Friday, August 27, 2004

Pernicious

I walked into my manager's office the other day and as soon as I sit down he says to me: "What is another word for pernicious?"
First thought that entered my mind was 'wtf'.
Second thought that flashed by was 'just make up something'.
Official response was 'why don't you look it up www.thesaurus.com".

Does such a word even exist? Afterall Jane Austen never used such word in all her exploits and she is the mother of all quality words (by the way, the wonderful WONDERFUL Darcy diving into the lake scene was aired last weekend). Upon immediate consultation with Dictionary.Com I have since been enlightened to the exquisiteness of this word - to think I have lived all these years not knowing it existed! Another regret to add on the list ;p

Dictionary.Com defines it as:
1. Evil; wicked
2. Tending to cause death or serious injury; deadly
3. Causing great harm; destructive

... I just hope he wasn't describing me as pernicious.

So in tribute to my new found word, I shall dedicate this entry to the 3 definitions outlined above (no doubt it will end up completely unrelated).

Evil / Wicked
I attended my High School friend's engagement party last weekend. The prescribed theme was 'exotic'. Firstly, I find it VERY odd that most people's interpretation of 'exotic' is to dress up in some kind of oriental outfit. So you had all these people in cheongsams, kung fu type getups, kimonos etc etc.
What the?
You mean I've been exotic all this time and never exploited it? Admittedly I would have to wear a cheongsam or kimono to fit into the description, but it's nice to know that Asians are viewed as exotic.
Secondly, my good friend from high school, who's always been a showman of sorts, insisted that the invite was misprinted and that the theme was supposed to read 'erotic' rather than 'exotic'. So she rocks up in the MOST risqué nurse outfit that covers less than the most revealing lingerie (I'm talking suspenders, ass hanging out, cleavage busting out, frills, thrills, spills). Forget the fact that they were old grannies and young tots present, you should have seen all the boys instantly turn into obsequious stupors. Within minutes, the hosts were bombarded with questions of "is she single, who is she, is she a gift from heaven, can she bear my children etc". You know you've made an impression when you are mentioned in the speech at the end of the night - but she loved the attention.

Tending to cause death or serious injury; deadly
Apparently if your body is asymmetrical, you are more proned to lose your temper and display rage. So the longer your left leg is compared to your right leg (Chad), the more of a dickhead you become on the basketball court ;p
And someone made me realise that my arms are actually not in proportion to my body i.e. they are way shorter than what they should be. I have been living under the false pretense all these years, believing that my arms were actually quite long. Now I understand why it is I am unable to rebound (it's obviously not because I am weak and meek).

Causing great harm; destructive
Sarcasm, mockery, blatant attacks, guilt trips, undermining of character, accusations, unfair comments, stern instructions - is it a matter of developing a thick skin; of learning to be less sensitive; or is a matter of putting people in their place? This is why the whole lie-down-Sally-Robbins situation is so fascinating.


Opals play Brazil in the semis tonight. Starting to get very VERY exciting! They are due to play at 11:45pm, but of course it is a foregone conclusion that Channel Crap will only show the last minute of the last quarter - man they suck!

Good luck to all those paddlers with time trials this weekend!