Stuck Without Time

Doldrums

Noun

Definition; a state or period of stagnation or depression.

Sentence example;

"the mortgage market has been in the doldrums for three years"

When I read into this word, Doldrums, I begin to see something that I find quite remarkable in its definition. It brings two different words together to mean the same thing. stagnation: a state of not moving or flowing and depression: feelings of severe despondency and dejection. I hope I’m able to break this word down with the intricacy it deserves.

Doldrums means something which sits in a state of depression for a period of time. Like the example projects, a mortgage market sits with no change. But it got me thinking how else we might be able to utilize the word and I began to think about emotional impacts which quite often have us in a state of the doldrums without thinking about it.

We’ve all been there, haven’t we? Where we’ve found ourselves feeling pretty depressed about something which can create a heavy heartedness among us. We can carry it around until we find a way to lift it.

I can probably name at least one thing a day that causes a little glumness. I mean, take yesterday when I went to the supermarket. Found myself searching the shelves for my favourite mouthwash. It’s all I’d gone in for and I couldn’t find it amongst the many lines of normal Listerine which filled the shelves like colourful soldiers standing to attention. Not that I’ve anything against normal Listerine, of course, but it’s the night one that has me positively excited after I’ve brushed my teeth and I’m able to swill the refreshing mix round before spitting it out and wiping the remnants away. This moment, in a seemingly normal day, so far, had me in the doldrums. I was gutted. In this period of, let’s say, 30 seconds (I think that’s quite accurate) I felt slightly depressed. I lifted a normal listerine off the shelf and placed in my basket with a huff. I didn’t stagnate on feeling for too long as I noticed my toothpaste was half price and wizzed some into my basket to stock the cupboard.

Okay, so it’s a slightly over the top example of my state of depression, as it only lasted for 30 seconds, but still, I was there, it happened, and I was bought into in a dull mood, throwing an adult trantrum whilst I picked up the less desirable bottle.

I'm not sure if you quite picked up what I did there? With my educational lesson ever growing the word doldrums was created by english words dull and tantrums: Doldrums. I thought this was pretty useful in beginning to understand how we might be use this word it its full advantage.

However, many things, or emotions can find themselves in this type of state for a long time and therefore the time length in the sentence example can be pretty accurate, for any type of scenario, where something is stuck for a period of time which doesn’t change.

Once again, I hope you’re able to see what we can do with some of the less used words which haunt the dictionary. I hope you’re able to use it within your writing this week.