Family Snippets - 3. One Word

I enjoy writing. It is a hobby that keeps me amused, and one that I love, albeit one that I haven’t been doing for long.

My wife, Janine, encourages me and is always the first to read anything I write. This arrangement has worked out quite productive, albeit with a small complication:

Janine does not like the word “albeit”.

I have tried to argue with her that it is a perfectly legitimate word, albeit one that is a little archaic. She does not accept this, but argues that it is so old, it probably deserves to be retired to a museum.

I still remember the time when the issue first arose.

“You’ve used this silly word, ‘albeit’, twice in this chapter,” she stated.

I looked at the printout where she’d circled the word with her pink texta. For reasons that I’m sure are logical, albeit ones that I can’t recall, she has always used a pink texta whenever she edits any of my writings.

Examining the sections she’d highlighted, it all made sense to me, and I thought “albeit” fitted the sentences perfectly, but Janine disagreed.

“Once, I could almost live with, but twice?”

“But ‘albeit’ is a great word, albeit seldom used nowadays,” I protested.

“Now you’re saying it!” she exclaimed in surprise. “You’ve never said it before!”

I shrugged, as I worked desperately to come up with another phrase using “albeit”.

“I’m sure I have,” I replied indignantly, “albeit rarely.”

She threw up her hands in disgust.

Now, I’m not that good at reading body language, but I suspected she didn’t like my use of the word “albeit”. I think it was the way she scattered the papers over half the room with a single fling of the arm, but it was hard to tell. She’s such a reserved person.

As I picked up the paper and re-arranged the pages back into the correct order, I thought about what she’d said.

It was only one word, albeit one that upset her. Should I just change it to keep her happy?

I felt like being stubborn, albeit in a meek and mild way. After all, Handel had written a hit song based on one archaic word. If he could do it with the word “Hallelujah”, albeit a long time ago, why couldn’t I do it the same with “albeit”? Then there was Yul Brunner, who, in The King and I, entertained an entire generation with the overuse of the word “etcetera”.

I forced my feet back to the ground, albeit with great reluctance. While I have marginally more hair on my head than the esteemed Yul Brunner did in that film, I knew I didn’t have a fraction of the talent of Handel.

Momentarily, I considered shaving my head. Would this make the use of “albeit” more acceptable?

Sadly, I had to concede that it probably didn’t.

Slowly, I reached for the keyboard and removed the offending word.

“Happy now?” I asked sarcastically, albeit with a tinge of sadness.

She nodded her head. “Much better!”

Knowing Janine doesn’t forget things easily, I sighed with regret. If I tried to use the “albeit” again, the argument would just resurface.

So, to keep the marital bliss, I have deleted the word “albeit” from my vocabulary, albeit reluctantly.