~a column by Colleen O’Brien
Having been in a disgruntled mood for more than three years now, I am delighted to learn that I can be gruntled.
Disgruntle means put into a bad mood, made ill-humored or discontent. (“Current politics makes me disgruntled.”) Gruntle means put into a good mood, made at ease. (“The meal and the conversation made me gruntled.”)
The satisfaction of gruntle is that the word itself is funny. It makes me smile to say it, whether I’m in the dis pit of the root word gruntle or in the happy pro of gruntle.
Pick an issue from the get-even politics that our country is involved in, and I’m disgruntled. I’m disgruntled, for example, because the administration is disgruntled, crabbing about impeachment testimonies being taken in private. Then when testimony goes public, the administration is still made disgruntled.
The person who personifies the administration is disgruntled when the mainstream press reports what he says; so, what is he now when “his” press calls him a “big dumb baby”? (Frankly, I’m so gruntled that it was “his” press.)
He’s been three years disgruntled at our allies, but even the strongmen leaders he tries to emulate surely disgruntle him now and then. One of them (Erdogan of Turkey) returned a personal letter sent by the administration that said, “Don’t act like a fool!” It was an act of the pot calling the kettle black, but the administration was disgruntled by the return of the letter, refusing to look at his Russia-friendly Erdogan again.
As Fox News said, he is kind of a big dumb baby.
There are other disgruntlements being harbored by our top administration.
That I have been taken in by disgruntlement over these various things — “Insults. Bigotry. Nationally televised assurances of adequate genital dimensions.” [David Remnick, The New Yorker magazine] – I am ashamed. I have a conclusion to this kind of blanket disgruntlement.
I now abandon it, my own disgruntlement, in favor of gruntlement.
Forgive me, I’ve been behaving like a big dumb baby. Mea culpa.
Go forth and be gruntled.
