November 1, 2009
I have a new favorite word. You guessed it, snarky.
I heard it used to describe the runaway best sellers, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I’d been eyeing those books for months now, a fan of Captain Underpants when my son was young. But my son is now a belligerent teenager who won’t sit and read books with his mom, so I’ve resisted buying them. That is until snarky was used to describe them, as in, “Well, they are a bit snarky, but you can’t help but laugh at them.”
I haven’t read the books yet. But I have already embraced the word “snarky.”
I thought I would use the word to describe myself to others. Then I looked the word up. The definitions included words like impertinent and rude. Kind of a rough edge to those words. It also included sarcastic, which is what I tend to be, but I thought snarky had a kinder sound to it, like describing a nose as regal rather than huge.
The definition also had the word irreverent in it, which I fully embrace, in the right company. And that has been the difficult thing about sobriety (four years and counting) for me, finding the right company.
When you are in the company of drunk people, irreverence works well because everything tends to have a funny edge to it when drunk. And my drunk friends tended to forget most of what I said the night before anyway. Actually, I tended to forget most of what I said the night before too. Hence, sobriety.
Finding the right crowd to be irreverent in takes a bit of aptitude I have never worked at gaining. I was too busy shoving limes down the necks of Coronas.
So there are times, more frequently than I would like to admit, when my irreverence gets me in trouble. Lately a friend of mine, who usually laughs at my irreverent remarks, has been making cat noises at me. As in “Aren’t you being catty?”
Catty? No. Snarky? Yes.
I tried snarky out on a facebook friend and was defriended (opposite of befriended?). I tried snarky out on a new friend while we were at lunch and she just stared at me, then quickly changed the subject to more neutral subjects, “Isn’t the sky a beautiful shade of blue?” To which I wanted to reply, “Isn’t that question a boring shade of boring?”
And my friend making cat noises at me, only does so because I have been making sarcastic remarks about things she holds dear to her heart. Her children – like they aren’t just going to ditch her when she’s old – I don’t know why she is so sensitive!
I think I will try snarky out for awhile. When people give me a dirty look after I’ve made a “joke” I’ll reply, “Don’t you understand snarky?” and leave it at that. I am tired of apologizing for using humor to be critical of what is generally accepted and respected. You know, slavery was once a generally accepted and respected practice. So was keeping your woman barefoot and pregnant.
I hope that I will find a whole posse of people who enjoy being snarky and enjoy my snarkiness. Like the latest person who befriended me on Facebook. His info page actually has the words, “lighten up” tagged behind a snarky remark.
So, snarky it is. After all, in my brand of spirituality, all that is required of me is to be the best I can be at who I am. And I happen to be very good at sarcastic, impertinent and irreverent. Perhaps I could be the best at snarky.
This week, I will time my snarky remarks to those moments when only I can hear them.
