Niggle

Niggle - verb: to criticize, esp. constantly or repeatedly, in a peevish or petty way; carp

I played this word in Scrabulous today against Aleisha. First, I was surprised and delighted that it WAS a word. I had no idea. Then, because I can leave no word un-defined, I looked up niggle on dictionary.com (a fabulous resource for all your word-defining needs). I was even more pleased when it had such a fun and useful meaning. So, expect to hear the word niggle from my lips. I am officially adding it to my vocabulary.

Scrabble (and it's online Facebook version, Scrabulous) and other word games really offer up the opportunity to learn all kinds of new words. Take my brother for example:

WARNING: The following content is slightly colorful in nature.

Mark, Jared, Annie and I were play Upwords at my parent's house over Christmas. Jared is a fan of adding random letters to see if they make words. In a fit of inspiration, Jared made the word "buggery." This was hilarious, but not for the reasons you may think. First, Jared had no idea this was actually a word. When we started laughing, he thought it was because he just made up a funny word. He was surprised to discover it was an actual word. Then even more surprised to find out what that word meant. Of course, we had to share the humor with my mom, who responded with a very scandalized "Jared!" before starting to laugh, too. See. Word games ARE fun.

I love words and language. I think it all started when my mom bought me a word-a-day calendar when I was a kid. I can still remember some of the words I learned from that calendar, mellifluous and plethora were among my favorites. I also was (and am) a very avid reader. There were several times when I would say a word aloud that I had learned the meaning of through reading - but not know how to pronounce. The word, rendezvous, for example, is very tricky for a little kid. Later in life, words and their meanings still had significance for me. I knew I would marry Mark when he used the word pejorative correctly in casual conversation.

Today in Interpersonal we had an excellent conversation about language and prejudice. Things in my life have been oddly connected lately. This semester I have two groups, in different classes, that are researching and interested in LGBTQIA issues. Last night, Mark went on a 15 minute rant about the overuse of acronyms. Today, David got a postcard about a graduation celebration for the LGBTQIA community. WE started talking about acronyms. It's like all these pieces of my life are connected. Very deja vu.

And speaking of pieces, I played more Mario G last night. That game is really fun. Except, right before bed last night I was about ready to pull my hair out. I was stuck at one point in a galaxy an I didn't want to go back to the observatory because then I'd have to do the entire stupid world over. But, I persevered and was finally able to shut off Mario at 9:45. Then I went upstairs and read The Other Boleyn Girl for awhile before going to sleep. I highly recommend the book by the way. Not only is it deliciously scandalous, but it provides and interesting view into a history that seems very foreign and strange. I wonder what people will say about today's cultures in one hundred or two hundred years. They probably won't be able to figure out how George W. Bush ever got elected once, let along twice. Oh wait, I live in the here and now and can't figure that one out. Maybe future people will be baffled by our clothing or lack of oh-so-handy (pun not intended) ambidextrous third arm (because I believe everyone in the future will have an oh-so-handy ambidextrous third arm).