Thanks to the fabulous Instagram account of Budget Traveler, I learned a new beautiful word today: Psithurism. Apparently, its definition is "the sound of the wind through the trees." How gorgeous is that?! Who knew there was a word for the rustling of the leaves after a wind? Not only is the sound beautiful, but the word is too. It sort of flows off the tongue. I know it sounds ridiculous but just say the word out loud, it's sort of addictive.
This new one, is even better than my last new nature-ific word: Petrichor, which is the smell of dust after the rain. Gorgeous! (Thank you Doctor Who!)
The English language may have some ridiculous rules and regulations, but you can't fault it for all its amazing words!
Just like (I'm hoping) many book nerds out there, I pay close attention to the news stories on new additions to the Oxford Dictionary. Of course, doing this, I'm usually disappointed in the human race as a whole. This year was par for the course, though it seemed especially frustrating for some reason. Here are just a few of my favorites:
Twerk: In other words that disgusting display of crassness that Miley Cyrus so eloquently performed at the VMAs earlier this week.
Blondie: I'm ok with this one. In fact I'm not sure why it's never been in there before considering how long blondies have been around.
Omnishambles: Apparently a by-product of Malcolm Tucker on "The Thick of It" in Britain. Based on the definition, it's basically a big shambles. Seeing as I have an affinity for fusing words, I'm ok with this one as well.
Selfie and Vom: Are we so focused on 1000 other things that we can't take the tenth of a second extra that it takes to say "self-portrait" or "vomit"?
Derp: Meaning stupid, as in: The fact that these words have made it past a 13 year old's text conversation is extremely derp.
FOMO: Granted, I don't always know the tech/text speak but I have NEVER heard anyone use this term. It apparently means: Fear of Missing Out. But quite honestly it sounds slightly derogatory.
And last but certainly not least, my top 2 examples of the fall of civilization:
2. TL: DR: Another I've never heard until today, but it means - Too Long: Didn't Read. How long before students will be writing this on English tests and essays?
1. Srsly: Because it's just too taxing to add those pesky vowels
I have to think that 100 years from now if dictionaries still exist, people are going to think we were brainless weirdos who didn't know how to spell.
After a short conversation today on the virtues of math, I think I finally came to conclusion as to why math hates me. A math major friend decided to argue that the reason mathematics was so fantastic was that it was absolute. There's only ever one answer to a problem and each problem is only black or white. That totally explains my issue with it in a nutshell!
The world is full of shades of grey. Reading Shakespeare or a comic book, you can take something slightly different away than everyone else who has ever read it. Depending on your mood when you read it, you may even come away with very different opinions from the last time you read it. The same goes for the world as a whole. It would be a very, very boring place if every action had only one possible reaction, or every choice had just a single outcome.
The inability to solve a math problem may have caused issues for me in school but now, I'm finally happy with it. If that inability opened my eyes to the wonder of devouring a great book in an afternoon, or appreciating varying opinions on a particular subject, then so be it. The way I see it, you can never really appreciate the full beauty of the world and your surroundings until you start to appreciate the shades of grey around you. Afterall, grey is the new black...
