Seen in the comics.

6-year old girl talking to mom:
Mom, should I wear the top with the thingy that goes with the other thing?
.....Mom: Why don't you try the one with the stuff on it?
You mean the one that's all, you know? Yeah, that one. Good idea.

Dad, to the girl's little brother:
Please tell me you didn't understand a word of that either.
.....Son: Hey, I barely understand them when they're not talking about clothes!

Speaking of which, I wonder how pink came to be used for girls and blue for boys? Does anyone know?

Man:

"Could you put that book in the bookcase with the the other Shakepeare, please?"

Woman:

"Put that over there with the others"

I liked the scene in an old episode of Friends after Ross and Rachael have their first kiss.

Rachael describes to the other two girls in detail how he started with his arms around her waist, and slowly moved them up until he was stroking her hair... The girls go all gooey at the romance of it all.

Cut to the other apartment, where Ross is describing the kiss to the other guys:

Joey: "Tongues?"

Ross: "Yes."

Joey and Chandler (giving the thumbs up): "Cool!"

I had seen a wonderful e-mail joke about the difference between men and women when each gets a haicut. Have any of you seen it? It was hilarious. Basically, the woman goes on and on with "I think it covers up my face; and it makes my neck look too short; and it makes my shoulders look too high; and on and on for 3 paragraphs. The men say, "I see you got a haircut," and the other says, "Yes." That's it. In looking for that piece online, I found this:


The Difference Between MEN and WOMEN

When a woman says...

"This place is such a mess! C'mon, you and I need to clean up the house. Your stuff is lying on the floor again and you'll have no clothes to wear to work tomorrow if we don't get some laundry done right now!"

A MAN hears...

"(blah, blah, blah, blah) C'MON...
(blah, blah, blah, blah) YOU AND I...
(blah, blah, blah, blah) ON THE FLOOR...
(blah, blah, blah, blah) NO CLOTHES...
(blah, blah, blah, blah) RIGHT NOW!"

Originally posted by Richard English:
Man: "Could you put that book in the bookcase with the the other Shakepeare, please?"
Woman: "Put that over there with the others"

Indubitably so, with the significant correction that man would never say "please".

Quote "...Indubitably so, with the significant correction that man would never say "please"...."

In the UK we generally would. I have noticed that Americans say "please" less than we do - although they do say "thank you"

quote:

---

Originally posted by Richard English:
I have noticed that Americans say "please" less than we do - although they do say "thank you"

---

That's extremely interesting but why do you suppose that is?

Possibly we don't say "Please" that much because, as Americans, we expect to be obeyed and the "Thank you" is more along the lines of "I appreciate the fact that you've spared me the bother of going over there and punching you a good one in the snoot for not doing what I said."

Now, I'm definitely not saying that this is a good thing...

I have noticed that Americans say "please" less than we do First, my antennae rise when people say "less" because it is usually "fewer." Here, I wonder if it should be "less often" or "fewer times," but then I am obsessive about that!

I do doubt that Richard is accurate on that, though I suppose it would be difficult to study. When I am in England, I will try to notice the use of "please" related to its use here.

I believe that "Say it less" is accurate as a construction, as would be "eat it less" or "mind it less".

I could have said, "less often" or "fewer times" but saw no reason to.

As for the frequency of "please"; as I said, that is my observation, made over many years of comparing the behaviour of different cultures. I have no scientific proof.

I don't know about "please" or "thank you" but I would be willing to bet that Americans lead the world in "Hey, Bozo! I gotcher different cultures hangin' right here!!" (along with the appropriate accompanying gesture)

Again, I'm not saying that this is necessarily a good thing...

Conversation a moment ago between Kalleh (red) and me (blue).

[Posting] What's the name of that Irish beer that starts with an "E"?
I don't know, hon.
Oh, come on. It's very famous.
Nothing comes to mind.
Darn!!! I thought for sure you'd know.
[Traipses out, comes back thirty seconds later.]
I got it! It's "Guinness".

I see there's no privacy in our household!

However, I do like that word "traipses," though in looking it up I don't think that is precisely what I did. This was one definition of it from Dictionary.com: "To walk or run about in a slatternly, careless, or thoughtless manner. [Colloq.] --Pope."

