“Money if fungible.” WSJ

Definition: Being something (such as money or a commodity) of such a nature that one part or quantity may be replaced by another equal part or quantity in paying a debt or settling an account.  Capable of mutual substitution: interchangeable.

“Oil, wheat, and lumber are fungible commodities.”

“The court’s postulate is that male and female jurors must be regarded as fungible.”

Pronounced as one might expect.   FUN jeble.

This was a fun word to do a little research on and dropped me into a minor rabbit hole*  that I am still struggling to dig myself out of.

It seems obvious that if you have five one dollar bills you could replace those with one five dollar bill, making money fungible (interchangeable).  However, that would not be true if you had a valuable quarter.  That money would then be non-fungible.

I ran across this word “money is fungible” in a Wall Street Journal article on the “Covid Relief Bill” just signed into law.  If you are interested in how this was used in the article send me an email, and I will send you details. cmmns@aol.com

However, if an item is fungible what is non-fungible.  Perhaps the original Mona Lisa is an example of a non-fungible asset.

This brought up the subject of the recent introduction of “non-fungible tokens”, (NFT)”, which dropped me into that rabbit hole.  An NFT is an original, (art, video and others) that is stored digitally on blockchain, much like Bitcoin.  It is a new method of guaranteeing originality. These originals are now being auctioned and paid for with Ethereum crypto currency.  As bizarre as this may seem, these NFTs are being sold by the millions for millions of dollars (who knew).  Even the famous auction house Christies has one coming up for sale.  An NFT of a 10-second video artwork sold for $6.6 million in late February. A video clip of a LeBron James slam dunk sold for $208,000. 

If you are like me and feel the future is moving in a little too fast join my club….I think its a pretty big club.  If interested in more information go to this web site…or of course Google search is just full of information.
https://www.investopedia.com/non-fungible-tokens-nft-5115211

Fungible is a great word to work into your vocabulary.  It is current, and will make you sound smart yet unpretentious.

To learn more about this word and to hear it pronounced correctly go to the following link:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fungible

*Going down a rabbit hole….the meaning.
To enter into a situation or begin the process of journey that is particularly strange, problematic, difficult, complex or chaotic, especially one that becomes increasingly so as it develops or unfolds. (An allusion to Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.)

Perhaps like a divorce.

A previous “Word of the Week” revisited:

truncate – to shorten by or as if by cutting off – “A truncated version of this report is on the web.”
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/truncate

Quote of the Week:

Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions. Winston Churchill.

Until next Saturday,

Gramps

Forty-eight weeks of great words:

