Whiplash: An injury to the neck caused by an abrupt jerking motion of the head, either backward or forward; And in the case of writing or speaking, can be caused by a rapid change of topic without prior notice.
Whiplash! – “X” cuses, that’s all that is given for these changes.
With high eXpectations, I attempt to find things with an “X” in them to write about. That is not an easy task. In the past three years of A to Z Challenge, I’ve written about Xanadu (http://www.hdhstory.net/Storyblog/?p=635), future X-Ray technology (http://www.hdhstory.net/Storyblog/?p=939), and not to do what is eXpected (http://www.hdhstory.net/Storyblog/?p=1243). There are not many good “X” words out there, which is why one has to start using words that begin with the sound of “X” as in eXperience. Clearly, this is not a problem that only I face. The solution is clear; we must start creating new words that begin with “X”. There’s plenty of room in the “X” section of the dictionary. My son created the word XSpring when he was young. He defined it as, “it looks and feels like Spring, but it’s not really Spring.” It usually occurs during Winter. How about using Sniglets (Sniglet = Any word which should be in the dictionary but isn’t.) Here’s one I found using a “sniglet” search: xiidigitation (ksi dig TAY shun) – n. The practice of trying to determine the year a movie was made by deciphering the Roman numerals at the end of the credits.
Sesame Street presents the letter X
Click here: Sesame Street presents the letter X
So come on people. Make our lives easier as A to Z bloggers and come up with more new and creative “X” words!
Whiplash!
Xenophobia – That’s not a word that appeared in the standard dictionary until after I was born, I believe. I have a copy of the Oxford Universal Dictionary copyright 1955 and with all the X words that are in it, xenophobia was only added to the dictionary for that edition; it wasn’t in the 1952 edition.
Now it is so popular, that in 2016, xenophobia was made the “Word of the Year” by Dictionary.com.
If you happen to be a hermit or don’t pay much attention to what is happening in the world around us you may not know what the definition of xenophobia is. Google’s definition is: dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries. Its synonyms include racism, racial hatred, prejudice, intolerance, bigotry, and bias.
Now that you are familiar with what it means, look around you, watch the news, read the newspapers; You’ll see why it is such a popular word.
I don’t get it. Each of us is unique. We have our own personalities, our own looks (though some are inherited) and our own beliefs. That makes us all different. That’s what makes what we are as a people great. Our diversity is what gives us strength. What we can’t do, is able to be done by someone else. Where we struggle, others help. If we were all blind and not able to see our physical differences, we would probably be perceived as the same.
So does that mean to solve the problem of xenophobia and hatred of those different from you, everyone should poke their eyes out?
I would think that most of our belief systems believe in being kind and helpful to all those that are like us. Maybe we need to expand the definition of who “us” is. We’re not black or white, Jewish or Muslim, gay or straight, and so on. We are people. Why is it that dog or cat lovers love that species regardless of what the individual dog/cat looks like? They certainly are different. Why can’t we all just be people lovers.
I’m probably thinking very small at this point. Surely there are other species out there in the universe that undoubtedly are different from us. We’ll just have to wait until we contact each other and then redefine “us” again.
Whiplash!
Feel free to invent/create any “X” words that you like. Send them to me or put them in the comment section. Who knows maybe next year for A to Z I’ll write about one of your “X” words. Do you have a doable solution to the rise and proliferation of xenophobia? Do tell.
He’s not giving up; Till next week… “Y” can’t he stick to one topic!
