2027 Rewound

            It's interesting how words grow in popularity. You know something has arrived when the term for it starts getting borrowed for other things. Like the term HD. It started with television and video and worked its way to audio and then even paint.

Or take the word rewind. As in, "Be kind, please rewind." "Rewind" achieved vast popularity during the VCR videotape revolution of the 80s. Of course it worked for audiotapes too, but you could flip them over, it was the single-direction videotapes that really put the word on the map.

What I hated about it was the past tense. Rewound. It was spelled like you were wounding someone again.

Interestingly, I read a book recently that was set in the present day, and one character asked another to "rewind" a digital file. And I suppose we all do that. Like we dial a phone without a rotary dial, we say “rewind” when we mean “return” or “go back.” We also say things like, "Rewind that to the beginning of the tape." Even when there's no tape anymore, it's all digital data on a disc or hard drive, and certainly no rewinding of the tape.

So we find ourselves rewinding our Blu-ray HD DVD.

Another word being bandied about indiscriminately is "hybrid." Which always sounds like High Bred to me. As if it comes from some royal genetic provenance.

The new "hybrid" I saw recently came from Sealy-Posturepedic. Their new bed is part steel springs and part memory foam. Like a Tempur-Pedic with a backbone, I guess. Anyhow, they call it a hybrid. Like it's the Sealy Prius or something.

Sleep more, drive less, use less gas.

Me, I won't be able to unwind and sleep well 'till they bring out the HD version.

America, ya gotta love it.