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Weekly Wednesday Wisdom: English is an odd language

Coming off my last wisdom post I thought I'd take on English. It's a silly hard to understand language with all the idioms and double meanings of things. Although that's what also makes it great. However there are a couple things to look out for.

Wisdom for Miloh: Questions are often statements.
You'll see this a lot in the work world...people often want to state their opinion but at the last minute decided to be nice so the statement ends up like a question. "What if we threw Turkeys out of a helicopter?" means "We should throw turkeys out of a helicopter." which actually means "We're going to throw turkeys out of a helicopter."

Its subtle but it's something to look out for.

Women use this question as statement often. "Do you think we should paint the living room?" means "I got some paint sample and cleared your calendar for Saturday so you can paint the living room."

There is also "Is that what you're wearing?" That means you should change your outfit...however you should always answer that question with a "Yes" and continue to get ready.

I could probably think of more things here but I think you get the point and I'm kinda sick so the brain isn't working at it's best.

Bonus wisdom for Miloh: Maybe pretty much always means no.
I don't often quote lyrics (or maybe I do) but these from Jack Johnson's Flake are so true. This one goes true for men and women. I'm sure there has been a time were it meant yes but I can't think of any off hand.

Staci: "Do you want to go to a beach for winter break?" Me: "Maybe"

What was actually said there is "We should go to a beach for winter break." "No." And you will thank me for this later when we spend that time snowboarding every year...I suppose it would be ok-ish to spend it surfing and snorkeling...but I'd need to learn to surf and why waste the winter time? Right?

Ladies and gentlemen...Les Nessman:

WKRP Turkey Drop

and a bonus...Jack Johnson with Ben Harper

Jack Johnson & Ben Harper - Flake (Live San Diego)-Osoremors-Ucv

Comments

  1. English is tough. This is a great lesson for Miloh to learn early and often!

    ReplyDelete
  2. English is tough. This is a great lesson for Miloh to learn early and often!

    ReplyDelete

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