MountainMornings

If you’re one of those people who believe words truly have meaning, if you are a “wordsmith” like me, you have got to be shaking your head about now. The RNC Chair just revealed he’s feeling a bit “apoplectic!” Well, wouldn’t you?

Apoplectic – extremely angry; furious:
“He became apoplectic at the mere mention of the subject.” Imagine that angry character Lewis Black gave voice to in the movie “Inside Out.” Now put steaming hot hair on top of Reince Priebus whenever he is confronted with the next Donald faux pas.

And you gotta admit, taking on a Gold Star mama was not his best moment.

Many on social media and most pundits on news show are teaching us the meaning of “vituperate.”

Vituperate – to berate or rail (against) abusively; revile. Every now and then we all need to cleanse the spirit, to rail against the machine, or our mothers. But using harsh or abusive language in politics, in public, comes with a cost. It can become a meme, or a gif or the next virtual piece of venom to live on in infamy. So think twice people.

There is no privacy left, your emails and Facebook feeds are all open to ridicule and controversy. So if you can’t take the heat so to speak – well don’t just leave your job as one of Ivanka’s brother said she would do IF somebody was sexually harassing her. And that’s a very BIG “if.”

But back to apoplexy. It actually has a medical origin, those of us at a certain stage in life might remember the term “apoplectic fit?”

1610s, “involving apoplexy,” from French apoplectique (16c.), from Latin apoplecticus, from Greek apoplektikos “disabled by a stroke, crippled, struck dumb,” from apoplektos, verbal adjective of apoplessein (see apoplexy ). Meaning “showing symptoms of apoplexy” (1721) gradually shaded into “enraged, very angry.”

When we are confronted with something so disturbing, we are struck speechless, ie…

Gobsmacked – Now that’s another mostly British word meaning “utterly astounded; astonished.”

One of my favorite words to use while the Rocker was in middle school was “Alacrity.” Alacrity – cheerful readiness, promptness, or willingness: We accepted the invitation with alacrity.

I thought while eating breakfast and packing up in the morning, we should try to approach the day with alacrity. And somehow, after reading Nate Silver’s latest projections on Twitter, “But just for fun here’s what an 8% Clinton lead looks like:
– Narrowly favored in GA, AZ
– UT, TX, SC competitive”  …I can do just that!