Resistentialism

[Dave Monroe]

resistentialism (ri-zis-TEN-shul-iz-um) noun

   The theory that inanimate objects demonstrate
hostile behavior against us.

[Coined by humorist Paul Jennings as a blend of the
Latin res (thing) + French resister (to resist) +
existentialism (a kind of philosophy).]

If you ever get a feeling that the photocopy machine
can sense when you're tense, short of time, need a
document copied before an important meeting, and right
then it decides to take a break, you're not alone. Now
you know the word for it. Here's a report of cientific
experiments confirming the validity of this theory:

http://www.uefap.co.uk/writing/exercise/report/clatri.htm

As if to prove the point, my normally robust DSL
Internet connection went bust for two hours just as I
was writing this. I'm not making this up.

-Anu Garg

  "Resistentialism has long been used in our family to
explain the inexplicable: Why light switches, fixed in
place in daylight hours, elude groping hands in
darkness. Why shoestrings break when we are in a
hurry...  The explanation for these and many more
daily occurrences is that there is no such thing as an
inanimate object.  Seemingly inanimate objects
actually resist those they are intended to serve."

   Myron A. Marty; Hostile Inanimate Objects Have
Their Murphy's Law; St. Louis Post-Dispatch
(Missouri); Sep 15, 1996.

  "Reports of resistentialism abound in ephemeral
literature as well.  The Peter Tamony Collection at
the University of Missouri, Columbia, contains dozens
of newspaper clippings documenting the phenomenon ...
   Among Tamony's clippings is a story about a lady in
London whose telephone rang every time she tried to
take a bath. No matter what time she drew the bath,
day or night, the phone always rang -- and when she'd
answer it, nobody was there. Things eventually got so
bad that she stopped bathing altogether, which
prompted her husband to investigate the problem
pronto... In the great scheme of things (think about
that one!), Jennings tells us, we are no-Thing, and
Things always win."

   Charles Harrington Elster; Resistentialism: Things
Are Against Us (Including Our Own Words); New York
Times Magazine; Sep 21, 2003.

This week's theme: unusual words.

[...]

Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/resistentialism.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/resistentialism.ram

Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/resistentialism.html

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