Argh!

Argh!

Actually, Argh! is an old old 16-colour video game for the PC similar to a medieval Rampage - you can be the fire-spitting dinosaur or the cycloptic ogre, pulverising first huts in a tribal village, then in subsequent levels nice bits of masonry as pterodactyls and later, catapults attempt to dissuade you from your bent of carnage.

For the record, the "official" orthography for this game name is "AAARGH!" but this is definitely close enough for government work.

I first heard myself say “argh!” some five years ago, when I bent over to tie my shoes. I might not have noticed it, but there was someone else there, older and wiser than I, who recognized it immediately and pointed out that this is a sound that people make when they get old. I now keep an accounting of how often I say “Argh.” It’s punctuating many of my activities. This evening, I was laying on my stomach watching a film and got up to fetch a bottle of saké. While I was rallying against gravity, with old bones first folding and then unfolding to allow me to stand on two pins, I said “ARGH” at least three times.

So, watch out for this sound, it’s a dead giveaway.