Redefining misanthropy for a fresh generation. Standard posts begin with a definition from Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary followed by a modern adjustment. Miscellany on Wednesday and storytelling on Saturday.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Disenchant
DISENCHANT, v.t. To free the soul from the chains of illusion in order that the lash of truth may draw blood at a greater number of points.
Now Mary Walker disenchants All eyes that on her figure dwell Apparelled in a pair of "pants" That fit not wisely but too well. But Mrs. St-w, bewitching thing! Charms most where most her trowsers cling.
I'd like to thank my mother, my sister, my best friend and her tabby cat, my turtle, and the strange small piece of fluff i found under my pillow this morning.
The feeling someone has when one party says they will "call you" and the quick realization that this statement is a complete and utter fabrication. Whoa I must be channelling cranky ex-girlfriend vibes today.
Cinderella, Joel? The poor handsome prince. And you're a sport.
Brian, that ain't toast. It's your record collection.
Puppybrose, I had a friend from your part of the world (Turlock, to be specific) who used to take his 5-year-old grandson rabbit hunting and whenever someone bagged one would yell in outrage "Hey! You just kilt th' Easter Bunny!"
Sar, I knew I should have brought Willie to breakfast for a recognizable face and wit. Sorry to disappoint. And it's true, folks. I had brunch with a shoe.
Anomie, nothing steals magic like morning.
Mistress Anna, I'd never have guessed. Of course, if they actually call the disenchantment can be a lot harsher.
disenchantment: When the Prince and the Dwarf's carry Snow Whites coffin and stumble, causing the piece of the poisonous apple to fall out of Snow White's mouth..... the spell was disenchanted!
Doug - help her out - get that comma out of there right now! It's truly disenchanting for me to see a less than perfect definition dispensed by the Pez Queen!
Minka, I don't know if you have encountered Encyclopedia Brown in your child- or auntie-hood but there was a story that turned on the exact point of their being no penguins in the arctic. Of course, you weren't born there, were you? Jury's still out as far as I'm concerned.
Joel, I love that and I bet it's a fact.
Puppybrose, you mean the late perfect girl?
TLP, thanks for giving the other side. That's why I always leave before breakfast.
G, during their marriage, my mother used to call my father a zircon in the rough.
Thank you, CJ, for giving us the plus side of disenchantment. It's really the best part of enchantment.
TLP, I've had the same thought, especially when I use the wrong homophone. Until they give us the edit option, why don't we just say that commas serve to divide items in a series, signal parenthetical phrases, and divide the words before and breakfast. Blogger owns us, but we own English.
Doug, I'm OK, I had no idea about the Mumbai bomb blasts until after I got home - a colleague called to ask if I was alright. Blasts were targeted at innocent office-goers at peak time.
But it's a pretty gory scene here, over 300 dead, traffic jams - and of course, no trains running. phone lines all jammed, can't communicate with anyone
VI, I'm not sure I'm not more enchanted when they stop.
Mistress Anna, this is why I blog.
Karma, thanks for checking in. I'm glad you're ok and sorry for those who aren't. Nothing disenchants like an idiot with explosives. Under the circumstances, I'm glad again that you're going on vacation.
Thanks, Karma. Sadly, New York being on high alert usually just means a politician is holding a fundraiser but hopefully no more bombings anywhere today.
Thanks, Jamie Dawn. That's probably a temporary disenchantment. Some day I want to watch you eat a box of truffles.
Welcome, Diane. My advice to all bridesmaids is don't forget the bartender.
What's next, G doesn't really have a lampshade head; or there's more to Karma than her tush; or there's more than one cell to OC; or worse yet that VI's not really from a village?
And Doug, you surprise me. I was expecting you to tell everyone I was a total heel...er...that I have sole!
I can only take so much of this talk - you just wait! Pictures are coming...
Let's just stop with the shattering of all of our belief systems. The picture beneath my shade of your bruch is that of a Dog and a Stiletto and maybe a picnic blanket...lalalalalalalal,can't here you,lalallalalalalalallalal
Well in the spirit of it all I feel compelled to confess that while I'm pretty square, I'm not an actual four-sided, four-cornered square...sorry. I like to get to disenchanting upfront as I don't want ANYTHING ruining my breakfast. Breakfast (making, eating, going out for) is one of my most favorite things in the Unverse! Really. So if there's gonna be breakfast involved I try to do at least three dozen disenchanting things beforehand to avoid any disenchantment DURING breakfast.
