Them’s Excitin’ Words

(A girl and her boyfriend approached my customer service desk.)

Girl: “Excuse me, where are the dictionaries?”

Me: “Aisle 13.”

Girl: “Thank you!”

(A few minutes later the couple returned, dictionary in hand.)

Girl: “How do you spell ‘ecstatic’?”

Me: “E-C-S-T-A-T-I-C.”

Girl: *thumbing pages* “Okay…”

Boy: “I’m tellin’ you, it ain’t a real word.”

(Since she was still unable to spell it, finding the word was proving difficult.)

Boy: *smugly* “SEE? If it was a real word, it would BE IN THE DICTIONARY, wouldn’t it?”

Girl: “I can’t find it!”

Me: “Try looking up ‘ecstasy.’ They usually list the adjective forms of the noun at the end of the entry.”

Girl: *finding it* “Oh, here it is, see? ‘Ecstatic’ means a person experiencing ecstasy. Look, honey!”

Boy: *walking away* “It AIN’T A WORD, it AIN’T!”

Girl: *chasing after him waving the book* “LOOK! It’s right here! LOOOOOK!”