Sunday, November 27, 2005

One of those days

Occasionally, we have days of un-inspirement. Is that a word? Well, since I'm so uninspired, I guess I can turn it into one. After all, "ment" was meant to turn verbs or their participial partners into nouns, right?

So on this Sunday I've taken the risk of spoiling my sterling grammatical reputation by going into new noun territory where no grammatically-endowed pedagogue has gone before.

If all readers would just take this newly-coined noun and pass it on to twenty people about whom you really care, think of what an uninspired world this would be. Possibly, those people would feel enough apathy about how stupid the word sounds to send it out to a bunch of their friends too.

It will take time for un-inspirement to catch on. People will need to use it in sentences, and often. Otherwise, the word might just lie dormant in a hidden pocket of many brains, waiting for the day when those brain owners experience a vacuum similar to mine on this Nov. 27, 2005. With practice, they'll know exactly what they're feeling when the time is right.

So, here are some practical possibilities for using "un-inspirement." Next time someone says, "Let's go tie ourselves to the railroad track and see if we can get the train to stop," you can respectfully decline by responding, "No, I feel uninspirement about my future should the train decide not to stop." Then, you probably won't have to go because the person will understand your reluctance at that moment.

Or, there could be the situation when you are asked to go to the mall and assist with a box of Q-tips as the masses come in to take advantage of the annual free ear-wax/toe jam screening/cleaning clinic. You can simply say, "The last time I dug dried-up black jam from 2,000 sets of grimy toes, a severe case of un-inspirement would not allow me to eat my dinner that night."

I'm sure there are many situations when the word "un-inspirement" could fit your needs and the needs of millions of others who occasionally get up on some mornings and just plain don't have anything going on between their ears, except may a little wax build-up. So use that word and use it often.

Then one morning, months from now I could open the paper and be so pleasantly surprised to learn that Mr. Merriam and Mr. Webster got together in their annual meeting and added "un-inspirement" to the dictionary for 2006.

And, then I'd be so inspired that you'd never have to read a crazy blog posting like this again. Go have an inspiring Sunday! I'm looking for the Q-tips.

1 comment:

stebbijo said...

What a post of "un-inspirement." I think you are on to something! Some of my days are laden with "un-contentment," "un-fullfillment," and "un-excitement." Some folks are also full of "un-empathyment." But not me! I know exactly how you feel.

I hope you find your Q-tips!