Saturday, March 06, 2010

What's That You Say?

The quantity of consonants in the English language is constant. If omitted in one place, they turn up in another. When a Bostonian "pahks" his "cah," the lost r's migrate southwest, causing a Texan to "warsh" his car and invest in "erl wells." ~Author Unknown

I know a person who regularly slaughters the English language by using wrong (but oh-so-close) words or mixed metaphors and slightly skewed cliches. And I'm dying to have a character who does the same.

a couple of recent examples:

About two people who do NOT get along: "They're like fire and water."

Something this person's entire family says: "I could care less."

The only thing that holds me back from creating a character who does this is the effort I'd have to make to think of more of these. Anyone want to help mangle a metaphor? Crush a cliche? Post something close but not quite right in the comments!

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We had another lovely day yesterday. It was windy in the morning, but by lunch time, it was sunny, warm (for us -- about 40 degrees) and no wind. I celebrated by pooper-scooping, since most of the snow is melted on my lawn. DD collected branches that had fallen from the trees during last weekend's windstorm. Sadly, it seems I lost the cover to my composter and I can only imagine how far away it blew.

It looks like spring might actually be coming a bit early this year -- my daffodils and crocus are coming up, the snow is almost gone, the ponds are melting. Amazing.

I'm ready to get outside and start gardening. But, I don't trust the weather THAT much. So, yeah, I'll wait for the "real" gardening until May like always.

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Your Personality is Somewhat Rare (ISTP)



Your personality type is reserved, methodical, spirited, and intense.

Only about 6% of all people have your personality, including 3% of all women and 8% of all men

You are Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Perceiving.



That sounds about right...

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5 comments:

Maria Zannini said...

It's getting pretty green here and warm enough that I'm tempted to put some plants out, but it sucker-punched me last year with a freak temp drop in early April, so I am going to wait.

Whenever I think of people who mangle words and sayings, I'm always reminded of Archie Bunker. It's hard to pull off unless you use some really well known euphemisms and twist them. And of course, the character would have to do it regularly.

The downside of course, is that it only works in (some) English-speaking countries. The translation probably wouldn't make much sense unless they had a similar saying.

But I like the idea. It's that kind of quirk that becomes memorable in a character.

Dru said...

Your Personality is Very Rare (INTJ)

Your personality type is logical, uncompromising, independent, and nonconformist.

Only about 3% of all people have your personality, including 2% of all women and 4% of all men.

You are Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Judging.


This is me.

Have a good Saturday.

Melissa McClone said...

I could care less is actually correct. I read something about it a few years ago, and it was enough to make me never want to use I couldn't care less again even if that's what most people say.

Tori Lennox said...

Rumor has it on Monday it'll be near 70 degrees here!

Brandy said...

It's 57 here right now. No wonder everyone is getting sick. Cold, warm, cold, warm. Duh. If you like tomato's be prepared to get your seeds early. There is going to be a shortage this year and most grocery store tomato's are going to be expensive.

Your Personality is Somewhat Rare (ISFP)
Your personality type is caring, peaceful, artistic, and calm.
Only about 7% of all people have your personality, including 8% of all women and 6% of all men
You are Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Perceiving.

Hope you're having a great day!