Today’s word of the day, thanks to the WordGuru daily email, is torpor. Torpor, pronounced / ˈtɔr pər /, is a noun that means “sluggish inactivity or inertia,” or “lethargic indifference; apathy,” or “a state of suspended physical powers and activities,” or “dormancy, as of a hibernating animal” (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/torpor). Samuel Johnson, in his 1755 dictionary, said it means this: “Dulness; numbness; inability to move; dulness of sensation” (https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=torpor).

Etymonline.com says that it appeared in English “c. 1200, from Latin torpor ‘numbness, sluggishness,’ from torpere ‘be numb, be inactive, be dull’ (from PIE root *ster- (1) ‘stiff’) (https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=torpor). Regarding that PIE root, “It might also be the source of: Greek stereos ‘solid,’ sterizein ‘to support,’ sterphnios ‘stiff, rigid,’ sterphos ‘hide, skin;’ Sanskrit sthirah ‘hard, firm,’ Persian suturg ‘strong;’ Lithuanian storas ‘thick,’ strėgti ‘to become frozen;’ Old Church Slavonic trupeti, Lithuanian tirpstu, tirpti ‘to become rigid;’ Old Church Slavonic strublu ‘strong, hard,’ staru ‘old’ (hence Russian stary ‘ol’); Old English starian ‘to stare,’ stearc ‘stiff, strong, rigid,’ steorfan ‘to die,’ literally ‘become stiff,’ styrne ‘severe, strict’” (ibid.).

Merriam-Webster adds to the etymology, “Early use of the English word is found in a 13th-century guide for religious recluses, where it refers to a spiritual or intellectual lethargy, but scant evidence of the word appears between that point and the 1600s, when the word began to be used in reference to both mental and physical sluggishness. The related adjective torpid (from the Latin adjective torpidus, meaning ‘numbed’ or ‘paralyzed’) has since the 15th century been used to mean ‘numb,’ but today it more often means ‘lacking in energy or vigor’” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/torpor).

According to On This Day, on this date in 1978 “’Cheeseburger In Paradise’ by Jimmy Buffett peaks at #32” (https://www.onthisday.com/events/june/17).

Jimmy Buffett (1946-2023) grew up in Mobile, AL, and learned to play guitar in order to pick up girls. The About page of his website says, “When Jimmy saw how a fraternity brother in college with a guitar garnered the attention of the girls, he quickly learned a few basic chords and started playing himself. Suddenly Jimmy’s world opened up – while he still attended classes, he quickly had his first band and went from busking the streets of New Orleans to playing 6 nights a week at Bourbon Street clubs” (https://www.jimmybuffett.com/about).

The page says that the big influence on Buffett’s music happened in 1971 when he went to Key West, FL, with Jerry Jeff Walker (I kind of think that Walker was a big influence on a lot of successful singer/songwriters). “It was there that the young musician thrown into the midst of this eclectic mix found his true voice as a songwriter – telling the stories of the wanderers, the adventurers and the forlorn” (ibid.).

I saw Buffett at Carowinds in Charlotte, NC, in 1976, before he became really famous. “And then in 1977 came ‘Margaritaville.’ A laid-back anthem about escapism and life in the tropics, the song spent 22 weeks on the Billboard chart, peaking at number 8. It catapulted Jimmy to national fame and, nearly a decade later, inspired Jimmy to launch a business empire” (ibid.).

While “Margaritaville” is about a broken relationship, it’s also about torpor. Here’s part of the lyrics:

I blew out my flip-flop

Stepped on a pop top

Cut my heel, had to cruise on back home

But there’s booze in the blender

And soon it will render

That frozen concoction that helps me hang on

Wasting away again in Margaritaville

Searchin’ for my lost shaker of salt

Some people claim

That there’s a woman to blame

But I know, it’s my own damn fault. (https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jimmybuffett/margaritaville.html)

“Cheeseburger in Paradise” is sort of about a different kind of torpor, the kind that frustrates good (?) intentions. The speaker says that they wanted to become a vegetarian, but they just couldn’t do it:

Tried to amend my carnivorous habits

Made it nearly seventy days

Losin’ weight without speed

Eatin’ sunflower seeds

Drinkin’ lots of carrot juice and soakin’ up rays

But at night I’d have these wonderful dreams

Some kind of sensuous treat

Not zucchini, fettuccini, or bulgur wheat

But a big warm bun and a huge hunk of meat

Cheeseburger in paradise

Heaven on earth with an onion slice

Not too particular, not too precise

I’m just a cheeseburger in paradise. (https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jimmybuffett/cheeseburgerinparadise.html).

“Buffett said of this song: ‘The myth of the cheeseburger in paradise goes back to a long trip on my first boat, the Euphoria. We had run into some very rough weather crossing the Mona Passage between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico and broke our new bowsprit. The ice in our box had melted, and we were doing the canned-food-and-peanut-butter diet. The vision of a piping hot cheeseburger kept popping into my mind. We limped up the Sir Francis Drake Channel and into Roadtown on the island of Tortola, where a brand-new marina and bar sat on the end of the dock like a mirage. We secured the boat, kissed the ground, and headed for the restaurant. To our amazement, we were offered a menu that featured an American cheeseburger and piña coladas. Now, these were the days when supplies were scarce – when horsemeat was more plentiful than ground beef in the tiny stores of the Third World. Anyway, we gave particular instructions to the waiter on how we wanted them cooked, and what we wanted on them – to which very little attention was paid. It didn’t matter. The overdone burgers on the burned, toast buns tasted like manna from Heaven, for, they were the realization of my fantasy burgers on the trip. That’s the true story. I’ve heard other people and places claim that I stopped or cooked in their restaurants, but that is the way it happened’” (https://genius.com/Jimmy-buffett-cheeseburger-in-paradise-lyrics).

I’m retired, but I worked in higher education for 40 years after getting my degrees. And I still stay pretty busy. But I have to say that Jimmy Buffett’s portrayal of the laid-back life, eating the food that isn’t good for me, and having a frozen drink from time to time, seems attractive. Maybe I’ll go on a cruise.

Today’s image is the 1978 album Son of a Son of a Sailor, which contains the track of “Cheeseburger in Paradise” (https://www.jimmybuffett.com/music).