Thursday, March 07, 2013

Lost..... and Found? No, Just Lost


English language words can be fascinating or bewildering.  So many of the words we use either mean more than one thing, or they are not pronounced the way they are spelled.  Such things as silent ough’s or a ph that is pronounced as an f, don’t make it an easy language to learn. It’s always been an amazing to me that a little child can speak and pronounce confusing words correctly. 

The other day, as a direct consequence of my exhaustion, I lost a day.  It is unclear whether it was Monday or Tuesday, but it got lost.  When I got out of bed on Wednesday, despite the fact that the trash cans in our neighborhood were all awaiting a Wednesday pick-up.  And, although I had watched NCIS on the previous evening.  When I went over to my cousin Debbie’s just to say hello, she asked if I was meeting my aunt for lunch the next day. “Yes,” I said. “I told her I couldn’t meet on Thursday so I was going to meet her tomorrow, on Wednesday.”

“But” she said, “today is Wednesday”.  I argued for a while, but she was right.  It was 9:30 and I had to pick  Auntie up at 11:30.  The trip would take an hour and fifteen minutes.  “Guess  better move my touchas or Auntie is going to be standing in the cold for way longer than she expected.”

There are a number of definitions for this four letter word.  It can mean no longer possessed or retained: lost friends.  No longer to be found: lost articles. Or having gone astray or missed the way; bewildered as to place, direction, etc.: lost children. It can also mean one has missed an opportunity to win some kind of a race.  The first “lost” I discussed does not really fit any of these. The closest it comes is to be bewildered. I was not bewildered or befuddled.  I was as sure of the day, as I was of my own name. And I was wrong.  I spent the day (after lunch) trying to figure out if I lost Monday or Tuesday, when I realized it didn’t make any difference.  The weird thing is that I knew exactly what I did on Monday and Tuesday,  and still, I insisted it was Wednesday.  Lost? Maybe.  Definitely.  Lost.  We’re just sayin’.. Iris

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