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The reason this is of significance is that while watching the movie Stranger than Fiction, Professor Jules Hilbert (played by Dustin Hoffman) asks the Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) - "What is your favorite word?"

Bamboozle immediately popped into my head. Upon further research of the word, I discovered that it derives "from the 17th century, it described the Spanish custom of hoisting false flags to deceive (bamboozle) enemies." This was found among other nautical terms, such as "above board", "three sheets to the wind", "jury rig", and "toe the line". What I found more interesting is many of the other nautical terms which I have used, but never knew the origin. Some of these are:

Now, all of this leads to my current research related to Artificial General Intelligence. In particular, I am fascinated by language and context. Recent books that I have read, such as Metaphors We Live By, The Foundations of Mind, The Stuff of Thought, and Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things all contribute to a recurring theme regarding terms such as these. Some expressions are so embedded in our culture that we lose all contact with their original meaning and thus the metaphor that made them potent in the first place is lost.

Maybe that is why the word "bamboozle" has such appeal to me. The word itself implies no such euphemism as these worn out expressions. Instead it requires novelty, insight, and inspiration to reach into the mind of another person and perform magic. No trite, worn out expression can do that.

Finally, to wrap things up. This all came about as a result of my interest in animation, which lead to another movie called Spiklenci slasti (Conspirators of Pleasure), written and directed by one of my favorite stop motion animators - Jan Svankmajer. Although the movie had only a very very moments of animation, it was a bizarre and surrealistic exploration of the subconscious world of fantasies and fetishes. When discussing this film with my oldest son Matthew last month, one thing led to another - ugh, another trite expression - and he then recommended Stranger Than Fiction.