farmdoc's blog post number 65

Occasionally I marvel at a word that sounds just right for its meaning. A good example is Muggins. The word Muggins has several meanings that fall into two types: A Type 1 Muggins is defective: a person lacking judgment/intelligence/commonsense, a fool/idiot/mug. A Type 2 Muggins is not defective, but rather is duped. A Type 1 Muggins is to be pitied but is essentially unredeemable. A Type 2 is a Muggins due to circumstances and nothing innate, and so is potentially redeemable. We all come across people who unscrupulously con others with schemes so clever that even the very intelligent are taken in. But more frequently a person becomes a Type 2 Muggins because of self-perceived weakness in a relationship and/or an inability to simply say no and walk away from someone or something. Nobody wants to be a Muggins. And assuming we have a three digit IQ, there is no reason why we should be one. With rare exceptions, there is no hurry to say yes to anything. If we feel put on the spot and are unsure how to respond, it is best to delay the response (for example by saying ‘I’ll think about it and get back to you’). If more people did this, fewer people would be Type 2 Mugginses. And the would-be Mugginses of this world would be much happier.