Okay class, is this a depiction of someone who is whelmed or OVERWHELMED?
I’m so excited. I discovered today that there is such a thing as being whelmed – without the “over”. It means engulfed. And one can be gruntled too, without the “dis”. It means satisfied.
Why didn’t I know this?
And I was talking to Steve M on the phone at 6AM this morning (the way people who get up early and perky talk in the morning – full of IDEAS and smarty-pants-ness…) and I said, “Well my relationship with my mother is great now that she’s old, because she’s less keen. I’m trying to think of a word that’s the opposite of contentious, but has an element of caution.”
Steve said quietly, “Just tentious.” Tensious is a suffix, but I like it. I like it as the word for my new relationship with my mother…
But if whelmed means submerged, wouldn’t underwhelmed imply normalcy: being on flat ground? And is overwhelmed what I feel right now with everything in flux? Or am I just whelmed with a hopeful (if hideous sounding) dash of gruntle?
Do you see why I drank?