Disenchant: discovering cute "line buddy" at the Calgary airport was wearing a ring on his left hand. Duuuuuuuuuuuude. Disenchanted. Disillusioned. Sigh. Damn it.
I'm in California!!!! Whoooot! Didn't sleep last night! Holy Dinah it is hot here!
Doug, you devil. I don't think I can come up with anything better than that...especially about that variety of disenchantment. But here's a shot:
Disenchant: To make the polish good for nothing. To slow the pulse instead of quicken. To feel the full effects of the hangover that time and experience can only offer.
Puppy: The scale is indeed disenchanting. That is why I do not own one.
Doug: There are currently three left in my most recent bag of truffles. That is my panic number. When I'm down to three, I add truffles to my shopping list. Disenchanted is too light a word to describe what I would be if that number were to get to zero with no replacement bag on hand. I fear you would hear about it on the news.
You mean I'm an actual 2D shape with four sides and four corners? Why has no one told me this? I always thought I was a Square metaphorically speaking.
Stay for breakfast? I'd have said it was the farting in bed the night before that would have had the disenchanting effect -- no?
ReplyDeleteAnd yay! i'm first! i can't believe it!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to thank my mother, my sister, my best friend and her tabby cat, my turtle, and the strange small piece of fluff i found under my pillow this morning.
Haithenkyou.
Disenchant: The pursuit of intimacy often leads to a loss of enchantment.
ReplyDeleteDisenchant: What happened to Cinderella as the clock struck midnight.
...not the least bit disenchanted to be 2nd!
ReplyDeleteDisenchant: to tell your kid there's no Santa Claus.
ReplyDeleteDisenchant: To meet and learn the reality behind many an avatar.
ReplyDeleteSee: who are you people and what have you done with my blogger buddies the tan pez dispenser, the dragon, the teacup, and the dog?!
I, of course, really am a stiletto.
The feeling someone has when one party says they will "call you" and the quick realization that this statement is a complete and utter fabrication. Whoa I must be channelling cranky ex-girlfriend vibes today.
ReplyDeleteProbably your most clever definition in many a moon, a subtle variation:
ReplyDeleteto see fully clothed
Disenchant: to fracture the fairytale
ReplyDeleteMinx, well done on your firstness and discretion.
ReplyDeleteCinderella, Joel? The poor handsome prince. And you're a sport.
Brian, that ain't toast. It's your record collection.
Puppybrose, I had a friend from your part of the world (Turlock, to be specific) who used to take his 5-year-old grandson rabbit hunting and whenever someone bagged one would yell in outrage "Hey! You just kilt th' Easter Bunny!"
Sar, I knew I should have brought Willie to breakfast for a recognizable face and wit. Sorry to disappoint. And it's true, folks. I had brunch with a shoe.
Anomie, nothing steals magic like morning.
Mistress Anna, I'd never have guessed. Of course, if they actually call the disenchantment can be a lot harsher.
Pia, I love the irony you worked into that one.
Puppybrose, fairytales are for fracturing.
Everything after "I do!"
ReplyDeleteSar, I am not really a penguin either, there are none in Iceland ;)
The feeling many a parent experiences after a day at the "Magic Kingdom."
ReplyDeletedoug: fairytales... and preconceived notions of "the perfect girl"
ReplyDeleteDisenchant, v.t. To leave before, breakfast. Also see, was it that bad?
ReplyDeleteFor more on this subject see, inevitable.
disenchant: to present as diamonds that which is really cubic zirconia.
ReplyDeletedisenchantment: When the Prince and the Dwarf's carry Snow Whites coffin and stumble, causing the piece of the poisonous apple to fall out of Snow White's mouth..... the spell was disenchanted!
ReplyDeleteWhat's that comma doing there after the word "before?" I'm disenchanted with Blogger. We need an "edit" option.
