the yellow caterpillar that my late husband, Roger, and I spotted while we were resting on a bench?. Roger was pretty far along in his dementia,  but able to walk and focus on some things. I  don’t think that caterpillars are warm blooded, but they sure are fuzzy. We watched the yellow caterpillar slowly make it’s way across the rocks to the base of a tree. We wondered how it decided which direction to crawl?. Up and down and around the rocks he went. Our world became that yellow caterpillar. We weren’t old or young, or sick or well, we were just there, in the moment. 

I am typing this while sitting on my sofa and I just felt this light touch on my arm. It is my little dog Molly reaching out to me with her paw. She pats my arm to let me know she wants attention, and “pets” and probably to sit on my  lap. She doesn’t care how old I am, or how old I look, or how old I feel. So I’ve went from my angst about aging to warm and fuzzy goslings, caterpillars and Molly. I choose the warm and fuzzy!

I’d like a word with you! Don’t worry you’re not in trouble. Since my mind feels like word salad that’s my topic.  I love words, vocabulary is my thing. I’m fascinated by finding the perfect word, synonyms are so much fun. How did this or that slang or idiom come to be?  We use some weird words. What about the joy of cursing? It seems to me that without slang, idioms and swearing, English would be a pretty boring language.  I imagine those who are learning our language have a hard time with the underbelly of our language!

Ironically, I’m first going to define some words. Slang: very informal usage in vocabulary and idiom that is characteristically more metaphorical, playful, elliptical, vivid, and ephemeral than ordinary language. Wow that definition has  some major vocabulary in it!  Slang is basically informal language, it’s not wrong or bad, but I probably wouldn’t refer to the Pope as “ Hey dude!” My age is showing for sure, but when, as a young person,  I used words like groovy, cool, and right-on we agreed on their meaning and we knew when and how to use them.  Slang is older than we think, or conversely short-lived in usage.  “Groovy” is a good example, it comes from the 30’s originally, was resurrected in the 60’s  but is seldom used today. Slang is generational and often specific to particular group. The boyz in the hood use different slang than Rednecks use! 

Slang is often used when we talk about sex. How many ways can we say sexual intercourse, or penis and vagina? Let me count the ways! We could start with “Play nug-a-nug”, slang for having sex in 1500.  In 1970, my friends and I  just asked “Did you do it?”, “it” meaning have sex. “A roll in the hay” does not mean rolling in the hay barn, and “making whoopee” has nothing to do with whoopie pies. There is so much slang for male and female genitalia that using the correct terms, like penis and vagina, seem like “dirty” words to me. Almost everyone “diddles”, but no one masturbates, right? The more taboo a topic is, the more slang created to cushion reality. Would you rather be “Pushing up daisies “ or be dead?


idiom: an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words but has a meaning of its own   Huh?  For example, “I’m all ears.” does not mean one is literally covered in ears, it means you are very attentive and listening closely. A lot of idioms in common usage in our language have old and archaic origins. “ Hit the road.” refers to the sound that horses hooves made on the road. This is so much more vivid than “I’m leaving now.” Winking your eyes 40 times will not be nearly as restful as a short nap. “40 winks” originated in Britain. Are you going to “Beat around the bush.”,  “ Bark up the wrong tree.” or “Bury the hatchet.”?

People who have a poor vocabulary are boring to listen to. To say you are “sad” is not nearly as interesting and nuanced as saying you are “heartbroken, “despondent” or “miserable”. The latter set of words are more precise and reveal the nature and depth of your feelings. I’m not a word snob, I’m just curious and want to better understand. Are you just angry or are you fuming and irate? You decide.

For now,  I think I’ll bite the bullet and hit the road. Or do I need to face the music first? I’m cool, you’re cool, we’re all cool….