Kids, it’s five days ’til Christmas, I haven’t put up the tree, haven’t made the sausage balls for the Boy’s arrival, and, oh, there’s a couple deadlines I’m frantic to hit so I can maybe take a day off sometime in the next ten. I haven’t dropped any balls yet—and I don’t want to—thus I’m giving you a Short Saturday–type post so I can keep moving.
A little snark at Christmas? Why, yes, please! (Oh, relax. It’s not about Christmas.) I mean, who doesn’t love that annual list of words whose shelf-lives have expired? Writing for the Atlantic, author Jen Doll says,
Every year is chock-full of words, and we have feelings about those words. We live with them, we love them, we let them roll around in our mouths, and we express them. We think about them and spit them out, vehemently, when we are angry. We grow tired of them, we dislike some on sight, and we drop them, eventually, and move on to hate others. Many times, we use the same words year after year, and sometimes, we rail on those words (see our continued excoriation of poor old moist. What did moist ever do to any of us?).
Words like artisanal and glocal and hashtag (“Did you hear the one about the parents who named their new baby Hashtag? Yeah, that’s about enough of that.”) get the full treatment here. And don’t get Doll started on hipster and the people who are.
But wait, there’s more.
The Boy actually sent me this one yesterday: the fifty best literary insults. Oh yeah.
From Shakespeare (“I desire that we be better strangers”—As You Like It) to J. K. Rowling (“She is nuttier than squirrel poo—Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), there are many beloved insults here. You’ll recognize Margaret Michell’s oft-quoted “My dear, I don’t give a damn,” and there are several well-known sharp tongues on the list (Oscar Wilde, Jane Austen, and Truman Capote spring to mind) but there are plenty of put-downs you’ll enjoy.
“If your brains were dynamite there wouldn’t be enough to blow your hat off” (Kurt Vonnegut, Timequake)
I have many interesting articles planned, researched, and partially written, so I’ll be back with more substantive posts in the coming days and weeks. Thanks for your forbearance while I pull them (and me) together. In the meantime … Have a look. Have a laugh. And let me hear from you.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
2 Comments
Can’t wait to follow the links! This made me almost spit out my coffee!
Just as long as you kept it clear of the keyboard. :)