Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Dotage

DOTAGE, n. Imbecility from age, commonly manifested in loquacity. (This word was originally ANECDOTAGE, but those of whom it is the characteristic virtue have not time to speak the entire word; they are too busy talking.)

2006 Update: The rise of wisdom from opinion, waitress over lover and indulgence beyond resentment.

Do-over: The age at which self-awareness surpasses vanity and loses the audience.

Happy Birthday to Ariel and Cowgirl!

49 comments:

Ariel the Thief said...

thank you!

Mutha said...

Dotage: Excessive fondness, or the well of emotion and encouragement I have for the one tulip trying to bloom in my yard...any day now...(come on, sweetheart!)

TLP said...

Well, I'm a dotard myself and I'm just going to speak my mind here 'cause I got nothin' to lose.

TLP said...

Forgot to say Happy Birthday to Ariel and Cowgirl. 'Course I did that on purpose to demonstrate dotage. Senility ain't pretty folks.

Sar said...

Dotage: For some reason, Dubya comes to mind. But then I suppose that would be Dolt-age.

Happy Birthday to my lovely and friends Ariel and Cowgirl!

GABRIEL C. ZOLMAN said...

Ah, Sar...We're living in the Dolt Age!

Or is that D'oh!tage?

)+(

Sar said...

Gabriel - are you agreeing with me or just pointing out my grammatical typo? Because I meant to write:

Happy Birthday to my lovely and dear friends Ariel and Cowgirl!

Damn fumble fingers. I need to dip them in some coffee stat.

GABRIEL C. ZOLMAN said...

Then cool my tongue, like Lazarus and the rich man...

)+(

GABRIEL C. ZOLMAN said...

Though technically I'm the beggar...


)+(

Anonymous said...

Pffft...I refuse to define anything having to do with aging for I am a young thing. Fancy free is me!

The amoeba said...

DOTAGE, n. The senility of the wealthy.

Happy Birthday Ariel and Cowgirl, from another one (see TLP) who refuses to acknowledge same. No candles on the cake please, there's an outdoor burning ban in place here in dry dry Maine.

cpioom - the latest greatest Intel processor

Minka said...

see, I didn´t know that dotage had anything to do with old age. I thought it was the noun for when parents dote on their children...that is why I never got this quote from "Four Weddings and a Funeral":
Gareth: To true love- so we can say, in our dotage, "I, too have been adored."
Now I get it! Thank you for clearing it up.

More importantly: Herzlichen Glueckwunsch zum Geburtstag, Ariel and Cowgirl!
(don´t worry! Those are the rigth words :)

Unknown said...

hap-hap-happy birthday darling Ariel and Cowgirl!

dotage is the future tense of doting. after the novelty wears off, senility sets in

Doug The Una said...

Ariel, of course.

Mutha, there's a special dotage for gardeners.

Sar, Dotage seems to come early to the elected.

Thanks, Star Firstbaseman.

Gabriel, I think Dolt Age was right.

Sar, remember to cool the coffee first.

Gabriel Dives?

And don't ever forget it, Julie, the memory is first to go.

O Ceallaigh, you don't look a day older than algae.

Minka, the relationship of the verb to dote with the noun dotage is a great linguistic mystery. Maybe Dan Brown or Simon Winchester will write about it.

That fast, huh, Karma?

Few do, Cowgirl, even sober. Icky! Icky!

Anonymous said...

My first thought was Ida of Atlanta. Oh, to be charming in our dotage.

Minka~ I rather like that movie.

TLP said...

Ahem. Excuse me? Forgetting someone are we?

LeMas. said...

dotage-the disease of grandmothers.

Doug The Una said...

Great thought, Logo. Happy-making.

TLP, it happens at my age. Sorry. But, please, speak your mind.

Ariel the Thief said...

dotage: when I am old and ugly and rich, and some young adventurer fawns on in my heart, I fall in love, leave all my property to him, he murders me and takes the heritage.

Ariel the Thief said...

thank you for the kind words!!!

Jamie Dawn said...

Dotage: I am not familiar with this word. I would have thought it had to do with doting on someone, but it seems I am WAY off base.

Dotage: Being WAY off base.

Jamie Dawn said...

Happy Birthday to the two, lovely ladies.
Have a great day Ariel and Cowgirl.

The Village Idiot said...

Dotage: the combination of two words describing what happens to skin as it ages...Dot Age

alternate definition: A somewhat subjective way to determine the age of a person by counting the dots on their skin

Like Carbon-14 dating...but different

The Village Idiot said...

happy b-day jamie and cowgirl

Anonymous said...

This time I truly love your definition, and of course Sar's first one--though yours is poetic

Dotage: in blogging is defined as anybody who hasn't entered their fourth and a half decade

Doug The Una said...

