Akimbo

Know Your Words

akimbo-having the hand on the hip and the elbow turned outward; set in a bent position

Spectating was not something Trent and Darlene often did together, but on this day, they had come to do just that. They would enjoy a meal in the spectator tent, contribute to the charity at hand, and naturally get in a game of their coveted Word En Garde. The Polo match was being played by two younger teams and the event was an effort to raise funds for youth, like the current players, to have access to the sport. The players were learning and cultivating their talents. It was energizing to watch. The menu even reflected a youthful vibe with small hamburgers-veggie or beef-pommes frites -milkshakes and chocolate chip cookies from Triple C. Triple C was owned by patrons who often sponsored up and coming youth teams. They had a motto on and off of the field: Chocolate Chip Cookies for the Win. As the event and match was coming to an end Trent and Darlene heard a phrase that created their ever-spontaneous Word En Garde. They heard one of the grooms say, “Abracadabra tossed her rider…LaMar …and he popped up and stood there looking at her…arms akimbo…as she trotted past him towards the trailers.” The groom was speaking to some of the other grooms and riders, but he was right in front of Darlene and Trent’s section of the spectator tent. Trent knew the groom, Gussie, and the two men gave a wave of hello as Gussie laughed with the others and stood nearby.

Darlene and Trent looked at each other. “En Garde” Darlene quipped and so they began…

Darlene ran the word through her mind…. ‘Akimbo…. akimbo arms…’. She thought maybe arms up like a ref making a, ‘good’, field goal call could be akimbo arms. Trent didn’t, in truth, know ‘akimbo, but he had seen Lamar pop up and stand with his hands on his hips…. shaking his head at Abra as she trotted on. Trent thought ‘akimbo’ must mean pushing off, quick on your feet, pushing off the ground to be quick on your feet, after a fall. So, Trent was using a working definition of arms pushing off of the ground. Darlene a working definition of arms raised in “the field goal kick is good” motion.

It was this mismatch that fostered their dance around the true definition of akimbo arms.

D- “Funny that LaMar took it with such grace…like a tin man standing with arms up to the winds...that’s funny no wonder the guys were cracking up…”

T- “No-I am pretty sure he used his arms to quickly push himself up off of the ground…I think those akimbo arms are arms that push off…like jumping up…ajumpo arms!....”

Gussie listened to Trent and Darlene and decided to extend a comment… “Listen kids, neither one of you has the correct definition of akimbo arms.” He stood, hands on hips trying to extend a subtle clue, a visual tip, but Darlene thought he looked all know it all with those akimbo arms and gave Trent a private roll of the eyes.

Trent caught her drift, but thought that Gussie looked all stiff and maybe sore or had a pulled muscle from swinging saddles. He thought perhaps Gussie was stretching his back a bit…but he saw Darlene's eye roll and it made him giggle to himself as he said to Gussie, “ You look sort of like a superhero there Gus..or like you are stretching shoulder muscles….you okay?”

Gussie fanned his elbows out…like a peacock…and walked around a bit. “I am fine -all good with me” …he flapped his arms again. “Chicken arms” Darlene blurted….chicken arms are akimbo arms… “Nope” Gussie shook his head, “I will leave you two to ponder, as we all know this is the fodder you play when Polo is not front and center. I think if you try real hard to dissect this scenario and the clues that have been provided, you will have your answer…or at least one of you will win that not-so-secret Word En Garde commotion you play….”

Gussie walked away…still holding his hands on his hips. Darlene looked at Trent in surprise and said “People really know about our occasional Word En Garde matches?”

“I think sometimes people eavesdrop or maybe it’s Clem telling people we play ‘word tarnation’ games….he seems to have an opinion about our lexical fencing. Anyway, let’s take 3 minutes to formulate our final definitions of akimbo…then we will consult Siri.”

Darlene ran all the clues through her lexical mind…LaMar was thrown, popped up, people laughed, Gussie was all stately and stern going with stiff…stiff arms…walking like a Hunchback with arms dangling… stiff dangling arms…

Trent…yoga…something with yoga…like arms that stretch well…like those stretch dolls…fits with sore muscles/shoulder stretch… going with strong yoga arms

They saw Gussie across the way laughing with some of the other grooms…flapping his arms like a chicken and then standing, once again, with hands on hips.

Trent’s timer rang a faint tintinnabulation. Time was up.

Darlene: “I would like to submit a list of possibilities:

Triangle arms

Yoga arms

Chicken wing arms

‘You’re in big trouble little lady’ arms

Hunchback of Notre Dame dangling arms”

Trent shook his head and said, “Okay, seems like you have altered the final answer protocol…but okay, I would like to submit the following:

Akimbo arms are arms that are flexible and strong as a result of yoga…Yoga Arms…that word akimbo must stem from a yoga pose…like Child’s pose…followed by downward dog…followed by akimbo arms...arms that are bent and then pushing…like push ups…sorta…”

Darlene gave a look that suggested she was underwhelmed with Trent’s submission….

Trent pulled out his phone and diplomatically said, “Okay, let’s see if we have a winner…winner winner chicken dinner if it is chicken arms Dar…haha…. Siri, what are akimbo arms?”

Siri- “arms akimbo refers to a physical stance in which a person has both hands on their hips and their elbows are pointed outward, so that the arms form a triangular shape. Here are some example sentences: Before you start this easy core exercise, it helps if you relax, standing with your hips shoulder width apart and arms akimbo.

Trent whispered "ah ha I think I win!”

Darlene stood arms akimbo and retorted: “ I submitted triangle arms on my list…”

Trent took an arms akimbo stance at this point.

Gussie looked from across the way and shook his head…those two, both arms akimbo, acting all huffy…

“Well,” said Darlene… “triangle Yoga arms with a touch of Superman stance seems to be our combined winning entry…so I say we both win.”

Trent looked at Darlene and countered, “I would submit that your Quasimodo entry was well off of the track….”

Darlene reupped her arms akimbo stance and said “Listen here, mister…you said ajumpo arms which was pretty darn ridiculous… that was a rhyme guess...”

Trent laughed and agreed, “Okay…fair…but you don’t have to be so scolding, with hands on the hips, about it!”

Swish Swish Word En Garde Bout Complete!