We live in fast-paced culture where change happens so rapidly, it’s hard to keep up. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the effects this might have on our collective psyche—and our individual well-being. Ten years ago, in 2013, who could have predicted everything that would have happened in the intervening years? If you’d told me Donald Trump was going to be president, I’d have laughed at you.
On top of big, global events like the COVID-19 pandemic, it just seems as though culture itself has changed in such monumental ways and keeps changing. The rise of cell phones and social media have completely altered the way we interact with one another. Entire generations are growing up with iPads and smartphones and Instagram accounts. In another ten years, Facebook and Instagram might be extinct—dinosaur social media replaced by something we can’t even fathom yet.
The cultural changes are just as daunting. Trying to keep up with what is considered socially acceptable, what might get you ‘cancelled’ and what kids are up to at any given moment is almost impossible. Imagine if someone in 2013 told you we’d spend a good deal of time figuring out one another’s pronouns in the future. You’d probably be pretty confused. Times change and often for the better, but it can be a little overwhelming at times.
One thing that stays the same every day of the week? The rules for Wordle. You get six guesses to figure out a five-letter word. Green boxes mean you got the correct letter in the right spot; yellow boxes mean you got the correct letter in the wrong spot; and grey boxes mean you got the wrong letter. Use this information to guess and win.
Shall we?
How To Solve Today’s Wordle
The Hint: We send these to each other frequently.
The Clue: There are more vowels than consonants in this word.
The Answer (Spoilers):
.
.
.
That’s one of the more high-tech words we’ve had since Wordle began, which I suppose got me thinking about time and change and the rapid evolution of technology and language in the modern era. It’s crazy to think that the word ‘email’ has been around since the 70s’—and just as crazy to think what a brief sliver of time that is when you consider humanity’s tenure on this planet (which, in turn, is just a drop in the bucket compared to the age of Earth itself).
Oddly enough, I chose a very old, antiquated thing for my opening guess. In a game of Semantle, fairy would be a long way off from email. Still, here it gave me two correct letters. I figured the ‘AI’ would probably stick together, and moved them one space to the right with stain, which got me both in green as I’d hoped. Unfortunately, I still had five possible answers remaining and no new letters. The words that remained were: claim, plaid, email, quail and avail. I had five words and only four more guesses, so I tried to eliminate a couple at once by guessing quell, which would tell me if quail was an option, if the word had an ‘L’ and whether or not there was an ‘E’ all at the same time. Sure enough, the ‘E’ popped up, narrowing my options to just one: email for the win!
Alas, I lost to Wordle Bot today. He got it in just three. That’s -1 for losing and 0 for getting the Wordle in four. I’m in the red today, dear readers! Boo!
I asked ChatGPT to explain the origin of the word “email” and this is the answer:
The term “email” is short for “electronic mail.” The word “mail” has been used for centuries to refer to the transportation of letters or messages from one place to another. The word “electronic” refers to the use of electronic devices and technology.
The first recorded use of the term “email” dates back to 1972 when an engineer named Ray Tomlinson sent the first email message over the ARPANET, a precursor to the internet. Tomlinson chose the @ symbol to separate the username from the destination address in the email address format, and he used the term “email” to describe this new mode of electronic communication.
The word “email” quickly caught on and became widely used to describe electronic messages sent over computer networks. Today, it is a ubiquitous term that is used to refer to electronic communication of all kinds, including messages sent through social media platforms and messaging apps.
It’s funny how these things happen. If a different symbol than ‘@’ had been used we might all be sending emails and tweets and all the rest with some other symbol.
Play Competitive Wordle Against Me!
I’ve been playing a cutthroat game of PvP Wordle against my nemesis Wordle But. Now you should play against me! I can be your nemesis! (And your helpful Wordle guide, of course).
Here are the rules:
- 1 point for getting the Wordle in 3 guesses.
- 2 points for getting it in 2 guesses.
- 3 points for getting it in 1 guess.
- 1 point for beating Erik
- 0 points for getting it in 4 guesses.
- -1 point for getting it in 5 guesses.
- -2 points for getting it in 6 guesses.
- -3 points for losing.
- -1 point for losing to Erik
Let me know if you have any comments or questions on Twitter or Facebook.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2023/03/10/todays-wordle-630-hint-clues-and-answer-for-saturday-march-11th/