gloze

\GLOHZ\

verb

1 : to mask the true nature of : give a deceptively attractive appearance to — often used with "over"

2 : to deal with (a subject or problem) too lightly or not at all — often used with "over"

i guess i've only ever heard this word in it's derivative form—gloss. sometimes mirriam-webster throws in words that are hardly ever used anymore because they want to you know where common words came from or to prove just how freakin' smart they are. well, they've succeeded.

in this context, it's not gloss as in the sticky medium i use to protect collages, but the glossing over of one's flaws, deceptions, and/or evil intent. i suppose this is something i do every day, in varying degrees. on a superficial level i wear deodorant to mask my true body odor. this is something i've recently put some thought into, specifically since moving to a city like portland where most people i know do not wear deodorant. they say things like:

"i don't care what people think" (another glossing over),

"i'm not going to waste my money on that shit" (although most of them wear make-up) or

"i like my natural smell" (i will give them this; most people do in fact enjoy their own smell).

i still wear deodorant—partly out of habit, partly out of GLOZING and mostly out of insecurity because when i was in eighth grade, before i thought i needed deodorant, some mean boys in my music class called me "C.O.B.O." for a few days. admittedly, i did not shower much in eighth grade. i certainly looked greasy and gross; i'm not sure i actually smelled. i think they were just being mean. to my benefit, that nickname did not stick. i think that was pure luck. but alas, consider my armpits glozed.

i'm going to go ahead and guess that these same boys are now fat, impotent, or perpetually glozing over the fact that eighth grade was the highlight of their life.