The word of the day is: infra dig. This is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase “infra dignitatem,” meaning that something is beneath one’s dignity.
Now, I can imagine myself saying ?infra dignitatem,? but not the abbreviated form that Merriam Webster suggests. ?Infra dig? sounds like the result of some Ivy League law school?s student body being swept up in the disco culture of the 1970s, you dig? Groovy.
I?m trying to think of the last thing that I declined to do because I thought it was beneath my dignity. I was at a wedding two weeks ago where I didn?t do much dancing for fear of looking stupid: I guess that counts as an attempt to protect my dignity, huh? And specifically with regard to line dances like the Electric Slide, I?m not going anywhere near that dance floor. If you don?t know how to dance to a free dance, you can at least remain inconspicuous by moving left and right to the beat. If you don?t know how to dance a line dance, it?s going to become obvious to everybody pretty quickly.
But I don’t actually consider dancing to be beneath my dignity: I dance waltzes and swing dances because I’ve taken lessons and no longer fear making a fool of myself with them. I guess it’s looking silly in front of others that I want to avoid. A quick lesson on how to do the Electric Slide would relieve my fears, but I still don?t want to learn as I go; and in front of spectators, no less!