I have an issue with anger being romanticized or made cutesy through blended phrases like Hangry, a combination of hungry and angry. And just recently I heard a newly coined phrase called Pangry, to blend pandemic and angry together.

Yes, sometimes we do become a little irritable when we’re hungry and have to wait before eating . And yes, we are all getting irritable with the pandemic depriving us of activities that bring joy into our lives. But these are not truly reasons to be angry. There’s a difference between frustrated, bored, and tired of, compared to angry.

Several definitions of anger in various dictionaries include; a strong feeling that makes you want to hurt someone or be unpleasant, belligerence, antagonism, hostility. These are not cutesy feelings. In my opinion anger should be reserved for serious issues when someone is hurting, threatening, or wronging you.

Expressing anger, wrath or rage can affect your health and those around you. A person expressing anger and the person receiving your anger can exhibit increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, increased stomach acid and increased levels of adrenaline. And of course the psychological effects can be long term and worse than the physical effects.

Trivializing and making cute a negative emotion is a slippery slope to normalizing bad behavior. It may allow someone an excuse for being nasty or irritable and instead of apologizing for their behavior; they can make a joke of it by saying, oh I’m just hangry or pangry.

Only you can decide how you react to external stimuli. Only you can decide how to handle life. Only you can decide what kind of person you want to be. Do you want to tear people down, ruin someone’s day or build them up and make the world a calmer more beautiful place.

So next time you want to get hangry, pangry, blow a gasket, crack up, freak out, go ape shit, go nuclear, go mad cow, wig out, get your bitch on or spaz out, please don’t do it around me.
I’d rather you chillax, get your jam on, mellow out, kick back, veg out, cool your jets, hold your horses, keep your shirt on, loosen up, simmer down and take a chill pill!