8/21 blog: The Stupids

[krf100]

In regard to the sudden light of realization that George and Martha, well, you know... I had an interesting revelation that might strike home for you as well, Ken. My name is also Ken, or more to the point Kenneth. I never questioned it growing up and never thought about what it might mean. The name Kenneth, I mean. (I am in my mid 40s.)

A few months ago I read A Thousand and One Nights (or, A Thousand nights and a Night, etc...) and a sentence similar to, "I kenneth (IE: understand) that you are doing something..." jumped out at me.

Well, doh, that's what my name means. I knew that. I should have known that. I never even thought of that. How stupid am I?

I also read the awsome line, "The journey is not made perfect save by copulation with the camel." But that is another subject altogether.

[waterdevil]

I was on the Mental Floss website the other day when it had a list of commonly mispronounced words and phrases. i had always thought the phrase was "chomping at the bit". This list countered that with " champing at the bit". It went on to say that in America we probably spell it "chomping" these days, as we do I believe, but it should at least be pronounced "champing." Weird

[dmm]

If it makes you feel better, Ken, Wikipedia claims that Marshall's George and Martha are in fact named after Albee's characters, not the Washingtons. (And I also love his Stupids books. Go Xylophone!)

[Ken Jennings]

Games magazine had a puzzle once that tested the spelling of common phrases. Is it "to the manner born" or "to the manor born"? "Raising cane" or "Raising Cain"? Et cetera. They were surprisingly hard.

On the other hand, there's my wife's old roommate, who used to say things like "I took it for granite" and, about a social pariah, "They were treating her like a leopard!"

[Vorotyntsev]

When I was a kid, I thought the line "I held her hand in mine" (from "I Saw Her Standing There") was "I held her hand in Hawaii," and sang along at the top of my lungs in grade school. Never did that again!

What's the frequency, krf100?

[FoxyJ]

When we were kids we always thought the Eagle's song "Take it to the Limit" was "Take it to the Lemon", since we lived near Lemon Grove, CA which had a giant concrete lemon in the middle of it.

Oh, and Ken, we are moving to Seattle for sure. We'll be getting up there the weekend of the 10th and moving into UW student housing. I'll see if I can find your email and drop you a line!

[Lilly]

On the other hand, there's my wife's old roommate, who used to say things like "I took it for granite" and, about a social pariah, "They were treating her like a leopard!"

I have heard SO many people say "take for granite"!! That doesn't even make sense!

[krf100]

I had a girlfriend once who floored me by saying, "She was a guppy for punishment." It took me forever to realize she meant glutton.

My present wife is from the Philipinnes and she once answered a question of mine by saying:

I don't know, but if you hump, you bark, I'll fake it.

Me: What the hell is that supposed to mean? Her: It's what you always say. Me: I've never said anything like that in my life.

Sudden realization: Oh, you mean, If you hum a few bars I'll fake it.

[bobg]

"Fargo North, Decoder," from The Electric Company. Didn't get that one until I was about 20. (By which time the character had existed for perhaps 15 years.)

It was still another two years or so before I realized that the previous decade's game "Gnip Gnop" was ping pong spelled backward.

Cheers,
- Bob

[ninjapirate]

When I was a kid, I thought Ella Fitzgerald's name was Ellafitz Gerald. When they said it on TV, they always ran it together.

[JenLee]

"Nonplussed" is definitely a word that I've never been able to use in a sentence, because I always think it means the opposite of what it does. Which is probably compounded by the fact that no one is ever described as being "plussed," so it's not like I can derrive the correct denotation by knowing the antonym. Heh.

Also, all you misheard-song-lyrics folks: Y'all know about Kiss This Guy, right? A whole site dedicated to mondegreens! Makes for some very entertaining reading.

[hulklyjoe]

I used to think the saying was that you "nip something in the butt" it wasn't until a few years ago I realized it was " nip something in the bud" I also used to think you shouldn't kick the gift horse in the mouth.

[bobg]

I also used to think you shouldn't kick the gift horse in the mouth.

...when he's down. In the mouth.

Cheers,
- Bob

[Skillet9886]

As far as "duh" moments go, I can pick out one from when I was sixteen. I can't remember the context (probably because it was completely random), but I suddenly realized that the word "alphabet" comes from the greek letters alpha and beta. Wow, yeah, that was quite an epiphany for me.

[tbone42617]

Until I was about fourteen I thought the Pulitzer Prize was the "Pulit Surprise". I had visions of the friends and family of notable journalists jumping out from behind furniture to give them an award....

[Lilly]

In elementary school, we used to take "Prayer Requests" before our prayer time...and I always wondered why we called "asking God for something" a "Prairie Quest"

[LizLackey]

As far as "duh" moments go, I can pick out one from when I was sixteen. I can't remember the context (probably because it was completely random), but I suddenly realized that the word "alphabet" comes from the greek letters alpha and beta. Wow, yeah, that was quite an epiphany for me.

Dang. I was thinking that it derived from the first two letters in hebrew ("aleph-bet"), but I just googled it, and it appears to be from the greek. News to me!

[JenLee]

Actually, Liz, you're not entirely wrong. The wiki for alphabet has this to say:

The word "alphabet" itself is popularly believed to come from alpha and beta, the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, but some etymologists argue that instead the word derives from aleph and bet, the first two letters of the Phoenician alphabet (an abjad) which later gave rise to the Hebrew alphabet.

So you're both potentially right!

[NeilFraudstrong]

My friend is convinced that it's not fringe benefits, but rather French benefits.

[JD]

My friend is convinced that it's not fringe benefits, but rather French benefits.

Berets? Kisses? More varieties of cheese than may be allowed by European law?

[bobg]

My friend is convinced that it's not fringe benefits, but rather French benefits.

Spelled out, no doubt, in a French letter.

Cheers,
- Bob

[freeatlast]

As a fellow LDS, you may enjoy this one. When I was a little girl, instead of "and so my needs are great" I thought the lyrics were "and so my knees are grey" in that one well-loved children's song. Yeah, from many-a kneeling prayer! Made sense to me!

[TheConfessor]

While you’re at it, what’s the difference between laying in state and in honor?

"Laying" in state? I've never heard of that before. I'm guessing it has something to do with egg production.

[Suzanne]

First of all, I am Canadian.
When I was 6, we moved to Dayton OH. Every morning, the class would stand and recite the pledge of allegiance and sing the national anthem. The teacher told me it was OK if I just stood respectfully, since I wasn't American. I was happy to do this, I liked singing, I liked the song; sometimes I sang along anyway.

A few months after school started, a new kid from Michigan came to our class. Eager to share my knowledge and make him feel welcome, I earnestly told him that it was ok if he just stood for the anthem, since he wasn't from there.

I later realized my mistake and feel embarrassed even now thinking about it.

I moved back to Canada in 18 months laters and can now name all 50 states.
Just curious, but how many of my friends south of the 49th parallel can name all 10 provinces (and 3 territories, for the bonus)?

[Xenkylm]

I had a friend in college who insisted that the chorus in Elton' John's hit referred to "Tony Danza" (I suppose he is kinda tiny), and that Alanis Morisette oughta know that she had, at one point, received a "Cross-eyed bear."