BOLD WORDLE
Sassy!
Almost got me with this one
SASSY is one of those words that sits on the line between compliment and complaint. We use it smilingly when a three-year-old repeats “no” with anything resembling conviction. It becomes unmannerly, insolent, or rude as that three-year-old becomes a teenager. Sassy grandmas are fun, sassy middle schoolers much less so.
Is it just a matter of degree that brings SASSY from the realm of laughably cute to brazenly intolerable? Or is it the person who embodies the SASSINESS? Why are we more likely to accept forwardness from a small child or an ancestor than we are from a contemporary or adolescent?
I think it’s probably more about the risk of the topic. We can easily accept a child being SASSY about not liking orange food or grandma being vocal about how she likes her tea. But SASSINESS about your education, the job you’re trying to get or keep, or other important issues is not as easily accepted.
Also, as I’m writing this and thinking about how strange our language is, I feel like SASSY is mostly reserved for the feminine among us. I’m not saying it shouldn’t work for all people, but most of the examples I find tend toward the non-male end of the spectrum. Interesting.
Anyway, feminine or not, I’m getting a little SASSY with Wordle today because three of the same letter is just unfair <hands on hips>. And with the Y in there, I was more than a little lucky to get this one <smirking eye roll>.
Somebody please tell me when I get old enough to be SASSY and not have anybody care.
