Author Topic: declutter?  (Read 7281 times)

a non-amos

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declutter?
« on: September 21, 2008, 01:44:40 AM »
For those of us who seem to maintain a perpetually cluttered desk . . .
Carpe digitus.
(Roughly translated, this is possibly the world's oldest "pull my finger" joke)

technomc

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Re: declutter?
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2008, 01:45:50 AM »
In these days of house doctoring...declutter has got to be a legit word....

Just ask Anne Maurice ???

pat

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Re: declutter?
« Reply #2 on: September 21, 2008, 01:48:27 AM »
Another giveaway of today's 9-letter word  :( . Fortunately most people have already got it, although some haven't.

a non-amos

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Re: declutter?
« Reply #3 on: September 21, 2008, 01:52:51 AM »
Sorry about that.  I only just realized that it was a spoiler, and asked to have this posting removed as quickly as possible.
Carpe digitus.
(Roughly translated, this is possibly the world's oldest "pull my finger" joke)

pat

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Re: declutter?
« Reply #4 on: September 21, 2008, 02:02:43 AM »
I do like people who admit to their mistakes.  >:D Quite an uncommon trait these days.

Alan W

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Re: declutter?
« Reply #5 on: September 21, 2008, 11:06:17 AM »
N-A, your request arrived at about 2 am here, at which time I was snoring my head off. By this time, there's no point in deleting anything. I'm sure no great damage was done.

For future reference, it is possible for anyone to delete their own forum posts, by clicking on "Remove" at the top right of the post. I'm not sure what happens if you've started a thread that others have then posted to. It's also possible to modify your post after it's been sent - so you could change the Subject line to say SPOILER, and not quote the suggested word.

I'll respond to the declutter suggestion later on.
Alan Walker
Creator of Lexigame websites

birdy

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Re: declutter?
« Reply #6 on: September 21, 2008, 02:02:56 PM »
For what it's worth, I've heard it quite a lot.  I only wish I could force myself to do it to my apartment.

rogue_mother

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Re: declutter?
« Reply #7 on: September 22, 2008, 12:07:47 AM »
I had already tried decluttered before your post, A, and felt totally shot down when my wonderful nine-letter word wasn't accepted.  Declutter and decluttered have a fairly wide usage here in the U.S.
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Alan W

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Re: declutter?
« Reply #8 on: September 22, 2008, 11:07:39 AM »
I think you'll find, RM, that decluttered has 11 letters, which pretty much rules it out for the puzzle, as presently designed.

Declutter, however, does seem as if it should be allowed. I can't see it in any dictionary, but it is certainly in frequent use in magazines, newspapers and books. The hyphenated form de-clutter is also used, but it appears the unhyphenated spelling is at least as common.

So I will add this word, N-A.

For those like Birdy who feel they are falling behind in the decluttering stakes, an interesting book is A Perfect Mess, by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman. The book claims that a lot of the efforts put into tidiness are misguided. It argues that sometimes the time spent on creating and maintaining perfect order is a lot less than the time saved. The authors also suggest that an apparently messy desk may have its own, spontaneously generated, order - with the items that have been used recently near the top of a pile of papers, documents relevant to a common task tending to be together, etc. If you're interested, got to the website and read some of the extracts from the book.
Alan Walker
Creator of Lexigame websites

birdy

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Re: declutter?
« Reply #9 on: September 22, 2008, 11:13:59 AM »
When I was still working, my desk appalled the neat freaks - it was piled high.  But when my boss asked me for something, I could always find it within a minute or less.  I referred to it as my "open filing system" - I knew pretty much what each of the strata contained.

While I was on vacation one year, two of my colleagues took it upon themselves to neaten things up.  I'm sure they thought they were doing me a favor, but it took me hours to find things - in fact, my boss allowed me to come in on a Saturday so that I could get my stuff organized again.  It may not have looked neat, but it sure worked for me.

greenone

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Re: declutter?
« Reply #10 on: September 22, 2008, 01:17:22 PM »
I operate the same as you did Birdy - only difference is I can never find anything when I need it in a hurry!!  Well, once in a while I can.

biggerbirdbrain

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Re: declutter?
« Reply #11 on: September 22, 2008, 09:11:10 PM »
Oh, I'm with you guys!

Birdy, the exact same thing has happened to me -- with precisely the same outcome. Couldn't find a thing for WEEKS after these well-meaning cohorts tried to make order out of my perfect disorder. Made me so mad I could have spit!

rogue_mother

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Re: declutter?
« Reply #12 on: September 22, 2008, 10:38:19 PM »
Quote
I think you'll find, RM, that decluttered has 11 letters, which pretty much rules it out for the puzzle, as presently designed.
You are correct, of course, Alan. My only excuse is that we mathematicians leave arithmetic to others!
Inside the Beltway, Washington, DC metropolitan area

birdy

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Re: declutter?
« Reply #13 on: September 23, 2008, 02:16:22 AM »
Threeb, I was mad too and it was very hard for me not to say anything to them.  I know they thought they were helping, and I still had to work with them. 

No doubt it was also a bit of territoriality on my part that anybody would have had the nerve to move my property.  I was also working very closely with the union then, and there were some sensitive items on that desk - but obviously not out in the open where they would have been seen at a casual glance.  Since we didn't have locks on our desks, the papers wouldn't have been any safer inside.

My boss had come in when they were already in the middle of their project and had asked them if they'd asked me first.  He indicated that he wasn't sure if I'd appreciate it.  I think that's why he let me come in on that Saturday - he knew how angry I was, and was trying to make things better.

Linda

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Re: declutter?
« Reply #14 on: September 23, 2008, 02:40:10 AM »
My desk is always neat and decluttered, she said smugly!  >:D  Can't work in a scrow (mess) ... messy desk, messy head!!  >:D