Roots. Along the dark and mysterious Ocklawaha River.
The more I listen to people converse, and television talking heads blather, the more I notice how much meaning has been sucked out of what people say. There are the general empty words and phrases, such as, “totally,” “I was like . . .,” “ya know,” and so forth. But it’s all too easy to pick on people speaking the vulgate (I know, what I really mean is “colloquial English”). My mind, of course, runs deeper. There is so much empty talk, so many empty words, I cannot discuss them all in one post, so I’m going to narrow my focus. Today, I’m going to discuss things falling under the general rubric
Metaphysical.
I’m not going to attempt a complete list of words in this category which, not to put too fine a point on it, mean nothing at all (at least in the sense they refer to things the purported existence of which is, at best, fanciful, and, at worst, idiotic).
1.— The word “metaphysical” itself. It refers to things not subject to empirical verification. Things not, as scientific statements of fact are, real features of fact, but, at best, expressions of attitudes about which rational argument is impossible. [definition paraphrased from Webster's Third New International Dictionary]
2. (through however many pop into my head before my fingers get tired)—ghost, angel, genie, pooka horse, leprechaun, fairy, devil, demon, djin, spirit, shade, ectoplasm, elf, sprite, nixie, god, satan, zombie, loa, banshee, deity, specter, wraith, UFO, alien, goblin, gnome, witch, wizard, necromancer, mage, thaumaturge, medium, psychic, vampire, werewolf, seer, warlock, mermaid, giant, poltergeist, haunt, ghoul, astrology, tarot, tea leaves, divination, undead, troll, kobold, root-woman, conjurer, incubus, succubus, unicorn, dragon, nosferatu, . . . . ah, hell, (hell? heaven? purgatory?) you get the idea.
One could say something clever here like “so fucking what?” Well, my point is, if I have one, that so much of language is intended not to communicate, but to not communicate. Much of what is uttered is specifically intended to convey nothing at all, to obfuscate, to decieve, to gild the lily, etc., etc. Not to put to fine a point on it, to lie.
My brain is probably addled from days of laying rock out in the hot sun (today, we got a little relief from the heat and humidity and actually have the windows open). It’s not just the sun, it’s the crouching, crawling, weeding, smoothing, spreading Preen, spreading weed barrier, pouring out the rocks, and shoving them into place by hand. I got a law degree for this?! Well, actually, I’d rather be doing this.
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