One Word

Suppose you had to pick one word to describe yourself. Your first reaction, I assume, is that it is impossible. You are so many different things, in so many different contexts. No one word can capture more than a tiny slice.

Now suppose I ask you to think of people you know, and see how many of them you can describe in one word. Suddenly it gets a lot easier. He’s a jerk, she’s hot, he’s a loser, she’s a nerd, etc.

This exercise only gets hard when you apply it to yourself. Let’s test this theory. Today’s challenge is to come up with:

1. One word to describe yourself

2. One word to describe me (since I’m the only one you all sort of know)

The only rule is that people who have survived some terrible illness or situation can’t pick “survivor” as their one word. Too easy.

Go.

Comments

[JET]

Me: Multitalented
You: Perceptive

[Larry]

Conquistador

Larry
DamnIneedAjob.com

[Mira]

You: I can't choose between hilarious and intelligent. neither are words I grant many people though, so be impressed.

Me: Strong or giving.

[Helen]

Me: Warm
You: Genius.

[Helen]

Me: Warm
You: Genius.

[Lord Foul]

Still later, but not to late, I hope.

You: Funny.
Me: Omniscient. (I love that word.)

[Zzyzxmo]

A little late, but...

You: Amusing

Me: Comedy

[MikeE]

Me - legion

You - amusing

[lotusflower]

me - ibanag
you - stranger

[Laurent]

Me : voyeur

You : exhib

[Laurent]

Me : voyeur

You : exhib

[God]

Me: God
You: Damned

[Sankar]

You: Teacher
Me: Student

[christine]

me: playful
u: ambitious

[Joshua Jacobsen]

Me: Motley
You: Successful

[Johnny Ouais]

Me
You

[Sameer]

me:whoa
you:whohahahahaha

[high.on.markers]

Oh no, y`all. The boredom snowcone has fallen on my head and I`m afraid I`ll be unable to participate...

[Vicki]

Me: droll
You: entertaining

[DB]

Me: creative
Scott: creative

[Danny S.]

Me: Crusty
You: Interesting

[Bruno Berthold]

me: worthy
scott: smart

[Brigi]

Missed it yesterday:

Me: assiduous
You: relief

[Bundy]

Me: Enginerd
You: Philosotainer

[zume]

Me: plumpy
You: pinkish

[broacher]

Me: Bob
You: Ratbert

(I've come to the conclusion that you are closest in Dilbert character personality to Ratbert: clueless and proud of it--and forever optimistic! But that's a compliment. Me, I resonate with Bob the dinosaur-- also clueless, but big and very gifted at hiding.)

[Jeff Daugherty]

Me: Scrumtrillescent
You: Instigatious

[Patrick M]

you: sellout
me: idealistic

[Andy Hopgood]

me: drunk
you: which one

[WATYF]

me: indifferent

you: self-assured

[Alice in Wonderland]

Me: Screwed
You: Lucky

[Thayu]

One word to describe me : ME!
One word to describe you: YOU!

:D

I've never believed describing someone in one word was possible. But for a quick identification, yes, we do use those terms you've mentioned... That "hot" girl over by the counter... That "fat" guy at the gate... If that's what you mean, then I'd say "tall" would do for me... :)

[Andy Watt]

flawed.

[AngelicA]

Me: supercalifragilistic
you: schizophrenic

[Dempsey]

Online.

[placebo]

Me: Sharp
You: Snazzy

[Arun]

Me - Skeptic !
Scott - Innovative

[Guillermo]

You: Smart

Me: Talented

[Undurraga]

me: sardonic (openly)
you: sardonic (but in a devious way)

[Easwar Subramanian]

You : Entertainer
Me: Audience!

[Sujay]

me: obscure
you: dilbertish

[Jay]

Me: The SHIT

I know that's 2 words but I used your one on me too, cos I'm just THAT good and I can't be arsed to describe you. :0)

[Verne]

Me - apathetic

You - complex

[lenny]

me: ME
you: YOU

[Ben]

People in general: lacking perspective

You: Zeno (the philospher not the acme treatment or watch brand)

Me: Narcissus

[listo]

you: WITTY

me: ... er... UH... WANABEWITTY

[James Langham]

Me = complex
You = humourous

[jimbojones]

Me: Sly
Scott: Observant

[Wossname]

Me: Considerate

You: I associate you with "cognitive dissonance." That, plus your status as a speaker / pundit, and your success in overcoming spasmodic dysphonia...