That's planning ahead, Ariel. Good for you.

Haha, Jamie Dawn.

Or counting the rings in the skull, Village Idiot?

Good eye, Cowgirl.

V.I., I see you're offering an example now.

The Village Idiot said...

Doug.

I live by example!

What example I am not so sure but I still live by it

last time i counted dots I got 247. Then I realized i was looking at a ceiling tile

Sar said...

VI said 247! Just had to point that out. VI, you're a-okay in my book!

And btw, thanks, Pia. My definition today was easily inspired. ;)

Miz BoheMia said...

Dotage... action to be directed towards two very special birthday girls! Happy, happy Ariel and Cowgirl! Bohemians just looooveeee them birthday girls! Ooooweeee!

Doug, there's no topping your definitions!

Doug The Una said...

Cowgirl, tomorrow you'll be forgiven for any bad behavior and/or idiocy. I think I turned 25 once.

Oh, no, Village Idiot. You said 47. Now you've done it.

Sar, it took you almost 40 minutes to notice. What's the story?

Thanks, Miz B.

Doug The Una said...

Oh, Pia! 100 pardons! Four and a half decades of age or by admission?

Anonymous said...

See, this is why I chase the young studs. They remember important things.

Alana said...

Dotage, Those that consider themselves to be older than the Dotcomage

tlm said...

You learn something new everyday here at Doug's place.

I thought dotage was something that lazy writers (such as myself) use to string thoughts together... Or to signify incomplete thoughts which... oh... umm... nevermind.

Anonymous said...

Sar: Dangerously high doltage, I'd say.

dotage: What Mall Diva thinks her parents and others over 30 are in.
Here's one of the problems from her lengthy list: "My parents are beyond old-fashioned."

Anonymous said...

Your definition is great so I'm not going to do one.

Planting things while dressed in old plaid shirts and gardening gloves is the only picture I have in my mind when the word dotage comes about; that or some old fool that married a young governess. Dratt the Bronte's.

Doug The Una said...

Boy, Jenna, congratulations. You ladies have made a lot of progress since I was a young stud. We couldn't remember much back then. I don't think.

Squaregirl, *Applause*

TLM, those are elipses. Who knows why.

Weirsdo, if she only knew what other people over 30 are like. Did you try letting her read Family Values? If I had a teenage daughter, she'd go to school in a chador.

Doug The Una said...

Cooper, I thought you were going to wear flannel.

Lila said...

Happy birthday, grrrls!

Dotage, n. A condition currently afflicting women named "Dot".

TLP said...

Did I leave something over here? I've been looking for my head all day. I had it this morning....

Doug The Una said...

A Pez-a-thon!

Actonbell, not to fear. Dotage is just an ugly word for refinement.

Hey, AP3! Those Dots!

TLP, there was something shiny on the sofa. Want me to check?

Anonymous said...

I'm right, you're wrong - you're weak, I'm strong
Your words are dotage,
My mouth tells the wisdom
These are the men in the white jackets
In hospital
DOGMATIZE - shut up, and be quiet
The doctors life - the patients death
DOGMATIZE
Rip this at arm, cut that leg -
Ampute this hand, open this head
Infections, tablettes and inhalations,
The people becoming things
Slaves of the medical practioners...
DOGMATIZE

Anonymous said...

oops... that's me-- ANONYMOUS SHAYNA!!!

Anonymous said...

Actually, Mall Diva is not even a teen, officially yet (don't tell Blogger). So she is chafing because she cannot wear makeup or get her ears pierced until she is 13 (these are two more problems from her list). She's not that interested in "Family Values" or other writings by dotards, but Toyplayer did read some interesting passages over my shoulder one day. Fortunately I am very liberal in this respect and believe in telling it like it is if asked. Whatever they're not ready for goes over their heads anyway.
Mall Diva doesn't go to school, so we have no need for Middle Eastern attire. Also, she is only interested in the unattainable Hard Solo.

Indeterminacy said...

All I could think of was an anagram: De Goat!

Doug The Una said...

Anonymous Shayna, of course that's you. Or Alice. Could be Alice.

Weirsdo, Middle Eastern attire is always appropriate. Han Solo?

Indie, I want so see more anagrams over here, old goat.

Anonymous said...

HARD Solo. Follow along, please.

Doug The Una said...

Weirsdo, I can't remember what I had for breakfast and its 7:15 here. I should have known it would be Orlando Bloom.

Anonymous said...

That's a joke, right? I wouldn't like to think that Mall Diva was right about dotage, but if you are confusing last year's cast off celebrity heartthrob with the hottest thing (NOT A NERD) at Nearby State University's music department . . .