The status of it

Riding my bike to work this morning, I was thinking about how your status can change with more money, more fame, etc. Pretty basic. What struck me, though, was that I didn't know how to correctly refer to something or someone with more than one status...

As it turns, out, the answer was as interesting as one could hope.

Is it stati? Um, no, just like octopus is not octopi, this is not correct.
Is it states? Although this is a possibility, how do you pronounce it? And it is really not that interesting.
Is it... could it be... status?

Yes, but it gets pronounced differently. The 'u' becomes like in 'tune', as opposed to the usual sound, like 'tug'.

Very nice.

Now, I dare you to use the correct pronunciation in conversation with normal people, ie: those not entirely prone to self-aggrandizing pontification and snobbery, and tell me what happens. Do you get a flurry of applause and 'bravos', or a sneer and a dismissive snort for being a ponce? My guess is the latter.

Turquoise

There is a running theme in my favourite things: colour. One that consistently tops the charts is turquoise. The good people at Pantone have solemnly declared turquoise the 2010 colour of the year. More specifically (as this is Pantone, after all), colour code 15-5519.

"Combining the serene qualities of blue and the invigorating aspects of green, Turquoise inspires thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a comforting escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of wellbeing."

The 64-colour Crayola Crayon box (also high up on my list of favourite things) contains two amazing colours: green-blue and blue-green. They are distinctly different, with green-blue being heavier on the green than its companion, blue-green. When I was 7 years old, the best part was that someone else recognized the important difference between the two, and then made it abundantly clear in the names. No 'cerulean' this and 'ocean' that. As much as I appreciate creative naming, my childhood self found something comforting in the simplicity of inverting 'green' and 'blue' to describe different versions of what I saw as turquoise. Heaven.

Whinysad

Now, the thing with designating a 'Word of the Day' is that it isn't an outright, straight-ahead accolade in all instances.

Take our new friend, 'whinysad'. This little combination of two weak and overused words becomes something a tad more interesting when the space between the two is omitted. However, are there no other words that can be used for this particular personality characteristic?

The answer could possibly be no, like in the context I found it, in this article called "Why are you so terribly disappointing". The folks Mark Morford describes might not be worthy of a more interesting word, or maybe the phenomenon of 'whinysad' is such a new form of emotional expression that there are no words to describe. I am going to hazard a very optimistic guess that this possibly modern state of pouting whilst crying will end. Soon.