Since almost seven months have passed, it seems appropriate to revisit Tom Swifties. (I almost said, "revisit again".) This is inspired by Kalleh's use of the words immensely and enormously..
"I missed my period," wailed Tomasina immensely. "I can't be pregnant, I just can't," she added, enormously alarmed.
"I'm talking about fibers, filaments, threads, yarns, twines, strings, ropes, and hawsers, and I'm also talking about an important part of my vocal anatomy," said Tom, cordially.
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To be self-referential, shouldn't it be "I'm standing up straight," said Tom, though he was lying." ?
I'm not sure that self-referential is necessarily any better than self-contradictory, but it's always seemed to me that the essence of a Swifty is its linking the phrase to the adverb in as many ways as possible. Thus in "I lost my lawsuit, said Tom plaintively..." we have simultaneously plaintive/sad-over-loss (with ... to emphasize the sadness) and plaintiff/lawsuit-filer.
[edit: Come to think of it, I'm not even sure which of the standing/lying examples above is the self-contradictory one!]
quote:Originally posted by TrossL: "The prisoner may not stand," said the bailiff conceitedly. "But," said Tom contestingly, "The prisoner is taking an exam right now."
"He'll be executed at 12 noon," said Tom concurrently.
Kalleh, it's just a Tom Swifty... I'm sure yours and Shu's nightly roleplay game of "You be the warden and I'll be the naughty prisoner" is still on...
...Actually, I thought the choir's "indecorous" remark was the best we've seen lately. Bassically I liked the tenor of that remark. (Alto I haven't been able to find a good way of working in the soprano section.)