This week, I found a word which I genuinely didn’t know the definition when I was reading it, which is actually fairly rare.  Normally I’ve heard the word before and have a general idea, but I honestly hadn’t heard this before.  And before you think “wow she doesn’t know what a fish is”, no.  This was not talking about the fish.  Although it was fairly easy to figure out based on the context, I decided that I would look it up, and it seemed like an apt word to describe people’s current emotions, at least in my opinion.

Carp- to complain or find fault continually, typically about trivial matters

“A teacher who that very afternoon had been carping at you about the homework you hadn’t done or about your general lack of enthusiasm might not show up at school at all the next morning” (Dear Mr.M, by Herman Koch pg.33)

I’m currently reading a book which I received from Blogging for Books through Edelweiss.  It’s called Dear Mr.M, and I find it really good so far.  When I finish, I will post a review.  I’m only on chapter 5, but from what I can tell so far it is about a man who lives in the same apartment as a famous, elderly author, and is writing a letter about himself stalking him, as well as giving other details about their lives.  It sounds a little strange, but it is actually really interesting.  Hopefully it stays that way.

The reason I chose carp to be the Word the Wednesday is that I feel as though many people do that in today’s society for absolutely no reason.  They decide that they are in a bad mood, and they start to complain, and it just doesn’t stop.  One thing after another is a problem, and they look for any possible way to find issue with their current life and not be happy.  This wasn’t actually the way it was used by Koch, as he took it to refer to a teacher complaining about his/her students, but it is the most appropriate usage of the word if you want to use it as much as possible.

One current example of carping is at the US election.  I am completely against Trump, and I hate that he is our president, but people are sitting there carping about it, instead of doing anything.  We, as Americans, voted him into our country.  It does no good to carp now, there was time for that.  Now, we have to protest what we hate, and support the few things that we agree with.  This is the only way that we will promote change.  For those of you who think this is bullshit, because clearly Trump isn’t a “trivial matter”, I’m not trying to disagree with that, I’m just saying that people are doing a whole lot of carping and not a lot of doing.

So, the next time that someone complains to you about something (anything), tell them to quit their carping and start acting.

 

This week, use “carp” in a piece of your own writing, or try to find it in a story you’ve read.  Maybe you can even use it in a conversation.  If you do, comment below and share!

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