Of course, then I had to look up "slatternly," and I definitely was not that today! Plus, I was fairly thoughtful since I remembered the beer! Now, why I thought is started with "E," I am not sure.

Surprising use of the word "traipse" ... in the news about the elk in Wyoming ...

QUOTE

"... Officials are also checking whether the elk may have become so frightened they ran themselves to exhaustion; been bitten by ticks, which carry a mild toxin in their saliva; or consumed monensin, a feed additive for cattle that is poisonous to many animals including elk.

"For a time, researchers used a helicopter to find as many afflicted elk as possible, but at $900 an hour the flights were becoming expensive.

"Lately they have focused on lab work, which begins with driving into the rough country near the Continental Divide and traipsing* through melting snow and mud to snip plant specimens and scoop up elk droppings.

"At the lab's warehouse-sized autopsy room, some elk have been dissected for analysis by pathologists and toxicologists. Tissue samples were sent away for more detailed tests."

UNQUOTE


more here.

*(emphasis added)

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kalleh:
... I remembered the beer! Now, why I thought is started with "E," I am not sure.

---

I get it! Your very own, original, rhyming slang! Guinness starts with "G", and "G" rhymes with "E" ... . Very good! Next time you say to Shufitz, "Let's have an E," he should know what you mean.


Tinman

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tinman,

My husband is always getting upset with me because I ask him to do things w/o saying please. What is that about?

Me: Could you pick up some chocolate at the store?

Hubby: What's the magic word?

Me: Ummm - DARK chocolate?

Quote "...I get it! Your very own, original, rhyming slang! Guinness starts with "G", and "G" rhymes with "E" ... . Very good!..."

So far as I know there is no Cockney slang for Guinness. The rhyming slang for "stout" (of which Guinness is an example) is "salmon".

Salmon? You call stout salmon? How the heck did THAT happen?

quote:

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Originally posted by Richard English:
So far as I know there is no Cockney slang for Guinness.

---

There you go, Kalleh! Yours is the first!

Tinman

Quote "...Salmon? You call stout salmon? How the heck did THAT happen?..."

Salmon and trout - stout.

But why? What do salmon and trout have to do with beer? Am I the only one flummoxed by this?

It's Cokney ryhming slang. Nuff said?

China plate == mate
donkey's ears == years
potatoes and mold == cold
apples and pears == stairs
etc.

Interstingly enough the part that rhymes is usually left off. So salmon for stout. It's neat.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jheem,

Nah then, Salmon's just one kind of pig's. We got apple as well and, o' course, if yer in the bees you can 'ave a gold. But yer'll be on yer tod there.

What a colorful language! Can someone translate for the nice man who is speaking in tongues?

quote:

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Originally posted by jheem:

China mate == plate

---

Other way round.

China plate == mate

Other way round.

Sorry 'bout that. There's plenty more online.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jheem,

Thanks for the link, jheem. I'm fascinated!

CW, here is an early thread where we talked about Cockney rhyming.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Caterwauller:
My husband is always getting upset with me because I ask him to do things w/o saying please. What is that about?

Me: Could you pick up some chocolate at the store?

Hubby: What's the magic word?

Me: Ummm - DARK chocolate?

---

That reminds me of Duane Dodson's hilarious The Cravin':

quote:

---

Once upon a midnight boring, while her husband lay there snoring
Quite fatigued from rugged work-a-day, as many husbands are;
While he lay there nice and cozy, chubby cheeks all warm and rosy,
In the middle of his doze, he was awakened by her jar...
And a smack upon his forehead did accompany that jar,
As she told him, "Chocolate bar."

read more...

---

Virge, that poem gets top grade on humor, top grade on insight, and top grade on clever writing. One of the finest. Thank you thank you for giving me the chance to see it.

hic

I agree! Fabulous poem! I don't know if I'd go that far, myself . . . but that's another story I probably shouldn't delve into.

Yes, chocolate can do a lot for a relationship!

Wonderful, Virge. Thanks for sharing!

Courting

Ariel Molvig cartoon, The New Yorker, April 5, 2010

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tinman,

Priceless, Tinman!