I was sitting at a little cafe in midtown when a well-dressed woman, two stools down, looked up from her phone and said, “What does hirsute mean?”
“Hairy,” I said, without thought or pause, a word that always makes me think of Mr. Detuzzi, the father of Debbie and Janet, two childhood friends.
I couldn’t have been more than 8 when I came home and said to my mother, “Ma, Janet and Debbie’s dad…he’s so hairy…he looks like a bear.”
“He’s hirsute,” she said, which is why I never forgot it’s meaning.
Mr. Detuzzi would mow the lawn without his shirt, his back looking like a throw rug, strips of sweaty hair waving from beneath his arms. He was a handsome man too, but did he need Nair, or a wax, in a big way.
“Some women like that,” said my mother. “It doesn’t particularly appeal to me, but…to each his own.”
Well, it must have clearly appealed to Mrs. Detuzzi, because if it were me, I’d be chasing him around the yard with a razor. “Come-ere honey, you need a trim, even more than the lawn.
Funny what triggers a memory. 
SB
The funniest part of this story is that someone would ask a complete stranger for a word definition. I would have suggested to her that she download dictionary.com 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You underestimate people living on their phone. it’s turned into an illness.
LikeLike
I was amused at your title, expecting something scary. Your story was good, if tamer than I thought. I would have known the word hirsute, but I don’t remember when I learned it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not one of our more attractive words but then again, neither is it’s meaning. It rarely shows its hairy head and maybe that’s a good thing. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
But hirsute, for Mr Detuzzi and millions of others, is natural. So why change it?
Also, hairy may not appeal to you aesthetically, but just imagine how stubbly would feel. Be careful what you wish for.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s pretty funny. Yes, stubbles don’t sound too appealing either.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Susannah, I don’t care for a wooly bear, but they don’t have to be clean shaven either. I once knew aa guy nicknamed bear, for good reason. He had long auburn hair. Many years later when I saw the first Star Wars, Chewbacca reminded me of him. They could have been twins.
I agree with Gail, it’s funny that you were asked the meaning of a word by a stranger.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m still amazed how the world is on their phone. It was easier to blurt it out than to look it up because she might have missed a Tweet. Sigh
LikeLike