Not quite a native Ripley Countian - she attended only her last year of high school in Doniphan though she taught in the R-1 system for 32 years - Teresa (Pearson) Lee delights in surprising readers and herself with anecdotal observations of life in general. Maybe you can blame her St.Louis roots for a quirky humor and some slightly-askewed opinions, but never doubt she writes from the heart.

Disgruntled? It's Personal.

Posted Thursday, April 25, 2024, at 3:57 PM

Factors in frequent disgruntlements :)

The dictionary needs a new entry, at least I think so.

Words - pronunciations, spellings, definitions, usages - are exceptionally intriguing to some. We’re an informal club. Membership is involuntary (we just can’t help it) and secretive (it IS a bit weird) until we stumble on another feeling our pain as we explode at one more faux-pas or someone catches us repeating a word aloud because we like the way it sounds. Writing a word for the first time, though you hear it and speak it, is a moment of awe.

Random appearances of words in different contexts get my attention as well. In a February column I mentioned a residence in Arkansas I visited as a kid - Quigley’s Castle. (Note: Columns are submitted the week before they appear in print.) When I picked up a copy of The Prospect-News for that week, I read the other columns on the Correspondence page then glanced over at the Records section. My sight zeroed in on an entry about someone with that name! What are the chances?

Recently the word ‘disgruntled’ surfaced. I’m familiar with the feeling. I’ve been disgruntled: about the time change in March; about biting into a soft Ritz cracker because I failed to close the sleeve properly; about finding numerous ponytail elastics on the floor when I can’t find any in my drawer, thanks to playful cats; about having to dig around in my purse for my driver’s license because I failed to put it back in my wallet. Misplacing my glasses then finding them under the book I set on them disgruntles me, too, when, because I’ve found them, I really should be gruntled. Yes. That is a word. It means in a good mood, happy and content.

Discontented, displeased, sulky and peevish are synonymous with disgruntled. Though it can mean angry, that isn’t the connotation we normally give it. It’s more along the grouchy, grumpy lines. Aggravated tones, snatching things up, tossing stuff around haphazardly or slamming a door or two might warn those around us not to take personally what we’re doing. It will pass. Disgruntlement seems a personal issue, not one that should drastically impact those around us.

So, if one is disgruntled to the extent that it becomes an issue for others, perhaps that’s not the word.. Disgruntled to an extreme - leading others to imagine all sorts of suspicions and allegations? There should be another word for that…

This first appeared in the April 24, 2024 issue of The Prospect-News.