The heat is (still) on
Many of us are still hot and bothered by the crazy heat that has swept the nation. Sure, it's a tad cooler than last week...maybe...but it's still hot.
With heat comes irritability. Especially for those without air-conditioning. I'm one of those.
Yet being irritable—the word, not the behavior—isn't quite as onomatopoeic as one might desire when it comes to describing the state many of us are in. So I found a new word. It's not a true onomatopoeia because it doesn't sound like the irritable me sounds, but it sounds like the irritable me feels. (Kind of like how the word heebie-jeebies doesn't describe how the state sounds at all, but certainly what it feels like.) Plus, this new word o' mine is short, has only one meaning, and it's easy to pronounce, which uses less energy to say—a plus on these steamy days.
So I hereby share with you today's word for New Word Wednesday:
TETCHY (TECH ee) adjective 1. irritable; touchy.
Because of the continued heat wave, I'm tetchy and acting more like a toddler in need of a nap than a good and gracious grandmother.
A fitting word, if I do say so my tetchy self.
THIS WEEK'S GRILLED GRANDMA
I certainly can't imagine the Grilled Grandma featured this week as ever being tetchy, but one look at that photo above which she titled "skiing is hard on grandma's nerves" and there's no doubt she's lots of fun.
Read all about this fun-loving grandma and her fortunate grandkids in Grilled Grandma: Mary. Then definitely pop on by her blog to see some of the awesome photos Mary takes of what she sees and is and does. She's an interesting lady, to say the least. Clearly not tetchy at all.
Happy Wednesday, my friends!
Today's question:
Being hot makes me tetchy. What makes you tetchy?
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Reader Comments (10)
I'm tetchy, too, but I think it's more of a permanent thing than it is related to the heat.
Isn't tetchy a direct slang derivative of touchy? I need my OED for the etymology but it's on another computer and I'm too hot and bothered to go get it,
Borders is going out of business and has a liquidation sale. i got some great quantum gravity books that I'm already digging into. I imagine most people would get testy having to even read the dust jacket.
I get tetchy when people chew their food with their mouths open. Just thinking about it right now is getting me all tetchy. My kids are lucky they're cute, because they haven't yet learned to eat quietly.
My favorite word for the discomfort of sweltering days is "shvitzy". It doesn't necessarily encompass the irritability factor, but it makes me feel better to say it!
Love the new word, Lisa!
Unfortunately, I don't think I'll make it all the way to 't' in the dictionary. My state of being today is probably best described by a 'b' word definition.
Please forgive me...this heat is not helping my hot flashes!
great word this week, and great picture of Grandma Mary and Little Stuff. I am a faithful follower of her blog. She's a remarkable lady.
Oh gosh, I love that word! Techy.....sound kinda old-fashioned don't you think? Something a grandma might say. OH wait, I Am a Grandma.
What makes me techy? The heat and mean bosses and smart a$$ know-it-all's at word that condescend. Other than that, I'm good.
LOL
The heat makes me tetchy too, as does being hungry and I completely agree with Heather about the mouth noises, gah!!
I can get tetchy very quickly which has absolutely nothing to do with the weather rather my situation of raising a nearly 7 year old granddaughter who is acting like a teenager, rolling her eyes in to the back of her head and slamming of doors. Certainly not looking forward to her teen years.
Oh yes, this heat and humidity has made me tetchy! I have also had a stomach bug which made me feel poorly the past few days. I am hoping it will finally be gone tomorrow!