Curmudgeon:
A crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas.
Not a word that gets bandied about much in my circle, I suppose the closest translation in my world would be "Cranky old bastard", now I know that words can be taken the wrong way and a lot of the meanings behind them depend on the context in which they are said.
I know when I was called this the context was meant to be light hearted and jovial, (much the same for the cranky old bastard, you can be a good bloke and lots of fun but still a cranky old bastard, you can also be just a cranky old bastard).
Context or not, I feel compelled to put fingers to keyboard to evaluate the accusations inherent in this particular word.
In reverse order:
Full of stubborn ideas:
I admit at times I can be full of ideas, many however do not bridge the gap from the realm of thought to the world of reality, but may still be persistent in my mind.
So yes I will accede to that characterisation.
Old person:
Depending on the viewpoint this can be said of most people, so I find this depiction (somewhat unpalateable) acceptable.
Cantankerous:
I concede defeat on this one (mea culpa).
Irascible:
Implying quick tempered, tempering being the process used to either harden or make steel more flexible or resilient, thus making it more attuned and suitable for it's environment.
Quite acceptable.
Crusty:
This slur, this torrid defamation of my character I rebuke with as much venom as I can muster.
Apart from a few isolated instances as a child (I was busy thinking, I didn't need to go, it just slipped out ok) which were forever meant to be purged from the public consciousness lest they do irreparable harm to my already fragile psyche.
I never have and never will be crusty.
I spent a lot of time formatting this post and the stupid damn thing messed it up, I don't have time to fix it now, I'm feeling quite irascible indeed.
This should be better.
