The word of the day is.. Fatuous.
Fatuous - adj. (Fahch’ oo us)
1) Vacuously, smugly, and unconsciously foolish.
2) Delusive; unreal: fatuous hopes.
From the Latin word fatuus meaning foolish , idiotic, silly.
Usage: People that have collections of toothpaste and make a website devoted to the collection can be considered to be fatuous.
I have apparently discovered my purpose in life. I was put on this earth to be a Bovine Scatologist. I see now that this is going to turn in to a ‘Word of the Day’ by the looks on your faces. The few of you that have the look of complete distaste obviously already get it.
Bovine: of or relating to or belonging to the genus Bos (cattle)
Scatologist: one that studies fecal excrement, as in medicine, paleontology, or biology.
That’s right folks. I study BULL$#!T!!! Now, please know that this is not of my own choosing. Sometimes life makes decisions for you. Most of the time life puts you in contact with stupid people. They are everywhere. They just don’t know they are stupid. Sometimes you are forced to deal with pathological liars. I even deal with pathologically stupid people. These are the most dangerous because they chose to be stupid. Think sorority sisters.
I have to wonder why everyone has to be so full of crap? Why can’t people say what they mean and mean what they say? Is it REALLY that difficult? It certainly isn’t for me (like you haven’t figured that out yet).
OK, with that off of my chest, I want everyone to come in close… we need a group hug. Repeat after me: “I love you guys. I will no longer propagate prevarication. I will not be stupid. If I have no choice in being stupid I will be quiet. Amen.”
Awwww… doesn’t that feel better?
Stupid Buzz. Buzz, you seem to be on this word kick lately. I tend to presume that I have bounteous vocabulary. But Buzz has to come up with this etymology fascination. Well, since I was struggling with an entry here, being bored, I looked up ‘bored’. Nothing exciting there.. so to speak.. except “The condition of being bored; ennui“. Now see, it’s always the semi-colon that gets you. Ennui? WTF Mate?
Ennui (aw’-no) is defined in the American Heritage as: Listlessness and dissatisfaction resulting from lack of interest; boredom: “The servants relieved their ennui with gambling and gossip about their masters” (John Barth).
And Buzz, just for you:
[French, from Old French enui, from ennuyer, to annoy, bore. See annoy.]
Word History: Were they alive today, users of Classical Latin might be surprised to find that centuries later a phrase of theirs still survives, although as a single word. The phrase mihi in odi est (literally translated as “to me in a condition of dislike or hatred is”), meaning “I hate or dislike,” gave rise to the Vulgar Latin verb *inodire, “to make odious,” the source of the Old French verb ennuyer or anoier, “to annoy, bore.” This was borrowed into English by around 1275 as anoien, our annoy. From the Old French verb a noun meaning “worry, boredom” was derived, which became ennui in modern French. This noun, with the sense “boredom,” was borrowed into English in the 18th century, perhaps filling a need in polite, cultivated society.
So there you have it. I feel a severe case of ennui coming on.. and I’m pretty sure I can track the direct cause back to this blog entry.
-nef
Babble-Assing -Bab”ble Ass”ing v. int.
1. To utter a meaningless confusion of words or sounds whilst attempting to sound as a person holding a rational conversation.
2. To talk much; to chatter; to prate.
3. Incessantly talking out of one’s ass with no identifiable purpose.
My wonderful wife just made this word up… as I was mindlessly surfing Amazon… and she realized that she was bombarding me with a play by play commentary on her train of thought.
I felt it was important to document this term properly so it may live in the etymological annals for generations to come.
-nef