Sonant
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sonant

And I have a bonus word for you, inspired by themes like the "Famous Artist School" post:

Actualized
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/actualized

[chris]

me - www.getupme.com
you - www.bentcars.com

[BobNL]

Me: sensitive
You: rational

You are absolutely right. It is really difficult.

BobNL

[Venkat]

me:
brilliant
(in a personal way - at the risk of sounding cocky)

Scott:
clever (in a very pragmatic & visionary way)

sorry, had to add the qualifiers.

[T Simic]

Me: mess.
You: witty.

[pooper725]

Me: Untrampled
You: Curious

[Tony Sutherland]

Have you every done any analysis on which of your blog posts receive the most comments and which receive the least - the correlation to content thereof, or other intervening factors?
(You only need to pull on your Catbert persona to understand the rationale behind the query)

[Alucard]

Me: Apathetic
Scott: Thinker

That is all.

[sayantan]

funny

funny

[Annie]

Me: God.
You: God.

[Uilleam]

Me: Unemployed

You: Over-employed?

[Crimson_Sky]

Me: Misunderstood
You: Stimulating (And I don't mean it in the way that may sound, I mean it mentally. You know, makes me think.)

[Niranjan]

Me: startup
you: chindiitem

[Mad Cat Lady]

Me: Restful (actually my mothers description of me - think it has something to do with me cleaning my room)
You: heteroclite

[Mycroft]

Me - tough
you - I don't know you well enough

[Laj]

me: loner
you: imaginative

[Nilesh]

You : Nut case
Me: Cool

[NY]

Me: Enigma
You: Funny

[ra]

me: an adventurer
you: "I like you!"

[Armando Esteban]

You: genius

[Courtney]

Me: Happy
You: Tenacious

[Zhang]

YOU：cartoonist
ME：cartoon-lover

[peter fleming]

Me: me
You: you

[Tony]

me short
you skinny

[Dave1-20-2009]

Me : Me
You : You

[Dave]

Me: Tarzan
You: Jane

(sorry, had to be said)

[John]

Me: The New Bread
You: Ashy Elbows

http://awritersblock.com

[Noclue]

Me: lazy
you: tomorrow

[carl]

me = twiddledee
you= twiddledum

[spannerotoole]

me: wise
you: ID10T

[Lars Kjær]

me: pragmatic
you: sarcastic

[Nichlolas]

me - robotic

you - robotic

[reebo snort]

Me: Dick
You: Head

(more) seriously

Me: Ambivalent
You: Inquisitive

[Samuel Proctor]

Does it have to be an adjective? Because I see myself as something of an "Eccentrician".

And you, Scott, you are are very "Geniactive". That's genius and active, by the way. I'm done now.

[Jesus]

Me: Apathetic (that what i put on my resume. i wish i had a job {sigh...})
You: Enlightening (in a funny way)

[Eric]

Me: Discreet
You: Twisted

[Laurens]

Me: God
You: Minion

[John]

me: paranoid
you: sleuth

[Rich Gregory]

Human.

[Kris]

me: moody
you: devious

[Zos]

you- dilbert, since i only know you thru dilbert
me - unique (which also applies to everyone else i cant find a word to tag to)

[pogo]

you and i must be quite the same

cept you: famous and me : infamous

[himanshu]

you - moist robot
me - another moist robot

[Pooja Chauhan]

You : Observant
Me : Enterprising

[Sometimes, it's good to dance on someone's command, even if it is a derogatory DMD.]

[John]

Me = Different
You = Differenter

[Laxminarayan G Kamath A]

Describe me in one word?
That wouldnt have been possible without your cartoons:
Me: Dilbert
You: Dilbert

[Laxminarayan G Kamath A]

Me: Dilbert
You: Dilbert

[Jo]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/science/15tier.html?th&emc=th

[Arby]

Me: Retired

You: Rich

[J.R.]

