Words I Don't Know & 2 Annoyances

1. I am an avid reader and one benefit of that is a pretty good vocabulary. This helps me with Wordle and games like scrabble, plus I want to expand my vocabulary. When I was a young working woman with a dictionary on my desk, I used to open that great big book and choose a new word to learn daily. It should be easy to adopt new words, as most of my reading is done on a Kobo. When I don't recognize a word I just press my finger on the it and the definition pops up. So very handy! Except that I have done it repeatedly, over the years, on a few of the same words. There are words that I have to look up EVERY SINGLE time I see them! I cannot for the life of me recall the meaning. Here's one: Bemused. Why can I not retain the meaning of this fairly common word? In case you are wondering it means 'puzzled, confused or lost in thought'. As opposed to 'amused', which I know the meaning of and I'm sure you do as well. A few other examples are 'anthropomorphized' (to attribute human behaviour to an animal, object, etc. This one took me a while but now it seems to have stuck. I just came across the word ennui and had to look it up. My brain wants to tell me that it means the same as "innuendo" but nope - it refers to a feeling of 'listlessness, tiredness or boredom'. AND I learned that it's pronounced 'on-wee'. Not 'en-you-i'. Hopefully this deep dive will cement the word for me.

Why does my brain so stubbornly refuse to take these words & meanings in? Is it full? I don't think that's the answer as I do manage to regularly learn new things. In mulling it over, I wonder if it's because some words are found in literature but seem to be rarely used in conversation? I honestly cannot remember anyone ever saying "ennui" (or en-wee) aloud? Bemused may have been spoken in an old English show. Perhaps Downton Abbey? I want to use these words. But I feel a little silly. I may tell someone I'm feeling low energy today, but cannot construct a sentence with that 'other' word in it.

Wow that subject left me with a generalized feeling of ennui? Not sure if that worked?

This honestly has me puzzled. Is there anyone else out there that struggles repeatedly with some words or is this a me thing?

2. Random things that annoy me: I am certain you have been watching a show or movie and two or more characters are having a discussion. One says "now, if you'll excuse me I have somewhere to be". Have you ever in your life said (rather haughtily) 'now, if you'll excuse me"? Ever? I seriously doubt it, but if there's a line that is seriously overused in scripts, this is it. And for some reason, it drives me a little crazy. It just seems so affected and, I don't know, ridiculous. I keep wanting to try it in real life, but as will dropping the word ennui into random conversations, I think I'd just feel silly. I am sorry for pointing this out as you may notice it and be equally annoyed.

This final gripe may be more relatable. You go into a store to make a purchase, complete your transaction, and say thank you to the person who served you. Their response is "no worries". Ummm, I wasn't worried? Did I seem worried? I just thanked you for doing your job and perhaps for being pleasant about it. What is wrong with "you're welcome" or even "my pleasure"? Final question - am I coming across as a cranky old lady? Haha.

What are you grateful for this Thanksgiving weekend? I am grateful for:

• this sunny weather

• to be running again after so many months off

• better sleep after weeks of frustratingly interrupted nights

• a refrigerator full of food for this busy weekend ahead

• getting in & out of a very busy Costco in under 20 minutes this morning

There is so much more!!

I was for some reason feeling quite irritable today. I couldn't seem to pin down what was bugging me (I was bemused), but I can honestly say that pounding this out has left me feeling a lot better! I was also able to ignore the fact that I cannot, for the life of me, fix the random left justification of this blog page. Now I can get back to prepping for our 'small intimate family gathering on Sunday". Yes I say that facetiously as our wonderful family of 20 will be arriving hungry in less than 48 hours! So Grateful 🥰

Pat xo