Long Forgotten Word Dug up and Dusted Off For Your Enjoyment

I’m backing out of my driveway this morning and from out of nowhere, this word pops into my head, carbuncle, and I start laughing to myself because it sounds funny. You know like; He he, stupid word. (like Homer would say it)
Then I want to know what the heck it means and why is it surfacing now? What triggered it to pop into my noodle so randomly? Well here is the official definition as listed by my handy online dictionary, www.dictionary.com (so as not to be sued for plagiarism)

car·bun·cle    ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (kärbngkl)
n.

1. A painful localized bacterial infection of the skin and subcutaneous tissue that usually has several openings through which pus is discharged.
2.
a. A deep-red garnet, unfaceted and convex.
b. Obsolete. A red precious stone.


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[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin carbunculus, small glowing ember, carbuncle, diminutive of carb, carbn-, coal. See ker-3 in Indo-European Roots.]
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carbuncled adj.
car·buncu·lar (-ky-lr) adj.


So after giving this some deep thought, I am mentally whisked back to 7th grade where my teacher Mrs. Shaw undoubtably forced me to learn the spelling and definition of this and thousands of other utterly useless words. I was probably even forced to use it in a sentence. I don’t remember exactly, but I'll go out on a limb and assume my sentence went something like this:
Today, I was forced to look up the word carbuncle and as a result I feel rather carbuncular.
To which she would have given me the disappointed teacher look followed by an F.
Well Gayle, (I’m old enough to use her first name now) having looked up this silly word for the second time in 22 years, I still don’t know what the heck it means or how I would use it! Look at the definition! Is it an oozing pus hole, or a gem? and as far as using it in real life, If I said, “Today I gave my girl a carbuncle” You might assume she needed a shot of penicillin when actually I meant a deep-red garnet, unfaceted and convexed.
My point to all this is how much of this useless knowledge is floating around in my brain. Does this fractured knowledge bubble and ooze like a carbuncle only to surface one day as I back out of the driveway on my way to work? Yes apparently it does.
Well, my reality doesn’t use the word carbuncle but once every 22 years, and further more, in the real world, I do in fact get to draw pictures and daydream and come up with neat images and ideas that back in the day (7th grade) earned me a disappointed teacher look. Neener neener neener.
Spell that and use it in a sentence!
I pick on Gayle because she was an awesome teacher and I know she can take it. (plus she might read this someday) but all kids go through the same crap. Being forced to temporarily learn crap they will never actually use. I use to remember the words just long enough to get a perfectly acceptable C on the test, then I would purge the knowledge and prepare for the next 10 useless words. Well as it turns out, my purging must have been flawed otherwise this funny word carbuncle would not have trespassed upon the sacred landscape that is my mind this morning. How many more words will surface Gayle? Can I expect some fractions to appear at lunch, or perhaps some tidbit about a wayward Spanish Armada discovering our already discovered world in 1492? I can’t turn it off Gayle, you’ve created a monster.
Well it may have taken 22 years, but now I not only know what ‘carbuncle’ means, I can use it in a sentence if you like, or a 500 word essay, your choice. I guess your mission is officially accomplished.
Thank you Mrs. Shaw.
(for the record she was actually one of about 3 teachers I had that truly appreciated and encouraged creativity and thinking outside the box) This is what that gets her! I hope she's learned a lesson.