Roadtrip Anyone?
So, my phone is angry and because moisture somehow got in to the battery area my warranty is void so I have to wait until april or june to get a new phone. I'm trying something my sister suggested which is to take apart the battery and let them air dry for a few days. That means lovely people I will not have my phone for a few days. Yes, it's very sad. If that doesn't work I will have to find my old phone and reactivate it, which won't cost me anything so that's fine. Still it annoys me that moisture got in my phone when I haven't dropped it into liquid or anything. That and we live in the fucking pacific northwest. I'm surprised everyone's warranty isn't voided. Stupid moisture. Anyways, can't wait for wednesday because that means I'm done with school and don't with my stupid japanese partner. Grrr she makes me angry. Next quarter I'm continuing with Japanese, weeee, and I'm taking photographic storytelling which will hopefully be fun. In other news I have thursday and friday off next week. Depending on the weather I was thinking of going up to Seattle on Thursday because they have transfer thursdays at UW for people who eventually want to transfer. Anyone interested in a road trip? You know you want to! Leave comments, cause well you can't exactly call me can you.
Oh, and this is for Christina:
"Humdrum" is a great word, meaning "routine, monotonous or dull." Dreary. Tedious. Tiresome. Dry. Boring with a capital B. "Humdrum" is a small town on a Tuesday afternoon in August, where the loudest sound is the drone of ten thousand cicadas and the barber wanders over to the Post Office just to see another human being. Come to think of it, I actually live near a town that might as well be named Humdrum, where the gas station is the de facto social center and customers have prolonged conversations comparing brands of beef jerky.
By the way, "jerky" comes from the American Spanish word "charqui," which in turn came from the Quichua (Peruvian) word "ccharqui," meaning "dried slice of meat." I must remember to tell the guys at the gas station next time I'm in town.
One of the things that makes "humdrum" such a perfect (one hesitates to call it "vivid") word to describe a boring thing, place or time is the sound of the word itself. "Humdrum" sounds boring, and that turns out to be the key to the origin of "humdrum." It's what linguists call a "reduplication," or rhyming repetition, of the word "hum."
Reduplications are fairly common in informal English, from "fancy-schmancy" and "hoity-toity" to "okey-dokey" and "itsy-bitsy." The second element in such formations is usually just there to emphasize the first -- don't go looking for a definition of "schmancy," because it doesn't actually mean anything.
In the case of "humdrum," the "drum" echoes and emphasizes "hum," which has meant "to make a low continuous murmuring sound" since the 15th century. "Hum" is itself echoic, intended to imitate the sound of a hum, and apparently a "hum" is such a boring sound that "humdrum" appeared in the 16th century and has been a synonym for "bore you out of your mind" ever since.
Everyone have a lovely day :)
Oh, and this is for Christina:
"Humdrum" is a great word, meaning "routine, monotonous or dull." Dreary. Tedious. Tiresome. Dry. Boring with a capital B. "Humdrum" is a small town on a Tuesday afternoon in August, where the loudest sound is the drone of ten thousand cicadas and the barber wanders over to the Post Office just to see another human being. Come to think of it, I actually live near a town that might as well be named Humdrum, where the gas station is the de facto social center and customers have prolonged conversations comparing brands of beef jerky.
By the way, "jerky" comes from the American Spanish word "charqui," which in turn came from the Quichua (Peruvian) word "ccharqui," meaning "dried slice of meat." I must remember to tell the guys at the gas station next time I'm in town.
One of the things that makes "humdrum" such a perfect (one hesitates to call it "vivid") word to describe a boring thing, place or time is the sound of the word itself. "Humdrum" sounds boring, and that turns out to be the key to the origin of "humdrum." It's what linguists call a "reduplication," or rhyming repetition, of the word "hum."
Reduplications are fairly common in informal English, from "fancy-schmancy" and "hoity-toity" to "okey-dokey" and "itsy-bitsy." The second element in such formations is usually just there to emphasize the first -- don't go looking for a definition of "schmancy," because it doesn't actually mean anything.
In the case of "humdrum," the "drum" echoes and emphasizes "hum," which has meant "to make a low continuous murmuring sound" since the 15th century. "Hum" is itself echoic, intended to imitate the sound of a hum, and apparently a "hum" is such a boring sound that "humdrum" appeared in the 16th century and has been a synonym for "bore you out of your mind" ever since.
Everyone have a lovely day :)