Shrug. Shrug shrug shrug. What a strange-sounding word. Shhhrrrrrrrrug.

This isn’t a allegorical commentary on some apathetic state of mind I find myself in; I’m talking about the word itself. It must be a Germanic sort of concoction. I mean, look at all those consonants. And it probably describes the sound you’d get if you punched a guy in just the right spot. Definitely Germanic.

Do people whose native language is, say, Spanish have trouble pronouncing the word “shrug”? Does the ‘h’ make it easier than “street,” “sprinkler,” “Spanish”?

You can only shrug your shoulders; it’s a very specific word. You can’t shrug you knees, your face, or your cat. Some people also use it as a noun to describe a sort of wrap worn around the shoulders. Shrug. That makes it sound ugly, I think. I’d say “wrap” or “scarf.” Still tough and earthy-sounding, but, you know, less so.

I read a post on McSweeney’s today about Atlas Shrugged. I’ve never read the book, but the paragraph about “the collective weight of an entire Tot Lot’s worth of Elmo balls” sounds like a climactic reference. The shrugging is in the title of the book, after all. But what does happen when Atlas, who holds the whole world on his shoulders, shrugs? A shrug is an up-and-down movement, yes? Does this throw the world to the ground, so that Atlas can finally stand, unburdened of the rest of humanity’s troubles? Or does it only adjust the load a bit so he can bear it more comfortably? I’d guess the former, but I’m working from ignorance here.

Anyway, when I then read this post and lit upon another reference to this goofy word, well, clearly the universe wanted me to blog about it.

Shrug shrug shrug shrug shrug.