2007-02-27 
 

panoply is the new plethora


I remember the first times I encountered plethora. It sounded cultured and exotic to my preteen mind. Soon after, I made an attempt to use it in the Tallahassee game and was rewarded with attention from my playmates. At least, that's what I remember. It may be getting twisted up with my memory of us using the word dolt in a way that really pointed to the fact that I could be a pretentious prig when I wanted to be.

To digress for a moment: The Tallahassee Game originated as The Town Game, a game in which we all basically pretended to be adults with fun jobs and homes. I, of course, owned a boutique hotel AND an interior decorating business. The "hotel" was in actuality a tree that gave me pretty conistent bumps and bruises. (In case you aren't aware, it's rather difficult to climb a tree while carrying an elaborate binder filled with swatches and paint chips. Stereotype, party of one, your table is ready!)

At some point, we realized that the name Town Game lacked oomph, thus the rechristening. Tallahassee was a name that sounded, to our young New England minds, like a wonderful and magical place where the sun always shone and everything was exciting. Besides, Tallahassee rolls off the tongue in a fun way. Hmmm...a bit like plethora does actually. (Managed to come full circle on that one, didn't I?)

As years passed, plethora seemed to pop up everywhere, and suddenly EVERYone was using it. It's no longer exotic, but I still do love it so.

So, what's that got to do with panoply? Seems that lately, it's been sneaking into my life more and more. Popping up in books, news articles and even on television. Not in the more common impressive display sense that I'm used to, but in the protective cover/suit of armor sense that I actually had to look up.

You wait and see, there'll soon be a plethora of folk using panoply.

Labels: dose of mikey, memory lane

* posted by me at 10:07 PM

Comments: Post a Comment