I ain't no English major, but I have to admit that words can be quite fascinating.
I presumed it was just an ordinary fascination that included a love for games such as Scrabble or Balderdash. But in recent time, my fascination has grown into near obsession.
The infatuation started a few weeks ago. My friend and I were engaged in what seemed to be a fairly harmless conversation. How was I to know that what she was about say would turn my universe upside down?
I was hungry and mentioned that I should eat soon. She said, \I should eat, but I'm the opposite of hungry.""
Which made me wonder, just what IS the opposite of hungry? At first I thought it was just a pseudo-clever retort, but soon I realized that there was much more to my seemingly inane comment than meets the eye.
I began to ask around. Everyone would immediately answer ""full."" Yes, this is the opposite of hungry in some sense, but it was not the word I was looking for. My friend was obviously not full. They'd offer some other synonyms in vain, but their attempts were futile. Satiated is just a fancy way of saying full. Satisfied? Content? None of these words fit the state of mind that my friend was in. She wasn't full, nor was she content. She just didn't feel like eating.
Could it be possible that there is no word for the opposite of hungry? It didn't seem right. All I wanted was the comfort in knowing that there was one word with a definition close to ""the state of being where one does not feel like eating for unforeseeable reasons.""
After an extensive search, (which included asking my friends and checking out the thesaurus on Microsoft Word), I have since come to the conclusion that there is no word to fit my definition. Which means I have an entire mission now. I, or somebody else more fitting to the job, must make up a word that means the opposite of hungry.
Which gives me even MORE of a headache. How does one make a word? What am I supposed to do'petition that Webster guy? Or maybe send a telegram back to the 17th century, when he was actually alive.
Feeling resourceful in the age of technology, I consulted the Merriam-Webster Web site. It did not tell me how to make a word, but it did tell me how words get into the dictionary, which would be my next step. Apparently a team of dictionary editors reads publications of many types and then marks words that might be suitable for a new place or meaning in the dictionary. This process is called ""reading and marking."" Wow, clever.
I also learned that in order for any word to get into the dictionary it must be used ""in a substantial number of citations that come from a wide range of publications over a considerable period of time.""
That's all? Then my quest is simple! All I have to do is make up a word that means the opposite of hungry and then make everyone use it for at least a few years. It is your civic duty to help me in this quest. For if you don't, the terrorists will have won.
Cripes, I still don't have an actual word to fit my definition yet. I'll just figure that out later.
Word.
