Word Woman

Welcome to another mind-bending installment of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! Don't let your brain cells dry up and blow away like the autumn leaves, keep your mental juices flowing by expanding your vocabulary. Here's the Word of the Week to get you started:

Wet paint syndrome: The urge that possesses people to do the secret little things they do when they think others aren't looking or when their curiosity is aroused by a sign that is posted telling them not to do something. Inspired by the corridor you walk down for twenty years without touching the walls, until one day you smell fresh paint and the corridor has been roped off with signs that say DON'T TOUCH -- WET PAINT. An overwhelming urge comes over you to touch the wall. -- "Urban Dictionary", Aaron Peckham, Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, Kansas City, 2005.

Example: In spite of the obvious folly of with his actions, George was overcome by wet paint syndrome and couldn't resist putting a toe in the water next to the giant warning sign reading "Danger: Man-Eating Piranha -- Do Not Dangle Feet or Hands in the Water!" Now he wears a size six shoe on his left foot and a size seven shoe on his right foot.