My grasp of words is floundering but my love affair with words is still there. If you’ve been following my blog you know I often comment about my struggle with words. Last month I mentioned the problem of verb-noun disassociation. Most everyone knows what a noun is (person, place, or thing). A verb is also well known but a little harder to define. They are action words. Verbs and nouns are the building blocks of sentences. “Karl builds” is a sentence with one noun and one verb. That works, well, as long as your nouns and verbs are “associated”? Verb-noun disassociation, what a trip.
Although “Karl builds” is a sentence it could rightly be called the foundation of a sentence. If we add another word it becomes a sentence with some meaning, “Karl builds homes”. Two nouns and one verb. Three words that pretty much describe a lot of my life. Three words! Man, words matter.
Well, I guess I’m walking down memory lane. It was 50 years ago in high school English when I learned what nouns and verbs were. I can also vaguely remember what an adjective is. So I looked it up. An adjective is a word that modifies a noun to make it more specific: a “rotten” egg, a “cloudy” day, etc. To make it more specific, to make it more colorful, to make it more fun, what if we add some adjectives to my sentence. So, I’m thinking about two adjectives. Sassy and Gnarly. Where did those adjectives come from?
In her book, “Hope after stroke”, Tsgoyna Tanzma talks about how our words can influence our recovery in either good or bad ways. She recommends using different words. Instead of saying our bad side, she suggests our “sassy” side. Sassy – because of the acronym SAS (stroke affected side). My sassy side, Hmm, I’m not sure.
But I’m sure of this. When I say, “my bad side” it denotes a depressing idea. “My right side, You mean my bad side?” When I describe it like that, eventually the word “bad” sticks. What the word means, what it actually denotes, it is gobbled up as we talk without thinking about the words. Is my bad side actually “bad”? I guess that is how talking is supposed to work, connecting words together effortlessly without thinking much about their meaning, because thinking about the words is burdensome. So without much thought, the word “bad” sticks and the meaning sticks.
How about gnarly? It originally meant gnarly roots of a tree, but the slang definition is what we use today. The slang of gnarly comes from the surfer world, a way to describe a wave that was difficult, dangerous, and awesome. It came to me in my motocross days to describe terrain that was difficult, dangerous, and awesome as well. Gnarly, dude. So it came to mean: cool, excellent, or very difficult or challenging to deal with.
So, two nouns, one verb, two adjectives. Here it goes, Sassy Karl builds gnarly homes.
Just for kicks, I ran it in through Lugwig, the AI tool I use to check my idioms. It is hard for me to write fluently when I’m writing one word at a time. For example, I wrote “Just for kicks”, that worked well in my brain, but when I actually wrote the words, it didn’t make sense. I had to think about it, just, for, kicks. Idioms are hard for my brain. All that to say, I use Ludwig to check things I’ve already written. But actually having a computer write something doesn’t make sense for me because writing is more than conveying meaning, it is also a workout for my brain. Obviously, I’m trying to convey meaning but I’m also trying to work on my brain.
But, just for kicks (nails it), I ran it in through Lugwig:
“The phrase “Sassy Karl builds gnarly homes.” is correct and usable in written English. You can use it to describe a character named Karl who is both sassy and skilled at building unique or unconventional homes. Example: “In the latest episode of the show, Sassy Karl builds gnarly homes that leave everyone in awe of his creativity.” Alternatives: “Bold Karl constructs radical houses” or “Charming Karl creates awesome dwellings.””
Artificial Intelligence is amazing. I can remember the first time I encountered it. My son was showing me a program on his phone. He was asking the program some questions, and it was answering him. Then he said, tell me a story about a man who had a massive stroke and encountered God on his porch. A couple seconds later a story appeared, probaby 500 words and it was really good. In a couple of seconds it created a story which was better than the story that I spent months writing about called “chairs on the porch”. What that program wrote was pretty amazing. But it was artificial, it wasn’t real. What it wrote had no resemblance to my story. That is the problem with AI, it just makes things up.
It’s the problem with Lugwig as well, it makes things up. Lugwig might like to think, I’m bold, charming, and sassy. But I’m not any of those things. Lugwig might exaggerate a little bit with the adjective gnarly as well, but it sort of fits. It fits in both instances. It’s cool and challenging. That is what I liked about building homes, it was challenging and cool. It was gnarly.
So I’m deciding which adjective works for me, Tsgoyna sassy, or my gnarly. Obviously you know where I’m coming out. Now I have a gnarly side. If you want to call me sassy Karl, go ahead, but I might have to unfriend you.
Karl builds….not homes but a new life. It is challenging for sure, but it is cool as well. How gnarly is that……..dude.
Well today is thanksgiving day. For me, it used to be a day, but now it is a way of life. I am so grateful, God, for everything. Today I am so grateful for my words. I am so grateful for my friends who are willing to tag along with me on this journey. May your day be filled with thanks as well, have a great thanksgiving.
And, Karl, we’re thankful for you!