Out of Whack

OUT OF WHACK. An interesting phrase. And one that, when you stare at it long enough, feels counter-intuitive.

After all, when you whack something, you hit it hard, yes? So the purpose of "whacking" would be to move something OUT of it's current position or alignment - possibly with extreme prejudice, as whacking is also slang for killing.

And yet, OUT OF WHACK is used to indicate something out of position or alignment. "His back is out of whack." Or, the ever popular, "He's so whacked out." meaning not really of this reality.








According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, WHACK means "to strike sharply". It postulates that the phrase OUT OF WHACK means something that is not apportioned properly - so, if you strike something just so (Like a chocolate orange) it will fall neatly into 12 (or 16?) sections. But if you strike it poorly, the sections don't divide and, therefore, some of them would be OUT OF WHACK.





Cambridge Dictionaries Online says WHACK is 1)to give something a hard, noisy hit; 2)to quickly put something somewhere (british).
and the noun definitions: 1) the action of hitting someone or something noisily; 2)  a share or a part

Cambridge also has the phrases "Take a whack at" = try something; and "Top whack" = the highest possible price



Finally, the Free Dictionary has the full phrase defined as : out of adjustment; inoperative.
(from the McGraw Hill Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions.)




I'd have to say, the word WHACK really gets around. And it's actually not one I use a lot, certainly not to indicate a sharp strike. WHACK feels much more messy than that.

 Maybe it's the English language that's OUT OF WHACK. 

A quick shout out to Catherine Ryan Howard

Yup, it's not about a word. It's about a lot of words!

I have actually had the courage to ask someone to be a 1st reader for my latest (and of course most favorite) book. She has a tablet, so I was going to quickly save the story in e-book format (cuz I could have sworn there was an easy button in Word for that) and send it to her.

Instead, 30 minutes later, I have some great information about future e-book formatting. And I just wanted to say thank you to my new How To Goddess: Catherine Ryan Howard.

I haven't read all of her blog posts (because I'm supposed to be doing MY work), but here are the two I am grateful for today.

E-book formatting w/o Migraine pt 1

E-book formatting w// Migraine pt 2

And I hope you'll excuse the lack of formatting (and any possible grammar issues) cuz, like I said, I'm supposed to be working!

Lobophile

If you've been following along (and I know some of you have, thank you. Hi!) you may have noticed the original name of this new blog - LOBOPHILE.

Yes, I meant "logophile". And typed "b" instead.

Perhaps it was intentional. After all - a logo is a symbol, a trademark a brand.
And there are many happy words related to words with "B" in them - like "liBrary",  "Book", Biblioteca.

I have perused a few dictionaries, and there is no definition for the word LOBOPHILE.

So I created one.

Interestingly, when I typed in lobophile in Google Search, my blog came in 2nd and 3rd.
The 1st spot went to an Amazon review written by "lobophile".  And there is something in Minecraft about lobophile? (7th or 8th result) and after that is a response about someone else who asks if a person is a lobophile.

So maybe I didn't make up the word. Hmmm.

But there isn't even a page in Wikipedia for LOBOPHILE.

And I need to get to fun stuff and quit following this train of thought, interesting as it is.

Meanwhile, I decided to change the name of this blog to Literal Logophile - because someone else has logophile, and part of my joy (and distraction) is being a literal person. Also, I like the alliteration. We'll see how long it stays.

But I haven't been able to change the blogger registered name yet - I don't even know if I can. That'll take some research. So if you jump online to research the mysteries of LOBOPHILE, you'll find me 2nd and 3rd on the list. Yay!


BTW - Lobo is both a supervillian in the DC universe, and the name of a musician. (according to 1st page of Google search.)


LOBOPHILE n. a lover of words who forgets to proofread her stuff. (origin Lila's interesting brain, circa 2015).

Antithetical

The word, my word, for today is ANTITHETICAL.

It's my word for today because I used it properly, and I even spelled it correctly! in my post Fill the Accounts. I am so proud of myself.

