My laptop has just informed me that today’s ‘Word of the Day’ is hombre. I’m unsure of the source of this detail, or indeed the criteria for word selection, however I’m appreciative they’ve shared this information.

After all, I’ll be quids in if I’m ever on TV’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and receive a million pound question of “What was ‘Word of the Day’ on Gary Strachan’s laptop on 25th September 2019?”

As alluded to above, I’ve no idea which app on my device generates these words on a daily basis, however I do know yours truly didn’t download the software. I’m assuming this pretty pointless application (unless I appear on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire) was installed by the manufacturer as part of the system build.

This detail joining the apps enlightening me as to ‘Cheese of the Day’ and ‘Skeletal Bone of the Day’ in the folder marked ‘Unlikely to be Used’. I don’t wish to sound ungrateful, however the laptop manufacturer’s filling of informational voids in the recipients cranial database seem to hold little value. Fundamentally, there are just some things which you really don’t need to know.

I’m, of course, never going to get asked “What was ‘Word of the Day’ on Gary Strachan’s laptop on 25th September 2019?”, regardless of whether or not I appear on a TV Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. I’d also venture I’ll never receive a query referring to ‘Cheese of the Day‘ or ‘Skeletal Bone of the Day’.

I suppose, as a gesture of respect to the ‘Word of the Day’ app, yours truly should include the word hombre within this narrative. The wordsmith GJ Strachan seeing fit to incorporate the Spanish slang word for man within his essay; bestowing upon it recognition for today’s accolade.

Hombre is one of the words which paints a vivid vision in my mind. Hearing or reading the six letter word bringing forth images of a hard-fisted Latin American tough guy with a lengthy rap sheet and a Zapata moustache. A man who’s spent many years deprived of his liberty; incarcerated for drug running, arms dealing and refusal to watch Speedy Gonzalez cartoons.

In 1967, Paul Newman starred in a movie titled Hombre in which he portrayed a white man raised by Apaches in Arizona. Back in the white world, after returning there to claim his inheritance and find out what was the Tuscon ‘Word of the Day’, he faces terrible prejudice so sells his late father’s property for some stagecoach horses.

Incidentally, when I write ‘he sold his late father’s property for some stagecoach horses’ I’m refer to bartering his pater’s house in return for the equines. Not that he placed it on the market at the horses’ request!

I’ve never watched this movie directed by Martin Ritt, but I’m told by my brother “It’s better than a lot of the other s***e you watch, Gaz!“…… A submission which puzzles me because our kid hasn’t seen it either!!

Incidentally, if you’re interested, ‘Cheese of the Day’ is roquefort and ‘Skeletal Bone of the Day’ is the second smallest metatarsal on you right foot……. Oh, you’re not!….. Fair enough!