From an "On Language" column by Mitch Therieau, "Has a Dash of ‘Whimsy' Become Less Whimsical?" (NYT).
September 25, 2026
"Whimsymaxxers talk about bringing out the magic in the everyday, but increasingly that magic is seen as something to be measured and harnessed."
"It is no surprise, then, that whimsy slots so comfortably into the jargon of our wellness-saturated culture. One social media guru breaks whimsy down into a series of salutary 'microhabits'; another speaks of whimsy as a means of maximizing the return on investment of one’s 'inner child.' Whimsymaxxing is presented as part of a 'low-cortisol morning' routine.... Buy yourself a little treat. Invest in your inner child. Let your impulses drive. 'Fun is a medicinal bath,' as Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno put it more than 80 years ago. 'The pleasure industry never fails to prescribe it.'"
Therieau informs us that in the 18th century "'whim' and 'whimsy' came also to mean... a rotating drum or capstan, attached to a rope, that could lower and raise materials into and out of a mine." He uses that old meaning to question what we're talking about today when we talk about "whimsy": "Isn’t life today a bit too mechanical? Aren’t we treating ourselves too much like machines?"
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18 comments:
I have a rule when choosing residential architects. One use of the word "whimsy", in any form, results in "Thank you for coming."
At best, their understanding of whimsy is differernt from mine - and a lot more expensive.
"The expression “a whim and a prayer” is a play on the older idiom “on a wing and a prayer,” meaning attempting something risky with minimal resources and relying on hope."
Taking the most insubstantial of things and 'maxxing' it, has to be the apex of expression in today's social media ecosystem.
AI. Anthropogenic, that is. An agent of humanity.
Turn on. Turn off. Abortion of a process, a system. Welcome to machine.
"Isn’t life today a bit too mechanical? Aren’t we treating ourselves too much like machines?"
Speaking of rockets and fat sea lions
Lipsmackers would be a great label for journalists.
Anti-whimsymaxxxers.
Customer: "She seems like a series of strange noises to me."
Waiter: "Beg your pardon, ma'am. But that's very WHUMsical."
Customer: "What?"
Waiter: "Very WHUMsical."
Customer: "You mean WHIMsical, don't you?"
Waiter: "In a matter of speaking, yes ma'am."
Customer: "Then why not WHAMsical then?"
Waiter: "Pardon, ma'am. But WHUMsical's much more WHIMsical than WHAMsical."
Customer: "You know, you're beginning to fascinate me and I resent that in any man."
- The Gay Divorcee (1934)
I'm a pioneer in the slothmaxxing movement. I'd have a massive following on TikTok if it weren't for a biased algorithm that favors content, of which I have none.
The very worst thing you can do to fun is to take it too seriously.
All this talk of whimsy. You should know there is actually a museum of whimsy- The Marietta Museum of Art & Whimsy, located here in Sarasota, FL. It's one of those things my wife and I pass once in a while and say to each other, "You know, we really need to go in there sometime to see what it's about."
Never been there, but once saw an interview with the founder, Marietta Lee. She seemed quirky and fun enough to have come up with the concept and pull it off. It's been here for years, but nothing last forever, so...if you want your fill of Whimsy, it's here: Marietta Museum of Art & Whimsy.
PS- the Museum of Whimsy is typically closed until season begins down here again. When those from the upper Midwest and Northeast come down in large numbers. She opens in late November and runs until the last Wisconsinite has left town.
"Maxxing" is maxxed out.
Nobody whimsymaxxed more than Dr. Seuss and the Cat in the Hat.
Adorno was an effete neurotic.
Also, no fun at parties.
@ Lem
I like that video. Thx.
They are trying way too hard. Do some people have to examine and analyze every little thing? What they are doing is the opposite of whimsy. Whimsy is a lightness that may float on profound seriousness. Think Mary Poppins (the one in the books), Abraham Lincoln, and Lord Peter Wimsey, to name a few. In a negative sense, The Light Princess (the creation of George MacDonald), who had lost all of her gravity, could not keep a serious thought in her head or her feet on the ground, unless she was in water, overdid whimsy.
Temujin, thanks for the suggestion. I’ll try to get there sometime.
Toy
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