Penchant for Penning

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Wordplay Wednesday™ March 15, 2017 – Banjaxed

St. Paddy’s Day … after ... with Attitudes & Platitudes

When it comes to slang, we all have our childhood telltale signs of origin. When you least expect it, a down-home expression creeps into your upper crust city talk, and your cover is blown.

Sometimes, though, you simply enjoying messing with your friends. Want to sound like you’re from Ireland the day after St. Patrick’s Day? 🍀

BANJAXED (banʹjaxt) vt. – not in the English dictionary (imagine that). It is, however, bandied about on the Emerald Isle. From an Irish-Information.com newsletter, “An oft-heard and seldom questioned word that is uttered throughout Ireland. It not only sounds great but can be applied to a number of situations! It essentially means broken, beyond repair, in a bad way.” [WW #103]

I laughed out loud when I read their first of four examples, “I'm banjaxed after last night! (After a few pints.)” Ah yes, the Irish bear a mostly exaggerated drunken stigma, though seriously, drinking has little to do with heritage. It has everything to do with attitude—now that we claim.

While everyone else laments they tied one on, were three sheets to the wind, snookered, toasted, hammered, mangled, drunk as a skunk, wankered, or wasted, you can be the cream of the after-party in your slurred Irish lilt with, “Man, I’m banjaxed today from last night’s partying … let’s have another go!”

A word to the wise who don’t drink and drive, or simply don’t drink, it’s easy to still be part of the day-after festivities. Dive into your best acting mode and put on a show worthy of banjaxed. If they weren’t with you the night before, they’ll never know and your party reputation is safe.

Whether you toast with ale or ade (Kool-Aid, Gatorade …) on St. Paddy’s Day, or any day, start with a few Irish toasts of wit and wisdom.

Selected toasts from IrishCentral.com:

May your giving hand never fail you.

May the best day of your past be the worst day of your future.

Dung hills rise and castles fall, we are all equal one and all.

And in case you need a refresher course—it’s St. “Paddy’s” Day, not St. “Patty’s” Day. To get in the Irish mood, a couple of fun, fresh takes for a wee $1.23, of St. Patrick’s infamous snakes myth, by John F. Harnish. St. Paddy’s Request.

Word Challenge: BANJAXED. Irish or other, a twisted toast to your brother: Thank God Mother had another! Be creative and insert banjaxed into your week of drunken writings.

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others.

A little Irish ditty for you!

GENTLEMAN GEORGE

So, Gentleman George

How are you today

Lickety-split

You’re on your way!

Goin’ to the market

Or off to the sea

Gentleman George

Would ya like some tea?

What’s the hurry

Stop for a while

Chat with your friends

And lend them a smile!

See the redhead

Pourin’ yer beer

Gentleman George

She’s callin’, ya hear?

Give ‘er a wink

Tell her a tale

Not a whopper, ya see

Not as big as a whale!

Oh, a wife ye got

And a kid or two

Oh, Gentleman George

Now, what’ll ya do?

Don’t listen, ya hear

To yer devil within

For ya’ll feel much better

When yer t’home, my friend!

Good man, Gentleman George!

'Til next time ... Sláinte and enjoy a wonderful "wordful" week …

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

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Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Wordplay Wednesday™ March 8, 2017 – Womanpower

… that all PEOPLE are created equal …

It just so happens that the #2 song* on the Top 40 charts 50 Years Ago this Month, was the Rolling Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday.”

That song didn’t strike a chord in those turbulent times—that mirror today—because there were so many women named Ruby. No, the song personified her independence, still considered a mark of rebel insolence in women, as late as the 1960s.

Have you ever actually heard its lyrics? “Don’t question why she needs to be so free | She’ll tell you it’s the only way to be …”** Absolutely.

Celebrating the rights and wonders of women everywhere today…

WOMANPOWER (woomʹɘn pouʹɘr) n. – the collective strength or potential for work, activism, etc. of the women in a given group, area, nation, etc. [WW #102]

“Ruby” (Linda Keith, according to Keith Richards’ book, Life, as noted in Wiki) was free-spirited and reports indicate she’d wandered down a typically Sixties dangerous path. Disturbingly, her womanpower to choose that path was revoked.

We all make mistakes; and while some of our choices can ruin our lives, no one has a crystal ball to know which ones, or in what way. The key word is CHOICE. An ominous choice of today could turn into a sparkling future tomorrow. Bottom line, it should be our choice—male or female—on equal levels.

Women have struggled for equal footing with men, since time began. Why has it always been so? Who cares. That it is STILL an issue, is the problem.

In this age of “politically correct” changes made to practically everything (right or wrong), in terms of gender, race, and culture, why have we not addressed, arguably, the single-most powerful assertion of American history?

The Declaration of Independence states:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men …” (My bolding.)

Think about it. If the men who wrote that document truly meant “men” in a general, all-inclusive term, then why didn’t they simply write “people”? As in “We the people ...”? Because they wrote what they meant. Women were not included in that vital declaration of independence …

Ephesus Greek ruin/Nike, LR 2006 Turkey

So. Isn’t it past-time to create a new Declaration that supports the people of today’s America, and our children’s future? It can be done … with #womanpower.

Word Challenge: WOMANPOWER. Male or Female, think about its implications, history, and our need for its collective intelligence, as you fit womanpower into your week of potent writings.

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle)

'Til next time ... enjoy a wonderful "wordful" week …