Halloween has just passed, but instead of doing a post of Halloween related stuff, I thought I’d fall back on the old teacher instinct and dig out some grammar and language humor. I’ve shared some of this sort of thing a couple of times before, but I am amused by it and I hope others might be, as well, so here’s another round of stuff I have found on this general topic.
If anyone has ever wondered how English grammar (which seems generally incomprehensible and anything but logical to most people) developed? I may have found the answer.
If anyone has ever wondered how English grammar (which seems generally incomprehensible and anything but logical to most people) developed? I may have found the answer.
I strongly suspect that this is untrue, but it does seem to make a certain amount of sense. After all, English has many examples of constructions which sound similar, even identical, but do not mean the same thing. Case in point:
Sloppy grammar, punctuation, and pronunciation, especially by Americans, has led to a good deal of confusion in some cases. I remember how surprised I was, when I took an advanced public speaking class as an undergraduate and discovered that the words “Mary,” “marry,” and “merry” are (at least in theory) supposed to be pronounced differently. That doesn’t jibe with my experience in talking to a variety of people, but that’s the official “General American Accent” as I was taught it. Oh, well, things could be worse:
Still, a somewhat greater degree of simple logic in the language would be nice. For example,
One does have to be careful with grammar, however. As most people don’t understand it very well, it’s easy to confuse people into thinking you’ve said something which was NOT intended, as, apparently happened in this case.
Even something as basic as just spelling can get one into difficulty. For example:
I haven’t only found pictures and signs which relate to grammar and language humor, however. I’ve also encountered some interesting, written humor. So I thought I’d include a few examples.
A woman in labor suddenly shouted, "Shouldn't! Wouldn't! Couldn't! Didn't! Can't!"
"Don't worry," said the doc. "Those are just contractions."
My friend, David, had his ID stolen the other day. Now we just call him Dav.
Have you noticed that the word "nothing" is a palindrome? Backwards, it spells "gnihton," which also means nothing.
My friend just got a PhD on the history of palindromes. We now call him Dr. Awkward.
They told me I wouldn't be good at poetry because I'm dyslexic. But, so far, I've made 3 jugs and a vase, and they are lovely.
There are, in fact, people whom one simply knows must be considered paragons of language usage, however. Such a one is a certain Dowager Countess, with whom the followers of Downton Abbey will be quite familiar. I have to admit that I think she was probably quite correct when she said:
A woman in labor suddenly shouted, "Shouldn't! Wouldn't! Couldn't! Didn't! Can't!"
"Don't worry," said the doc. "Those are just contractions."
My friend, David, had his ID stolen the other day. Now we just call him Dav.
Have you noticed that the word "nothing" is a palindrome? Backwards, it spells "gnihton," which also means nothing.
My friend just got a PhD on the history of palindromes. We now call him Dr. Awkward.
They told me I wouldn't be good at poetry because I'm dyslexic. But, so far, I've made 3 jugs and a vase, and they are lovely.
There are, in fact, people whom one simply knows must be considered paragons of language usage, however. Such a one is a certain Dowager Countess, with whom the followers of Downton Abbey will be quite familiar. I have to admit that I think she was probably quite correct when she said:
I think that means that good grammar can be a useful tool, even when describing someone of whom one thinks quite little. I must admit that Lady Violet was, in my opinion, exceptionally accurate in commenting on a large number of our contemporary “comedians” when she said, "Vulgarity is no substitute for wit.”
That’s probably my favorite quote of hers and captures my feeling about a number of popular “entertainers” quite well, in my estimation. I, actually, don’t mind a certain risqué quality in humor, but it should be, at least, clever. So much of what passes for humor these days is just tasteless vulgarity. I think that’s too bad, so I prefer to ignore it.
That doesn’t mean that I object to “strong” language in literature, drama, or elsewhere, provided that it’s true to the characters and situation. One would not expect the same sort of language from a bunch of GIs in a barracks as one would expect to find at a formal dinner, but people really should understand that. It seems impolite to rely on the “shock” value of such language for humor, although it DID work out pretty well for Shaw in Pygmalion.
Generally, though, it gets real old, real fast, and I suspect that far too often it’s really nothing but an attempt to hide a lack of wit and intelligence behind a cheap surprise. I’d suggest that that is an even lower form of humor than the “pie-in-the-face” gag, which rarely seems very intelligent. One should remember that Oscar Levant once said that: “A pun is the lowest form of humor—when you don't think of it first” and Issac Asimov said: “I consider a play on words the noblest form of wit, so there!” I confess a fondness for a good pun, too.
Oh, well, I’ll be back in a couple of weeks with something else on my mind. Probably some “Fall-related” thoughts, or, perhaps, something related to Thanksgiving. We’ll see….
🖖🏼 LLAP,
Dr. B
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
— Nelson Mandela
“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic; capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.” ― Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
That’s probably my favorite quote of hers and captures my feeling about a number of popular “entertainers” quite well, in my estimation. I, actually, don’t mind a certain risqué quality in humor, but it should be, at least, clever. So much of what passes for humor these days is just tasteless vulgarity. I think that’s too bad, so I prefer to ignore it.
That doesn’t mean that I object to “strong” language in literature, drama, or elsewhere, provided that it’s true to the characters and situation. One would not expect the same sort of language from a bunch of GIs in a barracks as one would expect to find at a formal dinner, but people really should understand that. It seems impolite to rely on the “shock” value of such language for humor, although it DID work out pretty well for Shaw in Pygmalion.
Generally, though, it gets real old, real fast, and I suspect that far too often it’s really nothing but an attempt to hide a lack of wit and intelligence behind a cheap surprise. I’d suggest that that is an even lower form of humor than the “pie-in-the-face” gag, which rarely seems very intelligent. One should remember that Oscar Levant once said that: “A pun is the lowest form of humor—when you don't think of it first” and Issac Asimov said: “I consider a play on words the noblest form of wit, so there!” I confess a fondness for a good pun, too.
Oh, well, I’ll be back in a couple of weeks with something else on my mind. Probably some “Fall-related” thoughts, or, perhaps, something related to Thanksgiving. We’ll see….
🖖🏼 LLAP,
Dr. B
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
— Nelson Mandela
“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic; capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.” ― Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
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