2/28/06

so last night, as i was laying in bed, my random thoughts somehow came to the word uncanny. and i began to wonder how this word came into being. dictionary.com defines uncanny as

1. Peculiarly unsettling, as if of supernatural origin or nature; eerie.
2. So keen and perceptive as to seem preternatural.

however, it's not the definition that bothers me. its the actual word. who was sitting around and trying to find a word to explain how odd it was that two people looked so similiar?? and were they next to an actual can at the time? was it something like "wow, you two look awfully alike for not being related...(sees can) well, you surely don't look like cans, so your resemblance to each other, is in fact, very UNcanny." and if that's the case, anything can be uncanny, right? like this computer....very uncanny. there's nothing canny about it at all. its very boxy. now would that make cans unboxy? maybe i'll start telling people who look like someone else, that their appearance is very unboxy. i mean, it makes just as much sense as uncanny, doesnt it?? which, of course, is none.

i just wish i could've been there when the word uncanny was invented. maybe to shine some light on this mystery for me. but mainly just to slap them and be like "you have just created the most useless word in the english language. there is absolutely no connection between what you're trying to get at and what 'can' means. good day sir. i said good day!"

*le sigh*

my pointless ranting is done for the day.