“…the Universe, presupposed to limitation and thinking that the Universe
remained in a state of stasis, Astronomers were astounded to discover, that inexplicably,
with a smidgen of disbelief, space as we had known it to be, was in fact, in vicissitude…”
Phil’s head now lay in the lap of female Physics major behind
him, his snore reverberating off the walls of the huge and completely packed
lecture hall. Silence reigned as Phil
awoke with a small embarrassed giggle, wiping the drool from his cheek, “I’m in
the wrong lecture hall. So sorry…”
He ran through the doors, throwing his Advanced Physics
textbook into the nearest garbage can.
Even though the book was worth $300 used, changing his major to Social
Sciences seemed a better choice.
Vicissitude struck me as a good choice.)
164 words
You are so clever with your stories. I had seen that word, vicissitude, before, but never bothered to learn its meaning. After reading this, I had to look it up.
ReplyDeleteI had seen it before, skimmed over it, until now.
DeleteDoesn't sound like a lecture I'd want to sit through either.
ReplyDeleteThat picture is wild. So many laptops...
I wonder if there are many textbooks used now. Oh well. Had to have one.
DeleteIt looks like many a lecture hall of my college days, sans Apples. How crowded it becomes.
ReplyDeleteOne lecture hall where I sat had a large oak table where the prof was supposed to use. I looked at that table and wanted to take a nap.
Deletelaptops a plenty there. I'd run for the door too
ReplyDeleteAll those laptops--makes me wonder if they are taking notes, following along with the text, or what?
DeleteRandom word choices are fun. Tossing a book worth three hundred dollars could be rethought though, I winced while reading. ;)
ReplyDeleteMaybe he is rich? Maybe freedom was more important? I don't know. Books were much cheaper when I was in University. $55 was a fortune then.
DeleteI remember the days when text wasn't changed from one year to the next so books could be handed down through the siblings. My daughter paid a couple of thousand for her daughter's Uni books, then had to pay a similar amount for the next child.
DeleteIts easy to spot the macbooks. Spoiled they are!
ReplyDeleteAh, the good old days, when notebooks and theme books were written all over. I thought it was an advance when my son took a hand-held tape recorder to class, and listen to the lecture again as he drove home.
DeleteFunny. I once wrote a story around the word phantasmagoric. It became as short story that's thinking about being a novella.
ReplyDeleteI hope it morphs into a novella. Sounds like it would magical.
DeleteA physics class and the teacher was talking about something other than working a derivation on the board?
ReplyDeleteThey were on the astronomy that week. Lots of solving for angular momentum, rate of spin for planet...that sort of stuff.
DeleteI remember learning vicissitude via a crossword puzzle. I used to do them during my lunch break in the shoe factory and always had a dictionary with me.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't a word you hear often, certainly not bandied about in day to day conversation.
Toss it in now and then. It basically means "change or act of changing or state of change".
Deletei knew that, my dictionary also says, one of the ups and downs of life in its definition.
DeleteOne of the books which belonged to my father which I treasure is a 'Dictionary of Difficult Words'. I don't make the clever use of it that you did with this though.
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful book. Use it sometime?
DeleteSounds like he made the right decision. Very creative word choice, and this photo says it all!
ReplyDeleteJulie
voices reverberate in those giant halls, so a full-hearted yawn would bounce off the walls.
DeleteGlad you enjoyed this odd word.
I have never heard this word and now that I have, I am not sure how to pronounce it. I have a feeling I will say it with a lisp.
ReplyDeleteIt is a little like Mississippi, isn't is
Delete