"Rue the day!"

Used as a lament, as one in despair. Compare "Alas that these evil days should be mine", "What the fuck is this shit?", or "To be or not to be." Contrast "Carpe diem!" or, "All your base are belong to us!" or, "Freedom!"

The imperative use implies that the speaker, despairing of life and hope, is trying his/her/its damnedest to lower the morale of everyone around him/her/it. Compare rock/alternative music, as well as some country music; envision Linkin Park for instance:

No matter how many songs I write about my parents, it seems I'm still a whiny teenager! Rue the day!

or the singer of Everclear, lamenting of his childhood days:

Daddy gave me a name, and then I rued the day!

Indeed, this phrase could be construed as the larger theme of entire generations of teens, some rueing the days in which they lived, some rueing their parents or ex-significants, and some - not surprisingly - rueing all those f*#&ing teenagers rueing the day. (See recursion)

The phrase itself is also often expanded to include birth or some other important event, i.e. "I rue the day I was born," or, "I rue the day you were born," or, "I rue the day I first laid eyes on you." This indicates a much more personal rue, whereas the original phrase is normally use to indicate a general condition of society or one's surrounding environment.

Let us not forget the great art of poetry! Great poetic potential lies in the simple three sylabbles. Envision straight rhymes such as, "Druids away!", "Muon decay!" or even, "Nude par-tay!" Envision even the alliterative potential in, "I rue the day I rode away," or as in consternation, "Dude, who rode my ride away? Rue the day!" The potential for use in your own personal work is truly endless!

And not to forsake the great artists of the English language, many might well have used it in their own works to great avail. Envision Eliot's Prufrock's lament:

Let us go then, you and I, when the evening is spread out against the sky like a patient etherized upon a table, and rue the day.

Of course, free verse lends itself to such phrasings, but rhythm and rhyme are by no means forsaken! Poe, indeed, could have made both iterative and recursive avian use:

Quoth the raven: Rue the day.

or picture Shakespeare pondering a monotonous monologue, shortened from dozens of memorable yet unremeberable lines to simply be:

To be or not to be? That is the question! Rue the day!

The poetic power of this simple phrase can be used over and over again, both in your own work and when you forget the work of others.

Thank you for your time, and don't forget to...

Rue the day!

This has been a public service announcement of the Department of Ruology. If you would like a tape or transcript of this presentation, call 1-800-5555-rue, and our operators will be standing by to rue your call. Oh, and no, this wan't an 'empty nodeshell'.