As I was typing the title for today's posting, "Change Of Course", I realized that by adding one little comma, the meaning would be somewhat different.....as in "Change, Of Course". Both titles would, though, reflect the concept of doing something unplanned, which is what happened in the "course" of mapping out my posting content.
Today's subject started with an idea that came in the middle of a recent night. Don't ask me where the thoughts came from but I began thinking about the words snafu, brouhaha, melee', folderol and how the words had such a high ratio of vowels versus consonants. This little idea fascinated me so I got up, wrote down the idea and went back to bed. Today, as I looked at my nocturnal notes, I began thinking about what the words collectively meant.
Maybe because my office is in such disarray with my Insanity Project and these words seemed to signify the state that my office and my mind are currently in, I was motivated to look up just what each word meant. Here are the definitions I discovered with one little (maybe big) surprise.
Folderol (sometimes spelled falderal): Foolishness, nonsensical
Melee': Confusion, turmoil, jumble
Brouhaha: An episode involving excitement, confusion and turmoil
Here's my surprise.
Have you ever used the word snafu? I've heard it many, many times over the course of my lifetime and I've used it many, many times myself.......not understanding what I was saying. Snafu is actually a term that is believed to have originated in the U.S. Army, circa WWI. It is considered to be an acromym (S.N.A.F.U.)
for "situation normal: All #^&* up". I was shocked to learn that I was actually using a word that contained an expletive. The laundered version is "situation normal: All fouled up". Whichever version you wish to think about when saying "snafu", the meaning is the same: The normal situation is in a bad state.
And so, I changed course with my blog posting today, or, I could say, it changed, of course, thereby avoiding a snafu. Still I am learning.
Ancora imparo
