general Gidgets and Wibbets

Posted December 22, 2005 • Comments Off on Gidgets and Wibbets

For a while now I’ve been toying with the idea of making lists of things around my house that fit into one of two categories that until now have existed only in my imagination: Gidgets and Wibbets. “Gidget” is the pronunciation of the acronym GIGIGT, which stands for God, I’m Glad I Got That. “Wibbet” is for the acronym WIEBT, which stands for Why’d I Ever Buy That?

When I’m walking around, going about my daily business, I often remark to myself on noticing these things. Anything in either category is instantly recognizable (to me) as a Gidget or a Wibbet, and I think about it all the time.

Example Gidgets include obvious ones like the PowerBook, the Treo 650, the iPod, and the UltimateTV. Even though those last two were gifts, they qualify; it’s glad I got that, not glad I bought that. Less obvious examples are the wooden basket that holds certain pantry-type foods on my kitchen counter, the tension rod in my laundry closet, the pre-lit Christmas tree, the statue of Death, and the legs that make my bed taller.

Being glad I own something, or using it all the time, does not make it a Gidget. My CD clock radio, for instance, and my Vornado space heater are very nice, but they aren’t Gidgets. My Treo is one, but previous cell phones really were not. Previous PDAs most certainly were. An item can graduate from non-Gidget status to Gidget status, and vice versa. Replacing an item with a newer or better version often makes the original drop out of the running. That’s just how life is.

As you can see, a Gidget is not necessarily a gadget. It’s like an SAT problem: “No Gidgets are Wibbets, some gadgets are Wibbets, and some Gidgets are gadgets. Which of the following is true,” and so on.

I shan’t be listing example Wibbets at this time, as many of them are very, very embarrassing. And for someone who walks around her house—alone—pointing at things and giving them—out loud—nonsense names, that’s saying something.