Persnickety

Hard sounds and sharp edges. Pointy personality. Angular nose. Protruding bones. Persnickety is not soft. It is astringent, acerbic, tough, sharp, angular. I’ve used those words and can’t find the word I’m looking for.

Vinegary.

Picky and particular, sarcastic but not in a funny way. Puckery, like from lemons; not like for kissing.

Persnickety is not satisfied. Persnickety is tall and lean. Persnickety is pasty, does not like light, reminds me of vampires but only in the living-in-cold-stone-walls way, away from the the sun, not in the tempting sexy way of charm and seduction.

Persnickety likes the coasters just so (for coasters are a given). Persnickety likes the tassels aligned, the crumbs removed, the curtains symmetrical, the book spines uncracked. Persnickety does not allow dog-earing pages, or marring books in any way. Persnickety requires spotless glass, tidy tables, chairs pushed in. Persnickety, if it likes anything, likes order.

By this definition, I am persnickety.

Persnickety is a funny word. Cartoonish. Though the roundness of cartoon is in direct opposition to the harsh points and clacking sounds of persnickety. Still. Persnickety is a caricature.

I’ve got another minute to write and I’m out of things to say. Toast points. Cucumbers. Cream cheese. Salmon and capers and cilantro on a toasted bagel. These are not persnickety. Just words that are popping into my head.

actual definition of persnickety:

adjective, informal. 1. overparticular; fussy. 2. snobbish or having the aloof attitude of a snob. 3. requiring painstaking care.

For the month of April, I will be publishing a 10-minute free write each day, initiated by a prompt from my prompt box. Minimal editing. No story. Just thoughts spilling onto the page. Thank you to cindyloucamp for the prompt, “persnickety.”