TAUTOLOGY

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
Philip Hudson
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2784
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:41 am
Location: Texas

Re: TAUTOLOGY

Postby Philip Hudson » Fri Nov 09, 2012 5:48 pm

E. Dickinson was agoraphobic and had great difficulty being with people in public places. She was gracious to visitors and wrote many letters. This forum is Alpha Agora, but we don't have conventions in which hundreds of Alphas congregate, although that might be fun. Emily would have delighted to visit all of us in her own drawing room, two or three at a time. Agoraphobic has agora as its first syllable but has a definition that stands alone. I see now that Perry's response was a pun. "Puns are the lowest form of wit and therefore the foundation of all wit," according to one of the famous Henry Erskines. I was surprised that there was more than one of them, and I don’t know which is which. In defending my heroine, my response took Perry's comment literally.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

Perry Lassiter
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 3333
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 pm
Location: RUSTON, LA
Contact:

Re: TAUTOLOGY

Postby Perry Lassiter » Fri Nov 09, 2012 6:46 pm

You should hear my 25 yr old grandson and me deliberately misunderstanding each other with puns, homophones, and semi-similar words. It's humor way more wicked than puns.
pl

Philip Hudson
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2784
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:41 am
Location: Texas

Re: TAUTOLOGY

Postby Philip Hudson » Fri Nov 09, 2012 6:52 pm

English is so strong that we can take all kinds of liberties with it and yet do it no harm. We can also have a lot of fun with it.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8039
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Re: TAUTOLOGY

Postby Slava » Fri Nov 09, 2012 7:25 pm

English is so strong that we can take all kinds of liberties with it and yet do it no harm. We can also have a lot of fun with it.
Blimey, ain't it the tooth!
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

Perry Lassiter
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 3333
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 pm
Location: RUSTON, LA
Contact:

Re: TAUTOLOGY

Postby Perry Lassiter » Fri Nov 09, 2012 10:05 pm

Not blimey, blarney. Not tooth, waltzhood!
pl

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8039
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Re: TAUTOLOGY

Postby Slava » Fri Nov 09, 2012 11:08 pm

Not blimey, blarney. Not tooth, waltzhood!
Well, blow me down, I do be confusticated. I must admit to being completely lost on this one. Waltzhood? Care to explainify? :D
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

Philip Hudson
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2784
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:41 am
Location: Texas

Re: TAUTOLOGY

Postby Philip Hudson » Sat Nov 10, 2012 12:33 pm

Slava: When Perry wrote, "Not blimey, blarney. Not tooth, waltzhood!" I think I know what he meant, although Perry can be inscrutable. I think Perry was taking exception to my cavalier attitude about taking liberties with the English language and humorously disagreeing with both you and me. He transmogrified your "Blimey, ain't it the tooth!" to an opposite "Blarney, ain't it the waltzhood!" Here he malaproped falsehood to waltzhood. In committing this raucous outburst, Perry is actually agreeing with us. Am I right Perry?
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

Perry Lassiter
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 3333
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 pm
Location: RUSTON, LA
Contact:

Re: TAUTOLOGY

Postby Perry Lassiter » Sat Nov 10, 2012 2:45 pm

Got it, Philip, but I gotta work on my inscrutability. Anyone got a screrwdriver?
pl

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8039
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Re: TAUTOLOGY

Postby Slava » Sat Nov 10, 2012 2:53 pm

"Ah, now I see," said the blind carpenter as he picked up his hammer and saw.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot] and 47 guests