Sometimes I wonder who comes up with the “Word of the Day” at Merriam Webster. I get this in my email and today the word was . . . fiery! Is there someone who doesn’t know this word? Or does it have some fascinating etymology? No. But every dog has its day, I suppose, and the more I thought about it, the more it seemed to me that fiery is far superior to fire, because finally that itch to pronounce fire as two syllables - /faI/ - /ur/ - can be realized! Throw that /i/ on the end and you’re smokin’. Why did the spelling change to fier(y), though? What would have been wrong with firey? It’s kind of cute, like a little fire.
The birthday present I bought myself finally came today. It’s a monocle! When I saw it I thought of the Wallace Stevens poem and was seized by desire. I’m going to wear it with blouses and, on sunny days, use it to start little fires in the yard.
9 comments:
I am so jealous. Did you buy the only monocle the etsy seller had? That will look cool on your blouse, hope it's a ruffly one and not a firey one. Now I'm off to look up the Wallace Stevens poem. Thanks.
I love the monocle. When i was a kid I used to pretend to have one with pretzels or other round food. Next year maybe you can extend the thought to an eye patch.
Ha, you beat me to the punch. I was going to say that I can never see the word "monocle" without thinking of Maupassant story "Mon Oncle Jules." (later made into a movie?)
Tom
I already decided when I'm older and need reading glasses along with my regular distance glasses, I'll just wear a monocle.
Yours is lovely! It's never too early to start wearing a monocle!
Considering my ever advancing age, and the impertinence of the twitch in my right eye (for weeks now!), I thought a monocle would do me good. And it did. But Kass, if you also want a monocle, the nice lady I ordered from has plenty of them.
my son would love to start a fire w/ a monocle! he tries in vain w/chopticks every time we go out for chinese food. given his propensity for catstrophe, however, i think i may keep this tidbit of villainry far far from him...for now!
I tried to start a fire (a small, contained one!)with my reading glasses the other day. They just weren't strong enough.
Maybe the sun is at fault.
"every dog has its day" - the humor in your writing is getting on me.
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