Learning New Words as a Senior

Learning new words as a senior sometimes happens in the most unexpected places—like discovering that your car has something called puddle lights after 63 years of driving.

When backing out of our carport, I smashed the car mirror into the post. The mirror dangled from the casing by a wire.

I was able to snap it back into place, and it seemed to work just fine. But upon closer inspection, Hubby announced that I had broken the puddle light.

Puddle light?

I’ve been driving for 63 years and had never heard the term puddle light. Nor had I ever noticed that the mirror had a light on the bottom.

I immediately pictured a child in yellow boots gleefully stomping in a puddle. And why are they called puddle lights anyway? How often do you actually see a puddle directly under your car mirror?

Then I wondered how useful they really are. After paying closer attention, I noticed the light mostly shines on the door. In the past, maybe it helped illuminate the keyhole—but keyholes disappeared sometime in the 1990s. And in a garage or carport, the surrounding light easily overrides any puddle light illumination.

NNotice, it lights the door more than the puddle

So I turned to J.D. Power for answers. According to them, car manufacturers introduced puddle lights nearly two decades ago, though they didn’t become common until after 2010. Their original purpose was practical: helping drivers avoid puddles or other unpleasant surprises when getting in or out of the car. (1)

But then luxury car makers got involved. They began projecting their brand logos onto the ground beside the driver’s door. And just like that, puddle lights went from practical feature to rolling status symbol.

Branded light - notice it's at the bottom of the door where you can't break it

So, do we really need puddle lights?

The short, straightforward answer: No.

J.D. Power says the only real benefit is if you live in an area with ice and snow—so you don’t step onto a slick surface—or in places where you might want advance warning about other things on the ground.

After having my fun with puddle lights, I realized something: it’s always good to learn new words—especially at our age. It keeps the brain sharp.

Back in the 1990s, I bought a word-a-day calendar. Every morning I studied the word for the day…for about 20 days.

The problem was logistics. If I kept it on my desk at work, I missed Saturdays and Sundays. If I kept it at home—well, it didn’t get much attention there either.

After a month of inactivity, I tore off all 30 pages, clipped them together, and stored them in my desk with the optimistic thought that I’d study them later. Another month passed. Another clip. By the end of the year, I had ten thick bundles of unused vocabulary.

So much for word-a-day.

Recently, I searched for those calendars just to grab a picture—and they almost hooked me again (although I’ve resisted the urge to buy one…so far). Merriam-Webster’s calendar featured the word acephalous. Didn’t know that one. I did guess it had something to do with heads, thanks to ceph. Maybe I need to brush up.

Another company featured howdah (a platform placed on the back of an elephant) and frisson (a sudden passing sensation of excitement or thrill). At least Merriam-Webster used their words in real sentences, pulled from books and magazines—much more interesting than the contrived dictionary examples from the past.

And speaking of new words, Tuesday’s menu listed elote as an appetizer. I Googled it: Mexican street corn.

I teased the chef. “Why not just say street corn?”

He said, “Because people would complain, thinking it would be an ear of corn.”

Fair enough.

Have you ever noticed that restaurants love to use exotic words on their menus?  They have to sound like the ad for our community says, “our culinary team outdoes itself daily, delighting residents with imaginative fare.”  So a lot of time restaurateurs are guilty of the egregious use of highfalutin’ words to obscufate (that was in my word of the day calendar) their ordinary dishes, e.g., Dauphinoise potatoes instead of potatoes au gratin, Beurre Blanc for butter sauce.

Hubby’s particular bug-a-boo is the word curated.  He laughs that everything now is curated.  The Guardian says, “The word 'curated’ is often ridiculously misused to elevate mundane, everyday choices into artificial, high-brow experiences. Absurd examples include "curated" salads, toilet paper, playlists, or even random piles of junk in vintage shops. Other pretentious uses include a "locally curated" minibar, a "curated set of sodas," and a "curated" closet. Medium.com calls curated the most Egregiously Misused Word of 2019. (2)

So, whether it’s puddle lights, acephalous, or elote, I suppose learning new words is still a good thing. It keeps the brain sharp.  Now I’d better trot off and eat my curated breakfast.

References

1. Dustin Hawley, What Are Puddle Lights?, jdpower.com, October 22, 2022

2.  Simon Black, Egregiously Misused Word of 2019, The Medium, September 8, 2019