ReplyDeleteDoug - help her out - get that comma out of there right now! It's truly disenchanting for me to see a less than perfect definition dispensed by the Pez Queen!
ReplyDeleteMinka, I don't know if you have encountered Encyclopedia Brown in your child- or auntie-hood but there was a story that turned on the exact point of their being no penguins in the arctic. Of course, you weren't born there, were you? Jury's still out as far as I'm concerned.
ReplyDeleteJoel, I love that and I bet it's a fact.
Puppybrose, you mean the late perfect girl?
TLP, thanks for giving the other side. That's why I always leave before breakfast.
G, during their marriage, my mother used to call my father a zircon in the rough.
Thank you, CJ, for giving us the plus side of disenchantment. It's really the best part of enchantment.
TLP, I've had the same thought, especially when I use the wrong homophone. Until they give us the edit option, why don't we just say that commas serve to divide items in a series, signal parenthetical phrases, and divide the words before and breakfast. Blogger owns us, but we own English.
G, see above.
Disenchant -- To actually pay attention to the man behind the curtain.
ReplyDeleteEn-chant -- when all the monks start singing in a monotone
dis-enchant -- when they stop
Doug: You make me giggle.
ReplyDeleteDoug, I'm OK, I had no idea about the Mumbai bomb blasts until after I got home - a colleague called to ask if I was alright. Blasts were targeted at innocent office-goers at peak time.
ReplyDeleteBut it's a pretty gory scene here, over 300 dead, traffic jams - and of course, no trains running. phone lines all jammed, can't communicate with anyone
VI, I'm not sure I'm not more enchanted when they stop.
ReplyDeleteMistress Anna, this is why I blog.
Karma, thanks for checking in. I'm glad you're ok and sorry for those who aren't. Nothing disenchants like an idiot with explosives. Under the circumstances, I'm glad again that you're going on vacation.
Doug -- I actually understood that sentence. Should I be scared?
ReplyDeleteShould you?
It's more difficult to be witty when you wake up to something like Mumbai. The disenchantment of faith when faced with religious wars. xoxo
ReplyDeleteOk I have nothing but this word veri demanded my attention
ReplyDeletedderek -- an oil rig with a stutter
Minka got it almost right. But it's not, ahem, everything after "I do". Instead ...
ReplyDeleteDISENCHANT, v. t. To speak the first I don't.
just heard on BBC that NY is also on the alert after the Mumbai bomb blasts. take care, whoever is in NY ...
ReplyDeleteGreat definition, Doug. Often times, you soundly trump Bierce with just a few perfectly chosen words.
ReplyDeleteI missed out on yesterday's word, and it was a good one.
Oh well, darn it!
Disenchant: To read the fat and calorie content on the back of the truffle box.
Diane (Feline Frisky) here. Disenchant - to catch the bouquet at the reception, then remember that the only Prince Charming in the crowd is the groom!
ReplyDeleteV.I., I stay scared.
ReplyDeleteTrue, Mireille. That was a collosal buzzkill.
VI, the dderrick says gglub gglub.
O Ceallaigh, that's a good alternative.
Thanks, Karma. Sadly, New York being on high alert usually just means a politician is holding a fundraiser but hopefully no more bombings anywhere today.
Thanks, Jamie Dawn. That's probably a temporary disenchantment. Some day I want to watch you eat a box of truffles.
Welcome, Diane. My advice to all bridesmaids is don't forget the bartender.
Speaking of buzzkills, I thought you should know that Syd Barrett is dead - really, this time.
ReplyDeleteWhat?! Minka you're not really a Penguin?!
ReplyDeleteWhat's next, G doesn't really have a lampshade head; or there's more to Karma than her tush; or there's more than one cell to OC; or worse yet that VI's not really from a village?
And Doug, you surprise me. I was expecting you to tell everyone I was a total heel...er...that I have sole!
I can only take so much of this talk - you just wait! Pictures are coming...
ReplyDeleteLet's just stop with the shattering of all of our belief systems. The picture beneath my shade of your bruch is that of a Dog and a Stiletto and maybe a picnic blanket...lalalalalalalal,can't here you,lalallalalalalalallalal
irkjb: irked by your job? why - yes.
