Gray Matters by Stuart Carlson and Jerry Resler for January 20, 2024

In the Middle Ages, the term Rageman or Ragman referred to a game in which a player randomly selected a string attached to a roll of verses and read the selected verse. The roll was called a Ragman roll after a fictional king purported to be the author of the verses. By the 16th century, ragman and ragman roll were being used figuratively to mean “a list or catalog.” Both terms fell out of written use, but ragman roll persisted in speech, and in the 18th century it resurfaced in writing as rigmarole, with the meaning “a succession of confused, meaningless, or foolish statements.” In the mid-19th century rigmarole (also spelled rigamarole, reflecting its common pronunciation) acquired the sense referring to a complex and ritualistic procedure.

The word is spelled R I G M A R O L E. Only one letter A.

The no-longer-cool syndrome is less of a problem for those of us who were never cool to begin with.

Ooooh, and a cool cable splitter in the mix too! Add an A/B switch to really foul it up. Ah, those were the days.

This series hits too close to home. But I sometimes have no idea what kids’ language is today. I called a 3-3 game score “three-up,” and a kid (about age 20) asked me what that meant.

I didn’t care to be cool when I was young. No plans to start now.