13 Thursday: The Word Lab
1. You know how my blog statement says, “Whenever I don't know exactly what it is I'm doing and it borders on wasting my time, I call it research?” Well this is how that works:
2. Bonnie the Wordsmith had a post titled “Under the Weather.” In it she admits that she doesn’t know what the term means. So, being the curious person I am, I googled it to see what I could find.
3. I learned that it’s likely an old sailor’s phrase. When men were sick, they would rest below deck and so were literally "under" the weather on deck.
4. Then I discovered that most of our common euphemisms come from three main sources, Shakespeare – dead as a doornail, mums the word, woe is me, in the twinkling of an eye, all that glitters is not gold; The Bible – a bird in the hand, bite the dust, at his wits end, the fly in the ointment; and Seafaring – knowing the ropes, high and dry, cut and run, and three sheets to the wind.
5. Can you imagine learning the English language and having to translate sayings like kick the bucket, dog eat dog, turn a trick, bought the farm, break a leg, bun in the oven, and brownie points?
6. I wonder if we took all the euphemisms, idioms, colloquialisms, clichés, innuendo, and slang out of language what would be left.
7. Researching sailor’s sayings led me to George Carlin. Carlin doesn’t like euphemisms. He says: Sometime during my life, toilet paper became bathroom tissue. I wasn't notified of this. No one asked me if I agreed with it. It just happened. Toilet paper became bathroom tissue. Sneakers became running shoes. False teeth became dental appliances. Medicine became medication. Information became directory assistance. The dump became the landfill. Car crashes became automobile accidents. And Partly cloudy bacame partly sunny.
8. George Carlin led to George Orwell, who also doesn’t like euphemisms, aka doublespeak, a more calculated version of disguising meaning with something that sounds more agreeable. He gives this example: “Defenseless villages are bombarded from the air, the inhabitants driven out into the countryside, the cattle machine-gunned, the huts set on fire with incendiary bullets: this is called pacification.” Orwell must have turned over in his grave when the powers that be came up with “collateral damage” for killing civilians.
9. From George Orwell, I was led to Curious George. No, I’m just kidding. But I did learn that the name George comes from Greek and means “farmer,” and that George Orwell’s real name was Eric Blair.
10. But there is more to life than research. THIS is what my Scrabble playing friend, Mara, and I do when we have too much time on our hands.
11. I like to play with the alphabet. I notice that the word “slack” has “lack” right in it. (Is slack somehow the plural of lack, the way too many pets become pests?) I notice that silent and listen are made up of the same letters, like note and tone are. I know that coyote is coy, because his name tells me so. ~ More word play HERE.
12. Taking painkillers recently for an infected tooth made me understand how people get addicted to them. Not because they make you feel good, but because once they wear off you feel worse than you did before you took them and so you want them even more.
13. Disclaimer: I did not write this list while on drugs. No animals were used and nothing was blown up in the word lab this morning while mixing this 13 concoction.
Thursday headquarters is here. My other 13's are here.View more 13 Thursday’s here. Bonnie's Weekend Word Lab is HERE.
Comments
I'm so glad I gave you something to "13" about today. And a good job you did of it, too, my friend ... as usual. Now I think you should link this post to the word of the week at Weekend Wordsmith:
http://weekendwordsmith.blogspot.com/2007/08/under.html
~~~ Bonnie the Wordsmith
P.S. Just so you know I do lots of research, just as you do, here's another cardinal flower, this one growing in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dlennis/1064663381/
Posted by: Bonnie Jacobs | August 16, 2007 10:32 AM
you are quite perceptive with words, colleen! i also love to find out where euphemisms come from.
this was a fun 13 to read!
and as a fellow mountain lover... if you get a chance, please come over to my site and see how you can help a little WV town save its mountain from a big energy corporation....they are fighting hard, but need help from the outside!
Posted by: bluemountainmama | August 16, 2007 10:46 AM
I love George Carlin!
Posted by: Robin | August 16, 2007 1:09 PM
I'm sorry about your tooth! I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't know George Carlin, but I must learn. That's the funniest quote I've read in a long time!
Happy TT!
Posted by: spyscribbler | August 16, 2007 1:57 PM
What a great post, Colleen!!! English is one of the hardest languages to learn, especially if you have to learn all those pesky euphemisms, idioms, colloquialisms, clichés, innuendo, and slang!
Posted by: Janet | August 16, 2007 2:05 PM
I hope you feel better.
This is a great 13 and now I feel smarter.
You learned a lot of stuff during your research. Maybe that is what i need to call it when I waste hours on the 'net.
Posted by: Nancy | August 16, 2007 2:33 PM
Great TT! Love the way your mind works, all right brainy and everything. ;-)
Posted by: CountryDew | August 16, 2007 2:47 PM
I know what "3 sheets to the wind" means:........when we went to Nantucket they have an old windmill that still grinds grain and it works appropriately when it has all four working sails in the wind, but when it has only 3 you can just imagine!!!! ........
That is why sometimes we use this slang for drunks??!!
Posted by: Sherry | August 16, 2007 5:56 PM
I love knowing the derivation of old words and phrases. There is a book called "A Hog on Ice" that is full of them.
Posted by: kenju | August 16, 2007 7:28 PM
I always try to get to the bottom of the phrases. Only way to learn the derivations of any word.
Michele sent me here.
Posted by: gautami tripathy | August 16, 2007 8:30 PM
Great tt!
Posted by: so lost | August 16, 2007 8:54 PM
You know I used to really love george carlin back in his carnegie hall days but now he's not a comedian he's an amazingly insensitive public speaker. Blegh. Interesting though your look into phrases like kick the bucket or knoing the ropes. You know me I love this sort of thing.
Michele sent me to tell you so.
Posted by: Leigh in Atlanta | August 16, 2007 11:55 PM
That was fun! I love George Carlin and Curious George.
Posted by: marilyn | August 16, 2007 11:59 PM
you are Jammin!
that is an excellent example of posting "just whatever I please, who cares what the world thinks,." you are my hero.
Posted by: david, in Big Bear Lake | August 17, 2007 12:29 AM
Great 13 as usual Colleen! LOVE the word play by the good ol' boys! And George Carlin! Have a great weekend.
Posted by: susan | August 17, 2007 8:14 AM
Ah crazy me, as usual, took it as the word- LAB. Like you were going to break down 13 uses of the word lab and of course my puppies and Crack are the first things that come to my mind!
But I loved the post even though it had nothing to do with Labs!
I learned while on the ship in Jamestown from the tourist sailor when I said I didn't want a downstairs tour and wouldn't have done well in those days because I was chlaustrophobic sometimes. He told me that the luxury of such a thing was not afforded to men in those days on a ship and thus the saying "all in the same boat" was born from that. You had no choice about such matters. I had found that interesting.
Posted by: Deana | August 17, 2007 2:28 PM
Another sailor's euphemism! That's so cool. And Sherry explained 3 sheets to the wind.
Deana, I knew you were going to see the word LAB for LABRADOR!
Posted by: colleen | August 17, 2007 2:51 PM
Sometimes it's difficult to learn English slang etc., but it's a charming part of the language! :-)
Thanks for visiting my BED TT.
Posted by: Tink | August 18, 2007 8:59 AM