Hang Loose!

Fashions in language come and go. But it’s likely that one lasting contribution from the fashions of recent years will turn out to be the expression “uptight.” Uptight people are not necessarily neurotic people. In fact, psychologists might say they are normal. It is fashionable, it seems, to worry with a passion about getting ahead; worry about health; worry about bills to pay; worry about family problems; worry about social problems; worry about political problems; even worry about worries. An unknown author captures the “up-tightness” of our time:

This is the age
of the half-read page
and the quick hash
and the mad dash
the bright night
with the nerves tight
the plane hop
with a brief stop
the lamp tan
in a short span
the brain strain
and the heartpain
and the catnaps
till the spring snaps
and the fun’s
done.

The jingle offers us a grim procession…