Today’s Word of the Day is bedevil, because I like it.  I’m in a bit of a mood, and it just fits.

Definition: (v.) To torment, harass, or plague someone or something with devilish persistence—like a gremlin in your brain or a prankster deity who won’t quit. Think relentless irritation with a side of infernal flair.

Etymology: This spicy little verb sashays in from the mid-18th century, born from “be-” (to thoroughly mess with) and “devil” (that horned troublemaker himself). It’s Old French and Latin flirting with English, with “diabolus” (devil) whispering chaos in the background. By 1768, it was officially bedeviling folks in print.

He couldn’t help but shake his head in a sort of amused disbelief: he could not believe that people still fucked with him.  Did his reputation not precede him?  Maybe they hadn’t heard.  Perhaps they were simply misinformed.  Regardless, he couldn’t believe this was happening.  He almost felt sorry for them.  Almost.  But not quite.  “Nope,” he thought.  “Fuck them.”  There’s no way they’d be doing this if they knew that at best they had just bought themselves seven years of absolutely brutal and cruel bedevilment.  At worst…well, that would be much worse. 

N.P.: “Now These Days Are Gone” – Shriekback