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SERIOUS FUN
Let Us Not Be Roused
A Wordle Warning
When I look up the definition to today’s Wordle, it seems to occupy a rather negative space in the language. You can ROUSE suspicion, ROUSE hate, ROUSE anger, and that’s written into the definition of causing to feel angry or excited. Nobody ROUSES happiness, or glee, anything else good.
And I just have to put it in there that nobody ever ROUSES AROUSEMENT, which would be, of course, a mouthful and definitely not where I want to go with this article.
And so, on to the point.
It seems easier these days to ROUSE suspicion, anger and contempt. It’s like we don’t even have to try hard to consider someone a liar, thief or generally an asshole. Is it because we, as a society, are becoming less likeable and more untrustworthy? Or is it because our default state right now is to suspect that the other person is up to no good.
This bothers me because of something I notice in my students. I teach high school age students and it seems that they are immediately defensive anytime I question them about anything. Even something as innocuous as “What are you working on right now?” ROUSES a defensive response. “I was doing my work!” or “I wasn’t doing anything!”.
