Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Itch or Scratch?

Rodney and I went into the city today to download equipment on a job site. We have 10 machines scattered around this construction project. One of the machines is up for calibration so we replaced it.

We are walking to our second stop and I get this itch. You know these kind. They are in the most embarrassing place to scratch ever. I'm getting Rodney used to where the machines are so in the event I can't go download these, either he or Jon can. So, he's with me and I can't just reach up and scratch it. I'm wearing a Halloween sweat shirt and I can't just reach under the shirt to scratch it either. It's just in one of those places where there is absolutely no good way to scratch this when you're with someone other than someone you love, dearly, truly, unconditionally. Trust me on this.

We had to wait for someone to come at stop #2, to let us into the two rooms where we have equipment. From there, we walk over to our final stop and we have to wait for Keith to come escort us around unlocking rooms. Keith takes an hour to get to us because he was working on unstopping a drain when we had him paged. I went to the "powder room" and scratched, even put some cool water on the skin. That helped for a bit but the itch returned when Keith showed up. There I was again, walking around with people and this itch and I couldn't do a thing about it.

We've returned to the office and, of course, now that I'm some place I could deal with it, it's gone. I'll put some cream on the area when I get home, but it's maddening. So I'm wondering, is it an "itch that you scratch" or a "scratch that you itch"?

Courtesy of Merriam-Webster's online dictionary:


Main Entry: 1itch
Pronunciation: \ˈich\
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English icchen, from Old English giccan; akin to Old High German jucchen to itch
Date: before 12th century

intransitive verb 1 a : to have an itch ed> b : to produce an itchy sensation underwear that itches>
2 : to have a restless desire or hankering for something ing to go outside>transitive verb 1 : to cause to itch
2 : vex, irritate

Main Entry: 1scratch
Pronunciation: \ˈskrach\
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English scracchen, probably blend of scratten to scratch and cracchen to scratch
Date: 15th century

transitive verb 1 : to scrape or dig with the claws or nails
2 : to rub and tear or mark the surface of with something sharp or jagged
3 a : to scrape or rub lightly (as to relieve itching) b : to act on (a desire) —used with itchtravel>
4 : to scrape together : collect with difficulty or by effort
5 : to write or draw on a surface
6 a : to cancel or erase by or as if by drawing a line through b : to withdraw (an entry) from competition
7 : scribble, scrawl
8 : to scrape along a rough surface intransitive verb 1 : to use the claws or nails in digging, tearing, or wounding
2 : to scrape or rub oneself lightly (as to relieve itching)
3 : to gather money or make a living by hard work and especially through irregular means and sacrifice college>
4 a : to make a thin grating sound b : to produce a rhythmic scratching sound by moving a phonograph record back and forth under a phonograph needle
5 : to withdraw from a contest or engagement
6 : to make a scratch in billiards or pool

Either way, when it happens in some places, you just can't itch OR scratch it. Sometimes, I think your body does it on purpose, pulling a not so practical joke on you. "Excuse me while I deal with this" or maybe not...

Beverage: China Black Tea

Deb


No comments:

Post a Comment