Saturday, March 2, 2013

Weird Word of the Week: Luddite

Madame L, according to some people who know her well and have tried to call and/or text her on her wonderful modern "smart" cell phone, is a Luddite.

As always, Wikipedia has a lot to say about this topic, including some dubious history.

If you read that, you'll know that Madame L is not actually a Luddite. She has nothing whatsoever against modern technology and only once has she ever destroyed a machine on purpose.

You're right, that wasn't Madame L, and the machine she may or may not have destroyed was not a computer. She just wanted to have an excuse to show that video.

Madame L still does, however, subscribe to the notion that the first step in trying to fix any machine is to kick it.

1 comment:

AskTheGeologist said...

Ahem. A more elegant, flop-wristed version herewith. Technically, this is referred to as "getting the attention" of the computer. This advanced technique could be a sharp rap with the knuckles, perpendicular to the plane of the motherboard, designed to close the resistance gap on a cold solder joint. Perhaps a 2 x 4 x 6. It could also include shrieking at high G and stomping around the house until your throat aches, thereby diverting your attention from the M^3 (Malignant Microsoft Monstrosity) so you can think more clearly and deal with the splinter in your hand.

I have NO idea who would POSSIBLY refer to Madame Elle as a Luddite. Mercy me. True, she owns a worthless, badly configured cell phone THAT NO ONE CAN EVER REACH...

However, one cannot hold that against her, even though she resists repeated well-intentioned and increasingly desperate attempts to replace said Proterozoic semi-smart phone. Or at least smash the bedeviled thing with a hammer...

One might have the temerity to ask Madame Elle about a somewhat inelegant phrase, used by certain unnamed individuals, to describe the inside of her preferred mode of transportation, an otherwise truly elegant Honda Accord Coupe...
~~~~~

March 3, 2013 at