A college senior has invented a word to describe that anxiety we feel when there’s unfinished work looming over us. He calls it desgundes. As in, “that twenty-year-old in the library making a three-foot boondoggle must likely be dealing with some inner desgundes.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Desgundes”
Hi, you have A Way with Words.
Oh, hi. This is Wes. I’m calling from Indianapolis.
What can we help you with?
Well, I’ve been looking for a word for quite a while that describes the anxiety that you feel when you haven’t done something yet.
Okay, why don’t you spin that out, Wes?
Well, you know, being that time of year, spring and all, lots of papers are getting in and stuff.
I’m a senior in college here, and, well, like, you know, you’ll have a deadline, and it’s like, oh, you know, I know this thing needs to be in, but I can’t really do it now because I’ve got to work.
And then, you know, got to talk to someone else after or something like that.
And, you know, it’s like procrastinating, but you know, well, you know you’re going to get to it, but you can’t just get to it yet.
And it gives you sort of a not quite anxiety, mostly anxiety, I guess.
But yeah, yeah, something like that.
It’s the sense that something is unresolved.
There hasn’t been closure on a thing that you need to do, right?
Yes, yes, definitely.
And it’s a little different than dread.
Yeah, a little different than dread and a little different than anxiety, too.
Well, Wes, what do you call it when you talk about it?
Actually, I did sort of make up a word for my friend.
Yeah, I called it desgundus.
Desgundus?
Yes, yes.
Believe it or not, it’s the first thing that came to mind.
Because it sounds like a word, and it’s also like an onomatopoeia, really, because it’s like two sighs when you say it.
Desgundus.
D-E-S what?
G-U something?
D-E-S-G-U-N-D-E-S.
Does this come from another language, or was it invented a whole cloth out of your brain?
When you should have been doing other things.
Definitely.
I did take a year or two a German, and Freud and psychology and stuff, he probably made up a lot of words and terms.
It sounded like that, like something you’d say on a chair, like, you know, tell me about Tulmaba.
Things like that.
So tell me about your desgundus.
All right, here we go.
We’re going to propagate this word.
We’re going to make it popular.
Unless people come up with another alternative.
D-E-S-G-U-N-D-E-S is now the word for the feeling you get, the anxiety that you get when you have undone work.
Oh, my goodness.
Yeah, that’s a lot of fun.
You can think of different kinds, too.
This may be nine-tenths of the feeling that I have all day long.
Oh, my gosh, I know, right?
This is fantastic.
Descundous, the feeling that you get when you’re something undone.
Wonderful.
Birth of a word right here.
Well, I’ll tell you what.
We’re going to put this word out to our listeners, see how they like it.
If they come up with some others, we’ll share them on the air, okay?
Or we’ll do it later.
Thanks, Wes, for calling.
Oh, thank you guys so much, big fan.
See you later.
Get her done, all right?
We’ll talk to you later.
I think Descundes has legs. What do you think? Call us 877-929-9673 or email us words@waywordradio.org.
