Word of the Day: Disgruntle
Yes, this is a far cry from the usual arcana which you find in the occasional 'Word of the Day' post. After all, 'disgruntle' is such a commonplace word, isn't it?
Well, not really. I think it has been misused quite a lot by people who think of the equation 'disgruntled=unhappy'. The reason I call it a misusage is that 'unhappy' really means 'unfortunate, and aware of it'. Disgruntlement, on the other hand, is the induced tendency or state to grumble in general.
But 'disgruntle' is a verb; you can disgruntle someone. How does that work? According to various sources, you do this by putting people into a state of dissatisfaction or discontent, into a bad mood or a sulky unhappiness. Recently (well, now not so recently), I was told that to continue working at a certain place would make my colleagues disgruntled. I was also told that I was a disgruntled person.
Haha! I am sure that about the only interpretation of that word, in that context, would be that some people thought I would make people aware of their misfortune, induce dissatisfaction and/or discontent, and generally provoke a state of sulkiness.
There are three problems with that, though. 1) I'm not a disgruntled kind of person; I might have moments of unhappiness, but I am actually quite cheerful about making entertaining commentary about my situation, bad or good; 2) surely my esteemed (ex)colleagues have more willpower than to allow me, Svengali-like, to con them into feeling unfortunate or dissatisfied when they have no reason at all to be; 3) mature people cope with their unhappiness; they do this by voicing it out, and if their entirely reasonable claims are rejected, they move on.
In short, disgruntlement works best when self-induced; only a general atmosphere of misfortune, mishap and malaise (if not outright mayhem) should be able to provoke this kind of sordid introspective decline. And I am sure that such an atmosphere is hard to come by, even if you deliberately attempted to create one.
As an aside, I have to point out that 'gruntle' is not the opposite of 'disgruntle'; 'gruntle' means 'grumble', and 'disgruntle' means 'to make entirely grumbly'. These are very amusing words, you must agree; their onomatopoeic qualities shine.
Well, not really. I think it has been misused quite a lot by people who think of the equation 'disgruntled=unhappy'. The reason I call it a misusage is that 'unhappy' really means 'unfortunate, and aware of it'. Disgruntlement, on the other hand, is the induced tendency or state to grumble in general.
But 'disgruntle' is a verb; you can disgruntle someone. How does that work? According to various sources, you do this by putting people into a state of dissatisfaction or discontent, into a bad mood or a sulky unhappiness. Recently (well, now not so recently), I was told that to continue working at a certain place would make my colleagues disgruntled. I was also told that I was a disgruntled person.
Haha! I am sure that about the only interpretation of that word, in that context, would be that some people thought I would make people aware of their misfortune, induce dissatisfaction and/or discontent, and generally provoke a state of sulkiness.
There are three problems with that, though. 1) I'm not a disgruntled kind of person; I might have moments of unhappiness, but I am actually quite cheerful about making entertaining commentary about my situation, bad or good; 2) surely my esteemed (ex)colleagues have more willpower than to allow me, Svengali-like, to con them into feeling unfortunate or dissatisfied when they have no reason at all to be; 3) mature people cope with their unhappiness; they do this by voicing it out, and if their entirely reasonable claims are rejected, they move on.
In short, disgruntlement works best when self-induced; only a general atmosphere of misfortune, mishap and malaise (if not outright mayhem) should be able to provoke this kind of sordid introspective decline. And I am sure that such an atmosphere is hard to come by, even if you deliberately attempted to create one.
As an aside, I have to point out that 'gruntle' is not the opposite of 'disgruntle'; 'gruntle' means 'grumble', and 'disgruntle' means 'to make entirely grumbly'. These are very amusing words, you must agree; their onomatopoeic qualities shine.
Labels: Management, WotD
etched with acid at 10:09:00 am
1 Comments:
You know, this actually made me laugh out loud and it's a faint silvery lining what with the sudden onset of thick dark clouds in the late morning.
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