And yes, for a minute I thought perhaps I should use the word "antipathetical," due to it's appearance a few days ago, but I stuck to my guns. I believed in ANTITHETICAL. And I was right.
Yay me!

ANTITHETICAL

Dictionary.com : adj. 2) directly opposed or contrasted; opposite.

Mirriam-Webster: 2) being in direct and unequivocal opposition

Cambridge Dictionaries Online: (antithesis) The exact opposite, or opposition.

When one is an actress, sitting and watching another's performance can feel antithetical to one's life purpose, almost heretical.

Antipathy - how mad are you?

Today's word is ANTIPATHY (courtesy of Elevate).

The game was using the word to equal "hate". 

I thought ANTIPATHY was more ambivalent. (In fact, I may have thought the word WAS "ambivalent".) So we are going to see what the dictionaries have to say.

www.Dictionary.com     n. 1) a natural, basic, or habitual repugnance; aversion. 2) an instinctive contrariety or opposition of feeling.

www.Merriam-Webster.com n. (simple) a strong feeling of dislike.

www.TheFreeDictionary.com n. 1)extreme dislike; aversion or repugnance. 3) inherent incompatibility or inability to mix

They seem to agree there is some hatred involved - or at least, extreme dislike. I find it interesting that there is a sense that the discord comes from the nature of the two (objects, people, elements, etc.); that it is a behavior or response that is settled in so far it feels like it comes from the soul. 

So, I was wrong - and I was right, later, upon realizing I was thinking "ambivalent" when reading ANTIPATHY. Yay for dictionaries!

She was unaccustomed to the feeling of antipathy; ambivalence was her more usual response for people and things she disliked.

Imped- uous (Impede vs Impetuous)

IMPEDE: v. to retard in movement or progress by means of obstacles or hindrances; obstruct; hinder
   origin Latin - impedire - to snare the feet


IMPETUOUS:  adj. 1)of, relating to, or characterized by sudden or rash action, emotion; impulsive.   2)having great impetus; moving with great force; violent.  
     origin (sort of) Latin - impetitus / impetere - to attack

Definitions from dictionary.reference.com

I thought impetuous meant something like "embodying the act of impeding." But it's not. (that would be "impedingly").

The T and D make a world of difference!

(I don't know if I have any basis for my expectation. I can't think of any examples off the top of my head.)


I was impeded in my impetuous rush to claim knowledge.

Cunning

I use the program Elevate (on my phone) for my morning exercises. I enjoy it enough to have purchased the subscription. And I haven't tried others, really, so I don't know how it compares.

But I am having an issue with a vocabulary exercise it offered today - a word is provided, and we're supposed to choose a picture with which to match it.

The word given was CUNNING, and the picture I was supposed to match it to was of a person with his fingers crossed behind his back.

To me, that is not CUNNING, that is deceitful. That is lying.

CUNNING does have a sly quality, yes. And may even have a  morally ambiguous feel (those morals are in the heart of the doer - who knows what moral statutes any person follows?) But to me CUNNING does not indicate outright deceit, it indicates a game of wits, and word play and loop holes. 

One does not have to be dishonest to be CUNNING.

The definition, as provided by....

Pause for a moment of crisis. I can't find my big dictionary. My physical one. The one I love to flip through just to touch all the words on the thin paper. How could I have given it away?! What was I thinking?!!  Breathing. Breathing.

...merriam-webster.com (full definition)

   1. dexterous or crafty in the use of special resources (as skill or knowledge) or in attaining an end

   2. displaying keen insight

   3. characterized by wiliness and trickery

   4. prettily appealing

   

...merriam-webster.com (simple definition)

 * getting what is wanted in a clever and often deceptive way

Huh. Well, I guess I just personally don't think there is anything clever about lying. Though I'll be honest, I don't know how the full definitions boil down to "deception". Oh. Perhaps "trickery". 

Hmm. A new word to think about. The difference, if there is one, between "deception" and "trickery".

What a CUNNING way to get me to expand my vocabulary horizons!