The Flying Spaghetti Monster is the creation of the Purple Oyster (of Doom)! It's only purpose is to distract true belivers from contemplation of Her Invisible Pinkness!
You will come to see the light in time, heretic!

May Her Hooves Never Be Shod

You: Pineapple Socks

[yatpay]

Me: nerd

You: interesting

[Kevin Kunreuther]

me-harmless
you-entertaining

[JRM]

Me: Confident

You: Rich

[Jez]

I like that. I'll sleep on it and keep the answer to myself.

[Jared86]

Me: Reader
You: Dilbert

[Sondra]

It's the same word - genius

[-drew]

You - Tickler
Me - Coaster

[Yusuf]

me - Resolute
Scott - Maverick

[Rick in China]

Me: Explorer
You: Thinker

[Anders]

Me: Laxated
You: Bored

[mads]

me: impulsive
you: pensive

[Jay Bee]

Me: grumpy
You:Instigator

[Sarah_from_WaggaWagga]

Me: Analytical

You: Creative

That's why it's so fun to read your work!

[Paranoid Individual]

Me - Dork

You - Philosotainer

[Foley]

Me: Generalist
You: Entrepreneurial

[JFS in IL]

Me - odd

You - Aspie

JFS in IL

[Diana W]

Me: Emerging
You: Intellectual

[Zack]

Me: Pathetic
You: Entertainer

[John]

Me - Concerned

You - Tinkerer

[@Rob]

First Reaction
Strong

Funny

After thinking
Useful

Explorer

[The Super Bongo]

dork . . . for you and me

[Mike]

Me: Funny
You: CunningLinguist

[Klaus Kaan]

"The only rule is that people who have survived some terrible illness or situation can’t pick “survivor” as their one word. Too easy."

Does that include imaginary or even entirely fictional medical conditions?

[Paratrooper]

Me: Military

You: Safe

[Carolyn]

Wow...your blog is unbelievable. I just started one recently, and I'm happy with my 2-3 comments per post. But 310 (this post as I'm writing)? Incredible. It's a simple joy to read. I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of Dilbert, but this blog? Sheer poetry! I've been reading for a while now and just love it. Keep it up, we'll all be back.

[Laxminarayan G Kamath A]

You: Confuser
Me: Confused

[AllWalker]

Oooh, ooh! How about,

Me: wasted
You: hansome and special and THE BEST FRIEND I EVER HAD! I LOVE YOU, MATE!

[squigs]

Me: Phremanastic
You: Thumatigical

Whereby, 'Phremanastic' is a word describing everything that squigs is, and 'Thumatigical' is a word to descrivbe everything that Scott Adams is. Both words are quite cromulent.

[AllWalker]

Me: psychopathic
You: cannon fodder

Or, perhaps

me minimalist

Or even

Me: quantum
You: dunno, I've never observed you before

[Ron]

Meat
Meat

I just saw "Body Works" at the Museum. People with their skin off and preserved. Puts it all in perspective. On one level it's scientifically interesting, on another it's a house of horrors.

[CP]

You - Schadenfreude
Me - Mudita

[Kgotthardt]

You: uplifting
Me: eclectic

[THOR]

Eclectic and mellifluous respectively.

[Joe]

me: delusional

you: edgy

[Joe]

scott: edgy

[Bromond]

You: handsome
Me: liar

[slangfo2]

Me: Thoughtful
You: Thought-provoking

[Lisa]

me: gorgeous
you: hilarious

[T.G.]

My word for you would be "Intriguing", it is said but it was what I sincerely though reading the post.
Mine, whatever world means something like "a frustrated with attitude" :)

[Kevin]

Me: Intelligent
Everybody else: Asshole

[Vijay]

Me: Eccentric
You: Eccentric

[Noclue]

Me: ADHD
Yu wha?

[Borjan]

You: funeerdy (combination of funny, nerdy and needy).

Of course, if it has to be the existing english word (you didn't mention that), I would have to go with "witty".