1 –   exacerbate – to make worse “Your input just exacerbates an already difficult situation.”
2 –   assuage – to make a situation or feeling less intense. “I pray our Heavenly Father may assuage you of the anguish of your grief.”.
3 –   force majeure’ –  unforeseeable circumstance that prevents someone from fulfilling a contract. “The tenant will not be required to pay rent due to the force majeure’ clause.
4 –   sanguine – optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation. “I’m trying to be sanguine about this, but I see a major roadblock”
5 –   segue – (seg way) proceed to what follows without pause.  “She has the skill to easily segue from political conversations into subjects less controversial.”
6 –   bifurcate – to cause to divide into two branches or parts. “We have decided to bifurcate this large project.”
7 –   indolent –  habitually lazy – “His failure in life may stem from his indolent ways as a youth”.
8 –   ameliorate – to make better or more tolerable –  “this drug should ameliorate your pain”
9- truncate – to shorten by or as if by cutting off – “A truncated version of this report is on the web.”
10 – nascent – coming or having recently come into existence  “His nascent idea for a business turned into a goldmine”
11 – béchamel – a rich white sauce – “He made a lump-free béchamel for her, and, in return, she gave him her love.”
12 – anarchy –  absence of government – “The revolution began when anarchy took root in just one city”.
13 – rhetorical question – a question not intended to require an answer. “Is this a beautiful day or what?”
14 – milieu – the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops.- “His discipline is a result of growing up as part of the military milieu”
15 – nadir – the lowest point – “The stock market reached its current nadir in March”
16 – black swan event – comes as a surprise and has a major effect. “This pandemic is considered by many to be a black swan event.”
17 – myopic – narrow in perspective and without concern for broader implications.  “Your myopic view of this project is disturbing”.
18 – quixotic –  foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals – “His quixotic pursuit for her affection was quite simply foolish.”
19 – prescience – human anticipation of the course of events – foresight.  “His intuitive prescience helped to make him a success”
20 – laconic and laconic riposte – use of a minimum of words, and a short clever response to an insult or challenge.  In response to a demand to immediately surrender he sent back the following: “Nuts”.
21 – protean – ability to change, versatile.  “The coronavirus is protean in its ability to either make you sick or not.”
22 – ephemeral – lasting a very short time or perhaps only one day. “Custer was chasing an ephemeral Indian city.”
23 – catch-22 – a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.  From the novel “Catch-22”.
24 – arrogate – to take or claim something without justification. “In order to accomplish his dream he arrogated to himself controversial powers”.
25 – obtuse – difficult to understand, lacking intellect.  “The responses to his remarks this week were even more obtuse.” 
26 – purloin – to appropriate wrongfully (steal), often pertaining to a theft that is a breach of trust.  “When she opened her new office she purloined one of my listings”.
27 – salience – the quality of being particularly noticeable or important.  “It is not clear that raising the electoral salience of the Supreme Court will work to the president’s advantage.
28 – confabulate – to talk normally or to hold a discussion.  “He likes to confabulate.”
29 – animus – a usually prejudiced and often spiteful or malevolent ill will. “I have no animus or agenda for the Affordable Care Act.”
30 – puerile – to act or communicate in a juvenile, silly or childish manner. “His puerile ways are giving a poor impression at his job interviews”.
31 – regnant – having the greatest influence – “The regnant belief”.
32 – roil – to be agitated or chaotic – “the politics of slavery was roiling the United States”.
33 – sonder – The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.
34 – inculcate – To instill or teach someone an attitude, idea, or habit by persistent instruction. “They will try to inculcate you with a respect for culture.”
35 – mendacity – untruthfulness, lying. “He blew the whistle on the mendacity of the politician.”
36 – pejorative – Expressing contempt or disapproval.  Having negative connotations.   “Permissiveness is often used a pejorative term”.
37 – dystopian – A world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized fearful lives, often associated with a totalitarian government or an environmentally degraded world. “The dystopian future of a society bereft of reason”.
38 – Occam’s razor – The simplest answer may be the preferred answer.
39 – execrate or execrable – very bad – “The execrable hotel food.”
40 – immutable – unchangeable – Do not make the mistake of assuming that public opinion is immutable.   
41 – prurient – having or encouraging an excessive or unwholesome interest in matters of sex. 
 “She’d been the subject of much prurient curiosity”.
42 – obsequious – exhibiting fawning attentiveness. Exaggerated deference of manner.  “Waiters who are obsequious in the presence of celebrities.”
43 – iconoclast –  a person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions “He was a prolific writer with a reputation for iconoclastic insight and irreverent prose.”
44 – oblique – something not parallel nor at a right angle to a specified or implied line – slanting.
“We sat on the settee oblique to the fireplace. Or something not done in a direct way such as “He issued an oblique attack on the president”.
45 – profligate – wasteful – wildly extravagant.  “He has always been a profligate spender, which is why he is broke.”
46 – raconteur – a good teller of stories.  “We always invite her to dinner because she is a fine raconteur”.
47 – taciturn – a person who is reserved or uncommunicative in speech…saying little.  It usually connotes unsociability. “Nothing bothered the taciturn Hogan more that excessive praise.”
48 – fungible – capable of mutual substitution: interchangeable.  “The court’s postulate is that male and female jurors must be regarded as fungible.”