The Deception of the Thrush

What a NEAT posting!! It made me smile. Am inspired now to try making a list myself! (Incidentally, was #4 cute??)

I am ashamed to say this took longer than I thought it would! "I/ME" kept invading my thoughts. It was a really good exercise that brought me out of myself to observe, or think of, other people. (And, it is so much easier to think of things you *don't* like, you know.)

Anyway, here goes (in no particular order):

1.) Adults making goofy faces and noises to make a baby laugh.

2.) Not writing down that a homework assignment consisted of only odd-numbered problems, and doing them all.

3.) Laughing with you over stupid things you discover you both have done.

4.) Humming when they work.

5.) Walking with their head turned a strange way on a windy day---so their hair won't blow the "wrong" way.

6.) Stopping to pick up a penny and thinking it will bring good luck.

7.) Defining "old" as anyone older than your parents! (thank you)

8.) Waving as they drive by whether they know you or not.

9.) Leaving their newspaper on a seat in the airport waiting area. Nice to find one if you are "bumped."

10) Ordering pecan pie and a "diet" soda.

How did I do?

You did good. Don't worry, I found it hard too.
And yes I always appreciate newspaper leftovers as well.

Karin: What would an example of your # 9 be?

Jane: Fantastic list, though I share your sentiment that things one doesn't like often overshadow the things one does.

Hi John! Have been worried about you. I feared you had indeed "drowned in esquivalience"! (Maybe I should check my dictionary to see if I spelled that correctly.)

Karin, I too would love to see an example of your #9, since I know you can do it so darn well! And, I like it too! Makes me smile!

well you would think that if I thought to post #9 that I would have had a concrete example in mind, and I can't think of one right now. What I'm not talking about is some academic using a 15-letter word when a 5-letter word would express the idea equally well or probably better. It's those unexpected situations when people in other walks of life -- not people paid to sound smart-- spontaneously decide to employ a literary device to tell you something quite mundane. Any one else's anecdotes are welcome, if you think of any...

Re: "What I'm not talking about is some academic using a 15-letter word when a 5-letter word would express the idea equally well or probably better."

Ouch. Point taken. I suppose the former hurts because it's a condition I'm not only guilty of, myself, but it is so endemic to my daily surroundings that I'm completely oblivious to it.

In other words, if you think of an example, Karin, you may well make my day (if not my year). No pressure, though.

And thank you Jane, for your concern. So far, I'm treading water.

Oh, sorry, I really didn't intend to offend there. I do it too; the jargon is different in the behavioral sciences but it definitely exists. But search of my own semantic space for a canonical examplar of our idiosyncratic discourse is yielding a null result. :-)

In other words, I'm guilty too.

I was emphasizing elaborate language in unexpected places because that's exactly when I'm happily surprised to hear it. I have friends and colleagues who are wonderfully masterful at playing with language, and I probably take it for granted. The idea is that outside of certain spheres of this world, much of the population is less creative with their vocabulary, and not necessarily out of lack of intellectual inability; it's more of a cultural thing, I think.

OK. I had these ready this a.m., and the UMN server must have been down. Couldn't get to D-of-the-T, nor S-L.

Tell me which, if any, of these examples are anywhere near your #9:

**Grandma, after a hard day, had been "pulled through a knothole backwards."

**Billie Tanner, disgusted with her creation in artistic oils, declared it "an abortion---a complete abortion."

**Principal Bob McAllister warned teachers to be alert every Spring by reminding "not all the squirrels are in the trees."

And last, but not least, Lucinda from "As the World Turns" prepared to "hoist with his own petard" any one she could.

What do you think??

Yes those are all good. Though possibly rather cryptic for any reader aside from myself. But that's OK.

You mentioned many older individuals -- I think that is telling, that previous generations made much more of an art out of their conversation then we do. But I don't know -- maybe that was because more subjects were taboo, so with the content of conversation limited, the surface language had to be jazzed up a bit. What do you think?

How very observant--my examples do all involve older people! Perhaps many younger people gain the attention they seek by use of profanity??? I shall be more attentive, and get back to you. Hmmmm