English is a language
that ambushes other languages in dark alleys and picks their pockets for spare
vocabulary. I can’t recall where I first heard that phrase but it’s true. Many
languages have different words for the same thing like Eskimos and snow or the
French and love. No one does it quite like English.
Why confuse someone
when you can befuddle, bemuse, bewilder, perplex, or confound? Why annoy
someone when you can vex, irk, rankle, aggravate, exasperate, pester,
beleaguer, or torment them?
Why be sad when you
could be morose, melancholy, glum, gloomy, or sullen? Why hate something when
you can loathe, detest, despise, deride, disparage, spurn, scorn, abhor, and
abominate it?
Why simply be happy
when you could be contented, delighted, ecstatic, exultant, euphoric, buoyant,
jubilant, jovial, and joyful? Why be angry when you can be irate, livid,
seething, fuming, furious, incensed, enraged or cross?
I’d rather be grumpy,
ornery, or cantankerous instead of irritable. If someone’s acting stupid, it’s
much more fun to accuse them of being obtuse, daft, dippy, foolish, or idiotic.
They’re not just being rude; they’re also being coarse, crude, churlish,
boorish, brusque, surly, insolent, and vulgar. Something that’s ridiculous can
also be ludicrous, farcical, preposterous, incongruous, or absurd.
Jerk is too simple a
word for someone who’s being cretin, dolt, imbecile, dullard or asshat. The
last one is more colloquial but it gets the point across. It could have been
idiomatic or informal but I quiet like the word colloquial.
We’re not weird;
we’re peculiar, eccentric, bizarre, zany, outlandish, unconventional,
avant-grade, exceptional and quirky. We’re also not crazy; we’re mad, insane,
barmy, wacky, madcap, and just a bit screwy.
Current Music: Stupid
by Kacey Musgraves
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