Word of the Day: Flowy. Adjective. "Of or relating to a flow." Slang. Not a word. Never was one.

Perhaps it's the widely anticipated onset of PMS, or perhaps the late hour, or perhaps just my mood, but Amber's usage of this word earlier to night rubbed me the wrong way. Flowy? What the fuck is with that?

Because I do so love parading my intelligence and that of my friends, I shall now copy this conversation of immense disinterest for all of you. Bon appétit!


FieryGwenivere: tell me, what's your reaction to this:
FieryGwenivere: FieryGwenivere: sweetie, no- the saxophonist, piece, and pretty are all oral poetry
FieryGwenivere: And...what else have you seen?
Amber: I dunno...I find them very flowy when I read them...
FieryGwenivere: and words like "flowy" are exactly why I'm a senior-year writer and you're a sophomore-year writer ;-)
Amber: LOL...Linda...please.
Amber: I may not be a very good writer, but don't insult my vocabulary.
FieryGwenivere: Either way, though.....the only place I could really be published is a magazine and the poems you've read aren't exactly magazine poetry
FieryGwenivere: flowy?
FieryGwenivere: try flowing, dear
FieryGwenivere: I was messing with you, clearly you have an advanced vocabulary
FieryGwenivere: but flowy????
Amber: No...
Amber: It was an adjective.
FieryGwenivere: flowing is an adjective
Amber: It's actually slang...
Greg: hmm... flowy... adverb, maybe?
Greg: i knew you when you were a sophomore writer
FieryGwenivere: you did indeed....this isn't my point, though
FieryGwenivere: firstly, the adverb would be "flowingly"
Greg: yes
FieryGwenivere: she's trying to tell me my poetry flows
FieryGwenivere: so it's flowing poetry......not flowy!
Greg: but... i take an approach to language that admits any and all words, even if i don't like them
FieryGwenivere: yes, well, so do I
FieryGwenivere: but flowy isn't a word
Greg: ahah!
Greg: but it might be someday
Greg: and that's the point
FieryGwenivere: no! no it will not!
Greg: it will if enough people say it
FieryGwenivere: I will shoot webster before that happens!
Greg: linguistic rules are nothing but the majority opinion
FieryGwenivere: Then it is my sole duty to stop them!
Greg: stop the onward march of language?
Greg: here's a seminal example of my point: the split infinitive
FieryGwenivere: Stop the poisoned decay of it!
Greg: no such thing
Greg: the split infitive, though:
FieryGwenivere: I tend to disagree
Greg: why is it incorrect?
Greg: because in latin, the infinitive was one solid word, and thus unsplittable
FieryGwenivere: because smug, pretentious bastards say it is
Greg: one grammatical book in the 1700s? said it was, and it stuck
Greg: and so today it is a grammatical rule whcih we must follow, if we're to appear to be people folllowing grammatical rules
Greg: there's no reason why we can't have split infinitives
FieryGwenivere: And there's no reason why we can't all just walk around making up our own languages and having absolutely no idea what anyone else on the earth is attempting to say
Greg: but nevertheless, if i'm writing a formal paper, to callously split an infinitive just would not be done
Greg: well, there is and we do
FieryGwenivere: :-) as you did just then
Greg: teehee
Greg: but you see, that's the only reason we follow rules, so people will be assured to understand us
Greg: but, in the context of your conversation, it was assured that you knew what flowy meant
Greg: so she didn't worry about it
FieryGwenivere: Yes, it means FLOWING
Greg: doesn't matter much, does it?
Greg: you know, she knows
Greg: and that is the only thing that matters, isn't it?
FieryGwenivere: it's heinous, though- as a writer, she should have enough of a love of words to not use something that's such an insult to the english language!
Greg: how is it such an insult?
Greg: it simply adds a different shade of meaning
Greg: any addition, in my opinion, enriches language
Greg: flowy vs. flowing: i can detect subtle difference
FieryGwenivere: it's skin-crawling. It's a completely disregard of the REAL word that actually means what she's looking for
Greg: flowy, for one thing, doesn't flow as well
Greg: complete
Greg: you're walking down a slippery slope
FieryGwenivere: thank you
Greg: (sliperring?)
Greg: it's just a matter of getting points acros
Greg: s
FieryGwenivere: (slippery...jerk :-))
Greg: right
Greg: linguistic obstinance does not become you, and that's my final word
FieryGwenivere: no, it's not.......you can't just go around making up your own words in lieu of learning the ones that exist
Greg: because the tylenol pm is kicking in ,a dn i actually have to get up
Greg: you can and you can't
Greg: when you're dealing with language, you're dealing with compromise
FieryGwenivere: In no way! you just said that to sound smart.
Greg: for her to say flowing might be false
FieryGwenivere: it worked, of course
FieryGwenivere: and you know why?
Greg: why?
FieryGwenivere: because you used ALL REAL WORDS
Greg: yes, to sound smart
Greg: one can't always be trying to sound smart
Greg: there are terms describing people like that, and most of them involved things shoved up asses
Greg: involve
FieryGwenivere: you're right....but one should strive not to sound like someone who would use the word "flowy"
Greg: says you
Greg: but you're bitchy
Greg: ;-)
Greg: (bitchous, bitch-like, bitching...)
FieryGwenivere: I am, yes, but you're on tylenol PM and that's clearly the only reason you don't agree with me ;-)
FieryGwenivere: (Bitch-irific)
Greg: whatever soothes your verbally fascistic little heart
Greg: to sleep
Greg: you shouold talk to my mom, we had a great argument over this once that devolved completely into me screaming "Nazi! Nazi! Nazi!"
FieryGwenivere: indeed.....I shall live without your charming split infinitives for another night
Greg: yes, and i'll take this occasion to charmingly split
Greg: adieu, mon amour
FieryGwenivere: bonne soir, mon amié


Nothing today has thrilled me more than his lovely little use of double entendre there...Unless you count yesterday as today because I've yet to actually go to bed. In which case, I saw the Majestic today with Mark and Jenn, and inadvertantly with Bobby and Serena, and it was such a wonderful movie.....in the scene at the end, he shouts "the bill of rights" at one point in this little speech and it sent shivers through my body the way he did it. It was very much a feel-good flick.


Amber, Greg, and all others I was arguing with tonight have gone to bed, so I am off to join them in dreamland. To charmingly split.

To sleepily go on with it!