Doppelganger

Last night at a party, one of my friends used the word "doppelganger". In a sentence. I had no idea what it meant. But it sounded kind of gross. Ewwww? A doppelganger? Are you kidding me?

I turned to another friend next to me and asked her WHAT was a doppelganger. It's just a "double of a living person." But wow, what a complex and interesting word to define that. And somehow still a little gross-sounding to me.

This morning, I just happened to be reading a chapter from this funny book about writing called "Words Fail Me". This particular chapter was titled, "Pompous Circumstances- Hold the Baloney". It was all about people who write using big words. Like doppelganger. The author encourages writers to instead just say it, plain and simple. So that people (like me!) aren't left saying, "Huh?" or "Oh, so by "doppelganger", you just mean "double?""

I'm not criticizing the doppelganger dropper. I think it was hilarious word choice. And now I know this weird new word that I doubt I will ever be able to put it in any conversation or writing.

And now I know that somewhere out there, as gross as it may sound, we probably all have a doppelganger!