Word of the Day

We don't have a "word of the day" feature on Praxis. But if we did, I'd nominate the following:

Unrelenting. 1. Having or exhibiting uncompromising determination; unyielding. 2. Not diminishing in intensity, pace, or effort. (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000)

While I'm at it, I'd also like to nominate unrelenting as the word of the month . . . and of this winter . . . and, what the hell, of this year so far.

Let me explain.

I read a story in The Boston Globe last week, the day after yet another "weather system" dumped a foot of snow on Boston (not to mention snow in the south and much of the eastern portion of the country). I began reading, fully expecting standard post-snowstorm pseudo-journalistic fare -- quotes from people unhappy with the snow but chalking it up to "life in New England," the obligatory quote from someone jogging outside in gym shorts, claiming to be beguiled by the "winter wonderland" and wishing winter would last into June (excuse me one second . . . "gag" . . . ), etc., etc.

But this piece wasn't like that at all. Everyone featured came across as weary at best, or angry at worst. They all offered some variation of the same theme: I'm sick of this winter. One person called this the "worst ever winter I've been through." There was nary a peep from any purported winter-lovers.

Although I haven't looked it up, I'd be willing to bet that statistically, this has not been the "worst ever" winter in New England. I don't think we've gotten as much snow as in other winters, nor do I think it's been the coldest winter, average-temperature-wise.

But I'm with the people in the Globe story. It sure feels like the worst winter ever.

Why? Well, the cold and snow have been, yes, unrelenting. During most winters, we usually enjoy at least some respite--three of four days in a row of temperatures in the 50s, the occasional freakish 70-degree day. Something to break up the sheer monotony of it all. That hasn't happened this year. This year has been dismally monotonous. Each day, it seems, is either freezing, or snowy, or ice is raining down, or all of the above. Day in, day out. It's been like Chinese water torture, with the water freezing as soon as it hits your forehead.

So if you happen to live in the Northeast, I think you'll agree that unrelenting pretty much sums up what this winter's been like. On the other hand, I'm not so provincial as to nominate a word solely on the basis of our own local weather conditions. No -- if there were a national (or even international) word of the day/week/month/year, unrelenting would still get my vote. And I say that on the basis of certain other phenomena, phenomena that have also been unyielding, not diminishing in intensity, pace, or effort . . .

I read a story in the newspaper last week, one day after yet another [stock market drop], [corporate layoff announcement], [unfavorable economic report] . . .

Drip, drip, drip . . .