reprobate

\REP-ruh-bayt\

noun

1 : a person foreordained to damnation

2 : a depraved person : scoundrel

the etymology tells me that the word REPROBATE evolved from meaning the hardened sinner that had fallen from god's grace to the (much milder) depraved person to the (more recent) humorously infamous scoundrel, turning down the harshness as the centuries unfolded.

intensity fades over time, over distance from origin. REPROBATE loses its definition, its sharpness, receding like a lost friend watched from the rear windshield of a car departing on a one-way trip.

it gets shuffled under new words, more appropriate designations. criminal. felon. rogue. villain. it softens, atrophies, its once profound signification mellows like a stiff abdomen yielding to old age.

like sin, it begins to mean nothing.

and as it slows down, dwindling into nothingness, mirriam-webster does a retrospect—

the life and times of REPROBATE—

and i take notes, process, interpret, filter, and spill it here, in order to better understand why.

why?

because i can.