Me: Cool.

Naturally, if you ask my friends or family to describe me in one word, "cool" will get mixed up with "lazy", "nonchalant" or maybe even "frivolous", but I think "cool" sums it all up pretty nicely.

And it seems I'm the only one who feels that way about himself and reads your blog. How peculiar is that?

[Lewis]

Me: Slick

You: Infidel

[Danial]

me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06sX_K455VY

you: arrogant

[Neil Melville]

Me: Perfect.
You: Not.

[James from Canada]

Me - Curious
Scott - Persistent

[ann]

me = harmonizer
you = mindreader

[John]

me: intelligent
you: insightful
everyone else: in the way.

[Juozas]

me - geek
you - artist

[Don Schaffner]

me: scientist
you: cartoonist

[keith]

Me: Competitive

You: Motivated

[Martin Gilbert]

Me: orthogonal
You: tangential

[Miri]

See, I'm always tempted to treat my genetic code as one word for the purposes of those questions.

Unfortunately, I don't know it.

And as I do believe that nurture plays a huge part in shaping individuals too, it would only cover half of it...

But if I must play along...

Me: dreamy

Scott: observational

[Grin]

Actually, it's the reverse situation for me. It's hard to pick one word for you, but I can easily describe myself in one word. This is because almost everyone I know have told me I am "SWEET." Which seems like a nice thing until you realize that, in fact, SWEET is an undervalued commodity in the universe, and besides, who really wants to be seen as Easily Summarized In Just One Word?

Plus the only people who don't pick "SWEET" as the one word for me choose "FUNNY" and I find that even more annoying.

So it's with mixed emotions that I must tell you that I would have to do with FUNNY as the word for you, too.

[minister of silly walks]

Me: Clueless

You: I don't know, I'm clueless.

[Amritash]

Me: Prey
You: Predator

[Ben B]

Me: Space cadet

You: Writer

[John McNelly]

Try googling "six word novels" (for fiction) or "six word memoirs" (for autobiographies). For example:
http://smithmag.net/2007/01/04/and-the-winner-of-the-six-word-memoir-contest-is/

Scott's memoir? "Will be the world's oldest cartoonist."

Well, maybe that's more of a mission statement. But you get the idea.

[JP]

Me: Open-minded
You: Uberrational

[Bob]

Me: Scott worshipper

Scott: Philospher King

[NataliaNatalia]

me: moody
you: intelligent

[Adam Scott]

Me- cloned
you- Delicious

[rewboss]

Me: British.
You: American.

(No, really: that's all you need to know. Long live cultural stereotypes!)

[MatthewJMarshall]

Me = Genius
You = Ditto

[wks]

me -- Localized
Scott -- Jedi

[ReadSteve]

Me: Pilgrim
You: Contrarian

And an additional note: For me, it's not just hard to find a single word to describe myself. It's also hard to find a single word for anyone I know more than just casually. Even you were challenging. I've never met you, but I know a lot of your work.

[Ray]

Me soldier
You cartoonist

[fallmoose]

me: intelligent
you: logically-thinking (even if I disagree with your premise on a particular topic, I can't disagree with the logical, rational way you reach your conclusion)

[anonymous]

Me: perfect
You: Narcissist

[Glenn]

Me - Curious
You - Explorer

[yael]

me - wisecracker
you - witty
;-)

[yael]

me - wisecracker
you - witty
;-)

[Chris Honkala]

Me- Carnivore
You - Herbivore

[crazycardfreak]

me - questioning
you - intellect

[Teh Johnald]

inconsistent. for both words.

[Big A]

You - entertaining
Me - entertained

or

You - amusing
Me - amused

or

You - baffling
Me - baffled

or

You - lucky
Me - unlucky

[Greg]

Yibwishkala
Veleshnikofv

I'm too used to being from an island where we make up or (more frequently) steal words whenever our vocabulary isn't up to something ;)

I think this experiment isn't going to work so well since people like to think of you as like them (given your ambiguous stances and the natural human tendacy to assume more social support than is present) and the whole percieving people to be reducable to a few traits behaviour only applies to the outgroup (an the inverse for an ingroup)

[Lazy Boy]

Me = Smartass
You = Wiseass

Lazy Boy

[fatmantheinvincible]

Me: cynic
You: sensei

[geneva]

urgh.

