Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Thu, Apr 12 2007
What was I...
I knew about WWIS (What Was I Saying), which happens went we start telling a story and then get sidetracked by telling another story and forget what we intended to say in the first place. This syndrome has probably been in existence for as long as humans have told stories. And I knew about WDICIHF (What Did I Come In Here For). That's what happens when we enter a particular room or place, get distracted by something (or someone) and then realize we've forgotten why we came into the room in the first place. This particular syndrome has probably been going on ever since people started building homes that had more than one-room. When the only other place people had to go was to the outhouse it was probably relatively rare for them to forget their reason for making the trip.
I've never tried to make a verb out of WDICIHF. I suppose "widicifing" might work, but that's a bit of a tongue twister. WWIS might work as "wawissing", though that sounds a bit like stuttering.
Now it seems that cyberspace has caused a new syndrome, similar in some ways to the other two, but with a bit more friendly verb form. It's called wilfing (What Was I Looking For) and it may already have come to a workplace, or home office, near you. Bosses may hate wilfing, but they'll have to admit that your wilfing is no worse than them promising to meet with you and then being delayed while 7 other people stop them with questions. By the time they get to you they probably can't even remember what the topic of your conversation was supposed to be. So they experience widificing. If they still can't remember what the topic is they will probably open with some general statement and then pretend to wawiss with you so that they can frown and interrupt themselves with, "What we were talking about?" Bam. You'll remind them of the original topic and they'll be off the hook, at least in their own mind. (Come to think of it, maybe the trip to the outhouse fits in with this type of syndrome really well after all.)
All these syndromes manage to sound silly and philosophical at the same time. Each begins with us aiming toward a task. Then we cheapen our own purpose by choosing to allow ourselves to be distracted. Then we try not to make ourselves look like nitwits while we work our way back to the original task. It's a perfect metaphor for the way most of us spend the majority of our waking lives.
posted at: 09:43 | category: /Playing | link to this entry
I knew about WWIS (What Was I Saying), which happens went we start telling a story and then get sidetracked by telling another story and forget what we intended to say in the first place. This syndrome has probably been in existence for as long as humans have told stories. And I knew about WDICIHF (What Did I Come In Here For). That's what happens when we enter a particular room or place, get distracted by something (or someone) and then realize we've forgotten why we came into the room in the first place. This particular syndrome has probably been going on ever since people started building homes that had more than one-room. When the only other place people had to go was to the outhouse it was probably relatively rare for them to forget their reason for making the trip.
I've never tried to make a verb out of WDICIHF. I suppose "widicifing" might work, but that's a bit of a tongue twister. WWIS might work as "wawissing", though that sounds a bit like stuttering.
Now it seems that cyberspace has caused a new syndrome, similar in some ways to the other two, but with a bit more friendly verb form. It's called wilfing (What Was I Looking For) and it may already have come to a workplace, or home office, near you. Bosses may hate wilfing, but they'll have to admit that your wilfing is no worse than them promising to meet with you and then being delayed while 7 other people stop them with questions. By the time they get to you they probably can't even remember what the topic of your conversation was supposed to be. So they experience widificing. If they still can't remember what the topic is they will probably open with some general statement and then pretend to wawiss with you so that they can frown and interrupt themselves with, "What we were talking about?" Bam. You'll remind them of the original topic and they'll be off the hook, at least in their own mind. (Come to think of it, maybe the trip to the outhouse fits in with this type of syndrome really well after all.)
All these syndromes manage to sound silly and philosophical at the same time. Each begins with us aiming toward a task. Then we cheapen our own purpose by choosing to allow ourselves to be distracted. Then we try not to make ourselves look like nitwits while we work our way back to the original task. It's a perfect metaphor for the way most of us spend the majority of our waking lives.
posted at: 09:43 | category: /Playing | link to this entry
