What I’m Suffering from Today

Up until the past few months, the single most annoying English expression I have had to put up with was the word “arguably.” No one is the best at something, he/she/it is arguably the best. Just who is arguing? Who are they arguing with? No one wants to take a stand and put forth an opinion. They don’t have to be definitive if they argue, even if the argument is one sided (and can’t be heard by a bear in the woods).

 

 

 

Maybe it’s a little like Donald Trump, who simply retweets someone else’s comment rather than declare it as his own. Which is arguably the most annoying thing going these days.

Except for these words that appear in almost every pharmaceutical product commercial lately: “moderate to severe.”  If you are suffering from moderate to severe acid reflux or moderate to severe COPD or moderate to severe diabetic nerve pain, you should be taking the medication advertised. Or not. What if your suffering is minimal, should you just continue to suffer? Or is there a separate medication for that condition? Perhaps the prescription would be “buck it up.” But that doesn’t sell anything.

And what about that long list of possible side effects for these drugs, two of which are death and suicidal tendencies? In that case, buck it up—unless your suicidal tendencies happen to be moderate to severe. Then, what do you do?

But enough venting about words. Lately I haven’t been producing any. My problem for the past few months has been moderate to severe writer’s block. Or what I sometimes call “lack-a-wanna.” Ideas come into my head and stream by before I can capture them or share them. A long-time friend posted on my Facebook page this week, “So are you not writing anymore?” It was a good question and woke up my fingers and my mind.

So here you have it. Arguably the best writing I have produced this month. Luckily, a new month starts in a few days.