Me: What does it take to be considered a curmudgeon? Am I there yet?
He: You need a penis.
Me: What? Why? Why is curmudgeon a man thing? Why can't I be a female curmudgeon?
He: They have a female curmudgeon. It's called "harridan".
Me: I don't want to be a harridan. I want to be a curmudgeon. I like that word better. Anyway, let's pretend having a penis is not a requirement. Let's lay out the requirements for this.
He: Why do I have to be the arbiter of curmudgeon?
Me: You know this is going on the blog, right?
*time passes*
Later, I happen to comment that a relatively rare thing is occurring--I am actually able to decipher the handwriting of a teenage male with little effort.
He: I think you're right. You ARE a curmudgeon.
ha!
ReplyDeleteI, too, feel the need to define some boundaries for curmudgeon-ness. For example, does my criticism of people who misuse quotation marks make me a grammar curmudgeon? When I point out the geographic incongruity of having a nativity and a Santa in the same yard, does that make me a Christmas curmudgeon? Please write further on this topic.
ReplyDeleteVal: You indeed fit my bill for curmudgeon, but the irony here is that I think the items you note above are actually reasons to speak up! Well..the santa thing may not enter my headspace as a concern, since I register all that stuff much as "eyesore, shlock, move on"...but the grammar thing always rankles, especially when it's my own error. I think computers have made me much dumber in this regard, both with grammar check and autocorrect (albeit in different ways). Why is curmudgeonly to point out that someone used grammar incorrectly...why wouldn't someone want to know that?
DeleteSee, I don't think I'm a curmudgeon. I think I'm a highly intelligent person who notices incongruities that others don't notice. I only comment on specific things. It's not like I go around grumbling about everyone and everything, and how everything was better in the old days, like in Grumpy Old Men.
Deletemw.com
ReplyDeleteDefinition of CURMUDGEON
1 archaic : miser
2 : a crusty, ill-tempered, and usually old man
mw.com
har·ri·dan Listen to audio/ˈherədən/ noun
plural har·ri·dans
[count] old-fashioned + literary : an angry and unpleasant woman : harpy, shrew
I agree they are not exactly parallel but the point that curmudgeon is decidedly male remains valid.
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