[Sam]

me - logical
you - mental explorationist

[dontbother]

me: confrontational
you: humorous

[Adrian]

me - pensive
you - flamebait

:P

hmm...what about if you've survived lots of illness or disasters?

[Gaynor Gritzi]

Confused
Confusing

[bikloy]

Me- moody
You - creative writer

[Don]

you:exploiter

me:exploitee

[LA Clay]

Handsome

Happy

[Enough Wealth]

me - ennui
you - arguer

[elmindreda]

1. elmindreda
2. Curious

[fembot]

Me - Optimistic
You - Instigator

[Noclue]

me: egocentric
you: unimportant

[Jeffrey]

me - eclectic
you - magniloquent

[Noah Vaile]

slippery

sloppery

[jim bob]

Me: Hypocrit
You: Narcissistic

[Daniel Greene]

Me: Chameleon!
You: Confusing!

[Gavin]

Me: Procrastinator
You: Diversionary

[Blacklander]

Me: Eccentric
You: Playful

[Shannon Knowles]

me = complex
you = genius

[Jan]

I think, to describe yourself (or myself) with one word is not so easy, because you (me) play different roles to different peple. For my wife I would be "husband", for my employer I will be "emploee", for you I will be "reader"....

You will be for me "TheDilbertFatherWithGreatBlog" :-)

[peter]

ME: Chinese
Scott: American

[Sabine Dinis Blochberger]

Me: nurturing
You (from my point of view): admirable (to clarify, I mean someone that can be admired).

[Hacker Kitty]

How dare you insinuate that my extraordinary and unique personality could be butchered down to one word?! The Flying Spaghetti Monster God created us all with many words in mind, a veritable thesaurus of tomatoey omnipotence!!! You have insulted me, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and the entire anteater race. I will never read your blog again!!!!

You: Cardboardy?

May you all be touched by his noodley appendage.

[Tobias Fischer]

Me: Geek

You: Entertaining

[Isabella]

Me: Loved
You: Clever

[ROSSIU]

1. Flexible
2. SuccesfulOHIHATEYOUIMSOENVIOUS

[Shady]

Me : Shady

You :Joker

[Ringelnatz]

Me: "curious"
You: "smart"

[tester]

me==bored
you==derob

[Mike]

Me: Complexity
You: Creativity

[Angus Lander]

dyspeptic
tool

[quantum_flux]

Me: science

You: ecconomist/cartoonist

[Danial W. Goober, esq]

Me: misunderstood

You: pretty much the same.

[Michael Casey]

I surrender without a fight. Your point that people aren't very good at realizing each other's complexity is well-taken.

This topic has interested me for a while. I think you will be both entertained and in agreement with this article, Scott:

http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/monkeysphere.html

[Jens Schauder]

Me: Me
You: You

is easy, isn't it?

I love trivial answers

[Hmm...]

Me - nihilist
You - experimenter

[jnny]

Me-thinker
You-thinker

That's why I read you.

[Miao]

Me: ordinary.
You: extraordinary.

[Ed]

Me: Determined

You: Ponderous

[David Capito]

Me: Calculated.

You: Curious.

I really want to mark both of us as "curious". Are we meant to infer something from the fact that many of us have the same answers for both questions? I see how it might be easy to look for good qualities in others that we possess ourselves, especially if that other is someone we admire.

[Bill]

Me: Meticulous
You: Astute

[Eric]

Without looking at others' comments:
YOU=CONTRA-INTUITIVE
ME=WELLINTENTIONED

[Sonya]

Me: Awkward.

Scott: Hilarious.

[metro-something-something]

Me: Nambitious. That's like ambitious, only not. As in "I could be ambitious, I just don't bother".
You: Slender, for some reason. I have not seen you, nor a picture of you, ever.

