The Random Text Says: ""
If You're Going To Call Me...
April 21st, 2002 - 1:46 a.m.
I'm Currently Avoiding:Someone called me at 11 am This Morning. Now, this isn't a bad thing if you're a "normal" person with "normal" sleeping patterns, but when I didn't go to bed until 6 something in the A.M. I find people calling me and waking me up to be rather offensive.
However, calling me and waking me up doesn't really bother me if it's someone I actually WANT to talk to. My friend has called and woken me at 11 in the morning before and I was pleased to talk to her for several hours before getting off the phone. So that's not the true problem. The problem was the Type of person who was calling when I picked up the phone this morning. The first thing I heard was, "Please Hold for the next available representative..." Know what I did? I Hung Up. Yes, that's right. I deliberately disobeyed the politely requested order of holding and I Hung Up. Why? For two reasons:
1. If you're going to call me (especially if you are going to wake me to do so), I want to talk to a human being.
2. If you're going to try to sell me something, or if you want something from me, it would be a very, VERY Bad Idea to ask me to hold immediately after I pick up the phone. That offends me and I Do Not Care For It.
So. That's my rant for the day, and now it's almost 4 am so I should go away. Oh God help me, not only was I getting rid of papers I've had around for awhile earlier, but now I'm rhyming too. Ack!
lollygag (v. LAH-lee-gag)
1 : to spend time idly, aimlessly, or foolishly
2 : dawdle
You certainly didn't want to be known as a lollygagger at the beginning of this century. Back then, lollygag was slang for fooling around (sexually, that is). That sense of lollygag was in use as long ago as 1868, and it probably originated as an alteration of the older (and more dawdlingly innocent) lallygag. Nowadays, lollygag doesn't usually carry such naughty connotations, but back in 1946, one Navy captain considered lollygagging enough of a problem to issue this stern warning: "Lovemaking and lollygagging are hereby strictly forbidden . . . The holding of hands, osculation and constant embracing of WAVES, corpsmen or civilians and sailors or any combination of male and female personnel is a violation of naval discipline. . . ."
videlicet (adv. vye-DEH-luh-set or vih-DAY-lih-ket)
: that is to say : namely
The abbreviation of videlicet is viz, and people often wonder how the z got there. There is no z in the word's Latin roots, videre (to see) and licet (it is permitted). As it turns out, the z in viz originally wasn't a z at all. It was a symbol that looked like a z and that was used in medieval manuscripts to indicate the contraction of Latin words ending in -et. When the symbol was carried into English, it was converted into the more familiar z.
equanimity (n. ee-kwuh-NIH-muh-tee or eh-kwuh-NIH-muh-tee)
1 : evenness of mind especially under stress
2 : right disposition : balance
If you think equanimity looks like it has something to do with equal, you've guessed correctly. Both equanimity and equal are derived from aequus, a Latin adjective meaning level, equal. Equanimity comes from the combination of aequus and animus (soul, mind) in the Latin phrase aequo animo, which means with even mind. English speakers began using equanimity early in the 17th century with the now obsolete sense fairness of judgment, impartiality, which was in keeping with the meaning of the Latin phrase. Equanimity quickly came to suggest keeping a cool head under any sort of pressure, not merely when presented with a problem, and eventually it developed an extended sense for general balance and harmony.
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And I like it that way.
