machinations & palindromes...

Are things that happen in threes considered auspicious or merely coincidental?

Earlier this week I was listening to Andrew Bird's Armchair Apochrypha CD and noticed - seemingly for the first time - when he sang the word "machinations" but thought nothing of it at the time. A day later, I heard someone on NPR use the term in a political context, although with a different pronunciation - more emphasis on the mack instead of Bird's mashinations. I prefer mackinations, but...

Whatever.

I dismissed it as random. It is just a word, after all.

But damn, if my British Lit professor didn't use the exact same word (uttered with a k emphasis, naturally) that same day in reference to our analysis of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Three references in as many days? That qualifies as interesting.

A similarly interesting incident of "word deja vu" occurred last week, as well. During class, when discussing Lanval's fealty, I scribbled the term "noblesse oblige" in the book margin, because... well, I just do that. Words pop into my head at odd times; what can I say? The irony is that term was featured on my Word-A-Day calendar the very next day. Only someone like me would be amused by the timing and/or the general oddity of it.

This is what I get for reading the dictionary for fun as a child. This is what I get for continuing to do so as an adult. Let it be henceforth publicly noted: I am a hopeless word nerd... :)