I am a mosquito Sar, just ask doug
ReplyDeleteG, sorry to hear that I liked him. I'm not sure if that's a big transition.
ReplyDeleteSar, everyone knows you're a heel.
V.I. when I saw your name come up with a comment I bet myself your comment would be "Finding out you aren't a mosquito."
Beware the power of the Dark Blob, he said, practicing his disenchantments (and his multiplication tables).
ReplyDelete:)
Disenchant: to step on a scale after 3 days of rigorous dieting and/or exercise.
ReplyDeleteWell in the spirit of it all I feel compelled to confess that while I'm pretty square, I'm not an actual four-sided, four-cornered square...sorry. I like to get to disenchanting upfront as I don't want ANYTHING ruining my breakfast. Breakfast (making, eating, going out for) is one of my most favorite things in the Unverse! Really. So if there's gonna be breakfast involved I try to do at least three dozen disenchanting things beforehand to avoid any disenchantment DURING breakfast.
ReplyDeleteDisenchant: discovering cute "line buddy" at the Calgary airport was wearing a ring on his left hand. Duuuuuuuuuuuude. Disenchanted. Disillusioned. Sigh. Damn it.
ReplyDeleteI'm in California!!!! Whoooot! Didn't sleep last night! Holy Dinah it is hot here!
Disenchant... yeah, buy me a burger... that'll do the trick!
ReplyDeleteIt has been a loooong day... that is all I've got! ALL I SAY! Well, maybe this too...
vpjczbat~ Veronica's PJ sees a bat...
Doug, you devil. I don't think I can come up with anything better than that...especially about that variety of disenchantment. But here's a shot:
ReplyDeleteDisenchant: To make the polish good for nothing. To slow the pulse instead of quicken. To feel the full effects of the hangover that time and experience can only offer.
Puppy: The scale is indeed disenchanting. That is why I do not own one.
ReplyDeleteDoug: There are currently three left in my most recent bag of truffles. That is my panic number. When I'm down to three, I add truffles to my shopping list. Disenchanted is too light a word to describe what I would be if that number were to get to zero with no replacement bag on hand. I fear you would hear about it on the news.
disenchant~ to realize no definition I can offer will compare favorably with those already available.
ReplyDeletewell, that is to be disenchanted, but this late in the day, are you going to be picky?
ReplyDeleteO Ceallaigh, multiplication tables carry the power of schoolhouse rock. As enchanting as enchanting gets.
ReplyDeleteHahaha, Puppybrose or three months of talking about it.
I dunno, SG. I know you in person and if the squareness is a metaphor, it's pretty well manifest.
Told ya, Jenna. Welcome to the Golden State.
Hermana, if I buy you a burger it's just so I can have two.
See, Mutha, and I wish I'd written that.
Jamie Dawn, I'd rather watch you acceptance speech.
Actonbell, owl on it's way. Oh, wait did you want to know how or who?
Certainly not, Logo. It's good to see you.
Our love is never going to stop
ReplyDeleteRunning away and flow like a river
Like a stone dividing the river
Tell me beautiful things
Our love won't look back
Disenchant or be the theme of a book
My whole life I searched for a simple verse
To transform what I am saying
Easy rimes, goose bumps
Pinch a finger, make a pact with me
A second of yours on mine
Happier for a second
disenchant - to look reality in the eye and own it.
ReplyDeleteDisenchant: to see and/or be the former Prom Queen and/or Football Captain at one's high school reunion.
ReplyDeleteYou mean I'm an actual 2D shape with four sides and four corners? Why has no one told me this? I always thought I was a Square metaphorically speaking.
ReplyDeleteNow this is awkward.
Disenchant, n. To free from illusion; the bare truth
ReplyDeleteex. to sight your nakedness in the three-way mirrors under dressing room fluorescent lights.
(thank goodness for time differences)
So, Shayna, disenchant is the act of tje second second?
ReplyDeleteCooper. that's even nice.
Squaregirl, I meant the metaphor is accurate enough to be tangible. Your taking my literally is proof enough.
Still Life, that's why I buy my clothes in caves.