Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Where did they come up with "mangle?"


This post has been fermenting in my mind for some time now, but a recent comment-leaving expedition finally spurred me on to actually write it! One of the things that always amuses me when I leave comments are the word verifications (incidentally, do they actually increase security? I've always wondered).

I just have to know -- have those quirky word verifications ever caused you to scratch your head? And more importantly, do you think Blogger hires someone to come up with word verifications all day? Imagine the lonely individual, spending long hours in a cubicle trying to find some new way to rearrange the 26 letters of the alphabet... Okay, so it's probably a computer that scrambles the letters, but I think my scenario opens up more opportunities for imagination.

Usually the word verifications are just odd conglomerations of colored letters sprawled across the screen, but I still can't resist the opportunity to sound them out. Something like "zpqwrk" ends up as "zipquirk," while "flffl" clearly can only be pronounced as "fluffle."

But today's word verification surprised me -- "mangle." Now that's actually a word! And having just participated in an "Our Mutual Friend" marathon this past weekend, it brought to mind vivid images of Betty Higden and Sloppy. Was "mangle" an accident, or was it deliberate rebellion on the part of the aforementioned lonely, cubicled individual? I guess I'll never know...

Well, go out there and have a klrdox -- whatever that is!

8 comments:

  1. Hehehe...when the title of your blog post came up in my Google Reader, I immediately thought of Sloppy! "Oh Mrs. Higden, Mrs. Higden, you was a woman and a mother and a mangler in a million million!"

    Sloppy is one of my favorite Dickens characters! "Meat one..."

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  2. "...beer two..." ;-)

    I'm a "Sloppy fan," too! Only Dickens can write characters like that...

    Yours in Christ,
    Shannon

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  3. When I posted the other day on Tiffany's blog, the Catch Captha was BLS3D - No Joke!

    I wondered if miss Tiff was a super computer wiz kid had programmed it that way.

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  4. I have been getting words too! I got "meters" the other day, no joke! And my mom got "billy"!

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  5. I sound them out, too! And I have also been pleasantly surprised by a "real word" every once in a while. :)

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  6. Word verification annoys me a little...

    Today I had 'prawava' and 'suffski.' No words, but I did almost get a word: 'gende'. I typed 'gender' in the word verification box and had to change it! But I'm sure I have had full words in the past...

    I also must say that I have given you a blog award.

    Blessings,
    Anna

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  7. Those words do rather bother me. So often the letters look like letters they aren't and I have to try multiple times to appease the verification computer. Of course, it is thoughtful of you not to have them on your blog- then I don't have to worry about them!

    -Maria

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  8. On second thought, I just came across "ingsyl". Having finished 1984 a few days ago, that phrase reminds of something quite frightening...

    -Maria

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