[Erich]

Me: asshole
You: asshole

[techy]

Me: Sally
You: Harry

Me: Expat
You: Creative

It was torture to choose, so I put both.

[Gort]

Me: Hardy
You: Laurel

Or vice-versa. Whatever.

[Cassandra]

Me: Unheeded
You: Dogbert

[shryko]

1. Geek
2. Dilbert-y

I could've put a dozen other words for myself... and for you, Scott, well, only 2 other ones came to mind... (funny, and unknown)

[plen]

Me: Kucinich-ish (short, nice guy)
You: Inscrutable

There are so many ways this blogpost can be interesting. Is it a poll about yourself? Is it about how people see themselves? Is it about how people reaffirm their self-image in myriad ways? Part of the fun of reading your blog is figuring out what is it you want to find out about your readers today.

[Will]

Me: Boring
You: Provocative

[Malik Gibbons]

1. Problematic

2. Inciteful

[Chet in Malaysia]

Me - short
You - funny

[Radwaste]

You: witful
Me: thoughtful
Them: superstitious

[d8nnis]

You - Dilbert
Me - Wilde

[Bilious Prudence]

Me = Cannibal
Scott = Dinner

BP

[N4-t3]

Me: Teenager
You: Adult

[Tam]

Me: Bitch
You: Entertaining

[Robert Hamilton]

Hamiltom: Gentleman
Adams: Funny

[Tom O]

Me: Saved
You: Withholding

[dreamstohack]

Me: perfect
You: narcissistic

[D. Mented]

me; pushy
you; manipulator
(sorry Scott, but with just one word...)
D. Mented

[Roger]

me- tired

you-whacked

[NH]

Me = Kind
You = Funny

[Gabriel Leow]

me = Dreamy

you = Weasel

[scotty]

Me: Survivor
You: exponential

[Sherlin]

I am extreme.

you are kind.

[Jake]

me: Huh?

you: Oh...

[Gene Wicker Jr]

You: Sharp
Me: Solitary

[Gabriel Leow]

ME = Dreamy

You = Monkey-brained

= p

[Kirsten]

In Elizabeth Gilbert's book Eat Pray Love, someone at one point suggests that every city has a word that sums up its character. Rome's is Sex. New York's is Achieve. L.A.'s is succeed.

I love that idea, and I like the idea of applying it to people.

Me: Companionable

You: Contrary

[The BGM]

1. Quirky
2. Quirky

[moiagain]

You: Guru-istic
Me: Unimpressed

[Michael Laratonda]

Me - Odd

You - Talented

[WDS]

Me: Fun
You: Brilliant

[the man in the trout mask]

Interesting - I chose: me - temporary
you - imaginary

As you didn't post my comment I draw the only logical conclusion ......... we are both temporarily imaginary ...

Oh well,easy come easy go.

[Cobra]

Me: Nerd.
You: Nerd.

[David]

Me - Alive. (Everything else is negotiable.)
You - Provocative.

[JReacher]

Me: Me

You: Input

[H-Lo]

Me: smart

(although since the birth of our baby, this might temporarily be changed to "tired")

You: insightful

[Meghan P]

Me: Fabulous
Scott: Sardonic

[Ethan]

Me: Gullible.
You: Manipulative. I just noticed that you try to get lots of people to comment on your posts by asking a controversial question at the end of your posts.

[Paladin]

Me: Paladin
You: Successful

[Stabbed_Back]

Me: Screwed
You: Aware

[Conor]

Me: Metal! \m/
Scott: Cocky

[Josh]

Too easy.

Me: engineer

You: wacky

[Rich T.]

Me - immature
You - immature

[rd]

you: skepticist, altruist, optimist, winner
me: existentialist, egoist, relativist, floating
well, it's all my perceptions so it's all may be true or not from your perspective

[Bruce Harrison]

Me: Learning

You: Oblivious

[Tara]

Me: Eclectic
You: Brilliant

[Damien]

Me: Chameleon
You: Successful

[William Tell]

I will give you my two favorite English words:
- Utilities
- Favourites

[Stabbed in the back worker]

Me: Screwed
You: Aware

Me: Asshole
You: Veggie