Rattlebrained

The Word of the Day for October 9 is "rattlebrained."

rattelbrained: (adjective) Giddy and talkative; foolish.

Synonyms: rattlepated, scatterbrained, scatty

Usage: Grandpa's rattlebrained, crackpot ideas always made us laugh.

Relevance to my life: I had not realized just how rattlebrained I appear when I get nervous and begin babbling inanely until I saw a short video clip of myself, made so that someone could hear my voice and its delightful accent; that first clip was so alarming that I had to go on and make several more, but since each was worse than the last, I fixed myself some Dutch courage and finally, hours later, ended up with clips that were amusing, and a bit embarrassing. I really do look like a dork sometimes.

What it is NOT: "ratatouille" - a French stew of vegetables: zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes and eggplant. Yeah, I know, not an obviously misunderstood one, but I have a funny anecdote to go with it so you're stuck.

So this one Saturday I had the girls, and Lucy had been cranky all day ever since her dad had dropped them off that morning. She is usually a cheery little monkey, and gets over any morning crabbiness quickly, so I was wondering what was up.

I asked her, "Lucy, what is up with you today? Why are you so cranky?"

and she replied, stomping her foot: "Because I stayed up too wate wast night watching Watatouille!"

heh

Example from literature: Nothing is leaping to mind at the moment; it certainly could be used to describe Lydia Bennett, (again, Jane Austen's P&P), as in "Lydia's rattlebrained schemes to get a husband," but it sounds more like a word found in those cheesy Regency romance novels written for bored 20th century middle-America, whitebread, slightly puritanical housewives. You know, the ones that make frequent use of "flibbertigibbet," and "cicisbeo." It's like genteel porn for nice girls, because the seduction ends with a passionate kiss... *fade to black* No juicy details whatsoever.

Yeah, I read them all when I was a young teenager and then moved on to the slightly racier ones, those books which introduced me to all sorts of giggle-worthy euphemisms, like "love button" and "throbbing member." Oh yeah, baby. If our parents only knew that a lot of our practical pre-sex sex education came courtesy of Kathleen Woodiwiss and Johanna Lindsey, well... it would explain a lot. Forget Lady Chatterly's Lover, hand me Fires of Winter! Actually, no, I like D.H. Lawrence.

Well, that was a pleasant tangent. I'd like to thank you all for going on this morning ramble with me. Enjoy your coffee!

Now I'm cracking up. God, I am easily amused. I can't help but think of Shakespeare when I hear "rattlebrained."


The Shakespearean insult of the day is:

You scullion! You rampallian! You fustilarian! I'll tickle your catastrophe!

Taken from: Henry IV, part 2


I can't think of a better time to add a clip from the reduced Shakespeare Company. If they come to a town near you, go see them.

Here is Othello, performed as a rap:

Here are all of Shakespeare's comedies distilled into one: