Gryphon's Word of the Day, Jan 31, 2007

The word of the day* for January 31, 2007 is “flabbergast” transitive verb : to overwhelm with shock, surprise, or wonder : DUMBFOUND.

We’ve been talking about getting another Ford Taurus ever since we bought my car in 2004. Here lately, Lloyd has been more insistent that he really wants a Taurus because the gas mileage is better than his Cadillac—plus the Caddy burns premium. For the past couple of weeks, he’s been looking at the ads. Yet, when I offered to get a loan pre-approved or even just call for information, he would back off. Yesterday, he called and asked me to meet him at the dealer, and yes this seems to be a decent car—a white 2005 Ford Taurus SE that had been a salesman’s car from the mileage.

 

Since I had met him at the dealership to do the paperwork, we had to go home and then back to get the “new” car. I drove the Fords home, stopping to get gas on the way home with the new one. When I got within sight of the house, I saw that Lloyd had parked in the drive behind my Ford. As I didn’t have the garage door opener, I had to go into the house. Lloyd said, “I think we’ll keep the Fords in the garage, and I’ll drive the Cadillac around in town.” I said magnanimously that we should think about it, but he insisted that I should drive the new car to work.

The quote† for today is from Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694–1778), Mrs. Gripon, in La Femme Qui a Raison, act 2, sc. 2:

The husband who decides to surprise his wife is often very much surprised himself.

 

;^)  Jan

* The definition is from either Merriam-Webster Online, 10th Edition or The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition and is used by permission.
† The quote is from either Bartleby: Great Books on Line or The Quotation Pages and is used by permission.

P.S.: Comments and word requests are welcome.

 

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Tags: flabbergast, word of the day, quote for the day, humor