You thought Mary Poppins came up with the most nonsensical, and difficult word to say out loud. I beg to differ!
While Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious might take us on a fabulous carousel ride, this next word will take us for a somewhat different journey. What is this word in which I speak? Let me check google for the correct spelling, as it’s a doozey!
Juxtaposition!
Personally, I find it easier to remember the song by Julie Andrews about her super word, comparatively. At least she used a great song to help remember how it’s pronounced! Unfortunately for both words, breaking things down to each’s roots can be a fantastical journey, in and of itself! But, as I’m a staunch supporter of the English language, no matter how ludicrous it may seem, I shall press on for all our sakes!
the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect.”the juxtaposition of these two images”
So, the definition’s great and all, but I wonder where it originated from? Here’s something that makes me laugh. We are reading, writing, and speaking an English word that originated from two differing languages, neither coming from our home land.
Juxta comes from Latin, and position comes from the French… go figure!
So, in order to speak in English form correctly, apparently, one must first pilfer all it’s bits and pieces from other languages. The whole robbing Peter to pay Paul thing, I surmise. Maybe that’s the reason English is such a complicated language, with all sorts of rules, exceptions, and spelling bonanzas, but I’m only speculating.
For the last several days, I’ve been attempting to find uses for this extravagant word, in replacement of simpler terms. Not only is it rather stupid, as very few people even use it nowadays, but it just seems over lengthy for no apparent reason.
Why can’t we keep things simple?
Just say, “Hey, those two things are different” verses the alternative…
“The juxtaposition of two such facts seemed to me auspicious. The juxtaposition of those two is comprehensible. The juxtaposition of the two names was probably not accidental. The juxtaposition of the two items suggested a programming muddle.
It seems to me that they added more big words, with each passing sentence. Great! Now we have to look up auspicious and comprehensible, as well. Nope!
Until somebody can come up with songs for all these fancy words, I’m sticking with my favorite Mary Poppins word!
Not only is a good budget impossible to approach in our current society, but whatever that thing is in the image… you don’t want to get close to that thing either.
The art program I’m using was just as frustrating and disappointing as a budget I didn’t agree to, what with offering me a rabid African deer instead of a roaring lion. Typical budget, these days!
I had to give up on budgeting about six years ago, when Covid landed on our country’s shores. When you lose everything you own, fall through every crack in the fabric of society, and wind up homeless at the bottom of the proverbial human pile… a budget no longer helps.
With my husband back in college gaining a new career path, my health has kept me homebound, and alone. Mornings are spent in scripture and prayer, then to my writing… that’s the only budget I’m approaching.
God willing, my book will fall into the hands of a competent publisher, and perhaps then I’ll have need of approaching a budget. One needs to have actual dollars in hand if they’re to do anything, really.
I used to say that you can’t leave home without spending money, but that’s changed since Amazon. Now you can spend money without even getting up out of your bed. Isn’t that a hoot!
That’s what I love about baking virtual cookies… they’re free! No budget needed here.
It’s amazing what kind of stuff you can find in a dictionary, but what if it’s not amazing stuff… what if it’s inamazing? Apparently, that’s not a real word, and I even checked!
So, what’s with Famous and Infamous? Why didn’t they just say famous or average… famous or unknown… or even, famous or boring? I think these are valid questions.
Before I go judging those who created the English language rules, I’ll make an effort towards some good old google research… that’s what everybody else does.
According to Google,
Famous and infamous both describe someone or something that is widely recognized, but they differ significantly in reputation: famous means well-known for positive, admirable, or neutral reasons, while infamous means famous for bad, evil, or scandalous actions. While a celebrity is famous, a criminal is infamous.
Sorry, but that’s sort of a silly reason to do that with the word famous. You’re either famous or creepy, so why muck up the language waters?
What stops us from switching up all words and giving them nefarious opposites by adding two letters?
I thought to find out how many words they’ve actually done this to… oh, and they call these words Antonyms, if you were at all wondering.
Google says,
Many English words form opposites (antonyms) by adding the prefix in- (or its variations im-, il-, ir-) to indicate “not” or “opposite of.” Common examples include accurate/inaccurate, complete/incomplete, visible/invisible, formal/informal, and sensitive/insensitive.
Ok, in some instances, I guess it actually does make sense, and also saves a good amount of time in explaining a thing… but all of them? I’m still not sold!
In most of these words, adding the in seems more like holding a mirror up to a word, and seeing it’s perfect opposite. But I believe that some words are too broad of a word to simply flip-flop it’s meaning with two simple letters.
Here’s where things get really irritating for me, personally…
Valuable and Invaluable,
Valuable and invaluable are often confused, but they are not antonyms; rather, invaluable is an extreme form of valuable. Valuable means having high worth, importance, or monetary value. Invaluable means something is so extremely precious, useful, or essential that its worth cannot be calculated—it is truly priceless.
Now, they’ve added a new in word, but with an entirely different definition to remember.
How on earth did any of us learn to read as children, honestly? Grown ups need to make up their minds, I think.
While most may assume the lottery to mean cash money, there are a number of other possibilities…
Such as peanuts! Why can’t there be a lottery for a lifetime supply of peanuts?
Or flowers, perhaps…
What about a lifetime supply of all the most beautiful spring blooms? Wouldn’t that be heavenly? Well, at least the fragrance would seem sent from above, in my humble opinion.
Then there’s babies…
Ok, so maybe that’s going a bit too far… but you can’t blame a girl for trying!
Now, books as a lottery?
SOLD!!!
Since the likelihood of an All-You-Can-Read book lottery isn’t that high for me, at this moment, how about we settle on a Cookie Lottery…
Honestly, I can come up with a much bigger list of books that I’d like to read again. From what’s currently being published willy nilly, I can’t say that I’ve any list at all!
Why do they ask these kinds of questions, anyway? Personally, I think it feels like they’re just trolling once more, in search of more information to sell to the highest bidder on the market.
However, in keeping with my earlier commitment to make honest efforts in my answers to these repeat prompts, I will leave you with a short, and probably repetitive answer…
Books I’ve read that are worth another go:
Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary
Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman
Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hannard
All of C.S. Lewis’s work
All of the Love Comes Softly series by Janette Oke
The entire Redwall series by Brian Jacques
The Hobbit by J.R. Tolkien
I’m sure if I thought about it long enough, I could make that list go on for a good while. But, since my tummy is growling for some oatmeal, I shall cut this off, here. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day…
Cookies can be considered a breakfast item, can’t they?
Journey With Me! 