Can any Definition Work?

So - is epicaricacy a word, or not?  "If  it's not in a current well-respected dictionary," I am told, "it isn't a word.  "It is not used enough."  "The same people publish the word so it's not in the general vernacular."  Blah, blah, blah.

That's all well and good, though, it  has been in a well-respected dictionary in the past.  However, you can't have it both ways.  It must be that way for all words and their definitions then.  For example, we are talking about the French word couac on Wordcraft.  The meaning in French is "a bad note from a defective or mishandled reed instrument."  Some there think that since that meaning is mentioned elsewhere (not in lexicographic instances) that it is a legitimate definition in English, too.  If it's used that way by some, fine, I agree.  But then epicaricacy is an English word as well.  A tit for a tat, so to speak.

An epicaricacy story on me!

Yes, here you can have your laughs on my misery:

I was in the airport and entered a bathroom.  I entered the first stall and upon leaving went to wash my hands.  I noticed that the sink was disgustingly wet..."a bunch of slobs," I thought.  Then I looked around.  "Why are men using urinals in the women's bathroom," I thought?  Funny how your mind works.  Then, just as a man walked up to me to tell me I was in the men's bathroom, I realized, "Ah...that's why the men are using the urinal.  I am in the wrong bathroom!"  The man said, "I won't tell anyone!"  I sped out and found a women's bathroom and washed my hands there.

Lessons learned:  1) Don't always think you are right!  2) Men's bathrooms are disgusting!

Children of the Nazis

This is a video of the children of Nazis.  In my head I guess I knew that the general public in Germany supported Hitler and the Nazis, but in my heart I couldn't believe it.  Here it is from the mouths of their children.

OEDILF Epicaricacy Limerick

Cat asked for the limerick, so I've posted it below, along with the author's note.  The workshopping is finished, and it should be approved soon.  Yah!  If you haven't visited that site before, you should take a look at it here

Epicaricacy is a word
That is currently used by a nerd:
"Taking joy in misfortune."
The word that I'm torchin',
Schadenfreude, will soon be interred!

Whether epicaricacy is really an English word or not has been debated. It was first cited in Nathaniel Bailey's Universal Etymological English Dictionary in 1727, spelled as epicharikaky, though the subsequent Oxford English Dictionary has not cited it. It is cited in specialty dictionaries, however. The pronunciation of epicaricacy has been debated as well. The pronunciation I am using, ep-ih-KARE-ih-kuh-SEE, is the most often spoken one. However, Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary uses EP-i-kar-IK-i-see. Without epicaricacy we only have a German word, Schadenfreude (pronounced shah-den-FROY-duh in this limerick), to mean "taking joy in another's misery."

Pronunciation of epicaricacy

There's always workshopping angst on OEDILF.  My limerick on epicaricacy is being held up because the word is so rare that no one knows the "correct" pronunciation.  Mrs. Byrne's dictionary says it might be:  /EP i kar IK i see/  Tsuwm on Worthless Word of the Day replicates that pronunciation, but then tells me in email that he thinks my way is right:  ep-ih-KARE-ih-kuh-SEE.

Clearly my limerick needs it to be pronounced my way, so I am going to leave it.  If it stays at 3 approvals (I am not even sure how many they need now, but more than 3), so be it.  It will never be approved.  I like the limerick anyway!

Not word related...and not for NRA lovers

So...does the NRA still believe that guns don't kill people?  Would that horrible shooting in the Colorado theatre have happened without assault rifles?  And, really, why would an innocent person ever need an assault rifle?  Or a handgun, for that matter?  I can understand rifles for hunting or gun collections.  However, when we allow people to conceal guns, and especially to have assault rifles, we are welcoming this kind of violence.

I will never understand those who support guns ad lib.  And I can assure you, once the supporter's family is involved in something like this, he/she will no longer be a supporter.  I've been there.

By the way...just curious, did anyone's concealed handgun help in this situation?

Busy is as busy does...

Wow, where have I been?  I am just too busy for my own good.  

I received a google alert about epicaricacy here.  Also, I actually went back to OEDILF (it has been awhile there too!) and wrote their first epicaricacy limerick!  Here it is (until they slash it up):

Epicaricacy is a word
That is currently used by a nerd:
"Taking joy in misfortune."
The word that I'm torchin',
Schadenfreude, will soon be interred!