Thursday, June 11, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Pet Peeve of the Day
The noun form of the word "chagrin" is being used incorrectly in the same way over and over, and this must be addressed.
Dictionary.com's definition: a feeling of vexation, marked by disappointment or humiliation
Somehow, a bunch of the people who have tried to pick up on the meaning of this word through context clues have missed the part I have emboldened. I blame it on those people, I'm sure you know the type, who are clearly not very intelligent or well read and yet like to throw into conversation a heavy dose of "2 dollar" words they often misuse.
The word "chagrin" is the only word with this particular meaning, so let's not water it down or muddle it into a synonym for the word "annoyance".
Example of the correct usage: "Much to his chagrin, Charlie committed one faux pas after another in front of the girl he wanted to impress."
The way your garden variety moron uses it these days: "Much to his chagrin, Charlie couldn't find his car keys."
Unless of course, something else in the story indicates that it would be mortifying or at least mildly embarrassing for Charlie not to be able to find the keys.
Dictionary.com's definition: a feeling of vexation, marked by disappointment or humiliation
Somehow, a bunch of the people who have tried to pick up on the meaning of this word through context clues have missed the part I have emboldened. I blame it on those people, I'm sure you know the type, who are clearly not very intelligent or well read and yet like to throw into conversation a heavy dose of "2 dollar" words they often misuse.
The word "chagrin" is the only word with this particular meaning, so let's not water it down or muddle it into a synonym for the word "annoyance".
Example of the correct usage: "Much to his chagrin, Charlie committed one faux pas after another in front of the girl he wanted to impress."
The way your garden variety moron uses it these days: "Much to his chagrin, Charlie couldn't find his car keys."
Unless of course, something else in the story indicates that it would be mortifying or at least mildly embarrassing for Charlie not to be able to find the keys.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
My Name
I was the first Arielle Norman who ever lived. When Google happened, I was still the only one. At first there was one hit, then two, then three: National Merit Scholar commendation, Xanga, MySpace. Now, after a few years, there are 106 hits: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twine, a Feminist Mormon Housewives post, an offer to run a criminal background check on me, Missy Higgins' IMEEM profile, etc., but they're still all me. Yesterday, I found out another Arielle Norman was born maybe 12 years ago. She's a little African-American girl whose mother found me on Facebook. Now that she's coming of age, she'll start getting hits sooner or later, and it'll feel very strange to see her for the first time on the front page of "my" Google search one day, and much more so if and when she's ever at the top. Anyway, with 6.6 billion and climbing, no name is safe anymore. You could name your kid LaCh@stichia17- and some little copy cat fucker will get you.
Update on 5/20/2009: I'm noticing more and more that my name, Arielle, is getting more and more popular. It's a kick ass name, I realize. I wonder how many Arielle's there were before me.
Update on 5/20/2009: I'm noticing more and more that my name, Arielle, is getting more and more popular. It's a kick ass name, I realize. I wonder how many Arielle's there were before me.
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