Ever since I was a wee lad, I've wondered exactly what a shrug is. Is it
the raising of one's shoulders and, perhaps, the accompanying
downward-turned mouth and raised eyebrows? Or is it something else
entirely? Could the verb "to shrug" be completely ambiguous, and perhaps
refer to some unseen state of mind rather than a visible action?
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary ((c) 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.)
says the following:
shrug
\Shrug\, v. i. To raise or draw up the shoulders, as in expressing
dislike, dread, doubt, or the like.
This leads me to believe that the standard definition of "shrug" is a
visible, physical raising of the shoulders, and this brings me to my
next question, which is: who shrugs?
I don't think I've ever shrugged in my life, except maybe when I was a
shy little kid and strange adults asked me how old I was. I can't
remember the last time I saw someone else shrug.
And this leads me to my next question: why are authors so inexplicably
fond of the shrug? Various authors utilize the shrug to varying degrees,
but our own Mr. Brust seems to hold a great affinity for it. I've never
undertaken the task, but I suspect that if one were to count the number
of times a character shrugs in each Brust book, then total the results,
the number you'd get would be enormous. The only other author I can
think of who uses the shrug to the same degree as Steven Brust is Steven
Gould. Is there perhaps some kind of shrug conspiracy among
sci-fi/fantasy writers named Steven?
Especially confusing are instances when a character is described as
being enraged or angry, then shrugging, such as in _Jhereg_ after Aliera
and Morrolan argue when Vlad tells them of the situation with regards to
Mellar. It seems to me that the shrug is a very lighthearted expression,
and not one that would normally be used by someone who is angry or
upset. Even the fact that Aliera or Morrolan would *ever* shrug, under
any circumstances, is a little hard to imagine.
So the question that has been keeping me up at night is: what, exactly,
is a shrug as Steven Brust defines it, and under what circumstances is
it appropriate?
--
Ryan Grove
ryan at wonko.com
http://wonko.com/