Something Completely Different

We have a "Dumb Lyrics" thread and an "Annoying things people say" thread, so I feel that our common language is not getting a balanced representation on SCD: the language has no awards ceremony here, but it does have two Complaints Departments. That's not fair.

So here's a place to put your favourite quotes, favourite lyrics, etc, although to start us off, I've been thinking about a couple of words only, the humble bricks from which greater things can be built:-

to tailgate: I first liked the sound of this word when I heard it in a Dr.John song. It was years later that I understood what it meant, then more years later that I realised that it's a verb that's useful in America, although afaik the rest of the world seems able to get by without it.

shrift: this is something that you can give someone, but for reasons unknown, it only comes in one size: you can give them short shrift, but never long shrift.

fro: this is another word with a limited application. If you want to go fro, you have to got to first. In my daily round I often go to and fro, but try as I might, I've never been able to just go fro on its own. :(     

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is one of my most beloved of any gifts I've ever received - a guide to newly-concocted verbiage for a lexicographical fanatic; what could be more perfect? It tugs eloquently at my subversive Joycean and Biercian linguistic heartstrings.

The author, John Koenig, presented a TEDTalk at Berkeley where he discussed the project.

I like old timey insults and pejoratives so much. Modern insults pale in comparison to calling someone a scoundrel or a cad or a ne'er-do-well.

Quote from: Mrs. Waffles on Sep 17, 2023, 10:23 PMI like old timey insults and pejoratives so much. Modern insults pale in comparison to calling someone a scoundrel or a cad or a ne'er-do-well.

Absolutely!

https://nosweatshakespeare.com/resources/shakespeare-insults/

If you build a man a fire, he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

That might not be a perfect quotation of the late, great Terry Pratchett, but it's in the ballpark.

Quote from: Mrs. Waffles on Sep 17, 2023, 10:23 PMI like old timey insults and pejoratives so much. Modern insults pale in comparison to calling someone a scoundrel or a cad or a ne'er-do-well.

Fop!

Soft Language - George Carlin

I seldom like lyrics and most of the ones I really like are in Russian but I love Robert Wyatt's Sea Song so much.

You look different every time
You come from the foam-crested brine
It's your skin, shining softly in the moonlight
Partly fish, partly porpoise
Partly baby sperm whale
Am I yours?
Are you mine to play with?
Joking apart
When you're drunk you're terrific
When you're drunk
I like you mostly late at night
You're quite alright
But I can't understand the different you
In the morning, when it's time
To play at being human for a while
Please smile!
You'll be different in the spring
I know, you're a seasonal beast
Like the starfish that drift in with the tide
With the tide
So until your blood runs
To meet the next full moon
Your madness fits in nicely with my own
With my own
Your lunacy fits neatly with my own
My very own
We're not alone

Yes! Sea song is brilliant 🙂

I taught myself how to play it badly on piano 🐬

Quote from: Guybrush on Sep 19, 2023, 11:41 PMYes! Sea song is brilliant 🙂

I taught myself hoe to play it badly on piano 🐬

Cool! My ex used to accompany me on piano while I badly sang it and badly played it on guitar.

^ Only on SCD, I suspect, will you find two such enthusiasts for that song ! For me, it was completely new.
______________

Yes, Mrs. Waffles, those old insults have a special ring to them. I still like ne'er-do-well and as a child I liked poltroon. I probably heard it on a cartoon prog for kids: they seemed to favour old-fashioned language, from Dick Darstardly to a particular favourite:-

The great thing about that expression is how meaningless the words are, like another catchphrase, this one from comedian Frankie Howerd: "I should coco!"
_____________________
 

Quote from: Guybrush on Sep 18, 2023, 12:19 AMIf you build a man a fire, he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

That might not be a perfect quotation of the late, great Terry Pratchett, but it's in the ballpark.

^ Literally LOL! That one is so good, but all I have for the moment is this (African) proverb:-
"If you think you're too small to make a difference, you haven't spent a night with a mosquito."

Quote from: Lisnaholic on Sep 21, 2023, 12:19 AMYes, Mrs. Waffles, those old insults have a special ring to them. I still like ne'er-do-well and as a child I liked poltroon. I probably heard it on a cartoon prog for kids: they seemed to favour old-fashioned language, from Dick Darstardly to a particular favourite:-

The great thing about that expression is how meaningless the words are, like another catchphrase, this one from comedian Frankie Howerd: "I should coco!"

Hanna Barbera characters did tend to spout some classic nonsense. Yabba dabba doo, zoinks, nyuck nyuck nyuck, and all that.

Of all their characters, Snagglepuss seemed to have the most vocal idiosyncrasies. Heavens to Murgatroyd! Exit stage left! It's (blank), (blank) even! Love it.

Wonderful thread idea, Lisna.   :D

The last few stanzas of Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" (Leaves of Grass) never fail to move me.

"I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,
If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.

You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,
But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,
And filter and fibre your blood.

Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,
Missing me one place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you."

@grindy and @Guybrush, I share the love of Robert Wyatt's "Sea Song".  One of my favorite songs of all time.  Much as I admire the studio version on Rock Bottom, I actually prefer this live BBC4 performance.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2f54a


 

Quote from: Lisnaholic on Sep 21, 2023, 12:19 AM^ Only on SCD, I suspect, will you find two such enthusiasts for that song ! For me, it was completely new.

_____________________
 
^ Literally LOL! That one is so good, but all I have for the moment is this (African) proverb:-
"If you think you're too small to make a difference, you haven't spent a night with a mosquito."

Thanks, Lisna! You've cleared up a mystery for me, which is the title of Supergrass' debut album.

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f0/I_Should_Coco.jpg)

And that African proverb was very clever indeed 🙂

Quote from: ribbons on Sep 21, 2023, 01:03 AM@grindy and @Guybrush, I share the love of Robert Wyatt's "Sea Song".  One of my favorite songs of all time.  Much as I admire the studio version on Rock Bottom, I actually prefer this live BBC4 performance.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2f54a

Yes, that might be the best version of that song 🙂

I think The Unthanks' cover is also worthy of note:

Quote from: ribbons on Sep 21, 2023, 01:03 AM@grindy and @Guybrush, I share the love of Robert Wyatt's "Sea Song".  One of my favorite songs of all time.  Much as I admire the studio version on Rock Bottom, I actually prefer this live BBC4 performance.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2f54a


 

Yes, I love this version!

@grindy and @Guybrush, glad we agree about the BBC performance - I've watched it so many times!  Tore, thanks for sharing the Rachel Unthank cover - I really like the piano interlude that comes in around 1:55.    :)

A little lagniappe here:

"Consider the daffodil.  And while you're doing that, I'll be over here, looking through your stuff."  -  Jack Handey  :D

(https://i.ibb.co/vv0vgkf/daffodil.jpg) (https://imgbb.com/)

Quote from: ribbons on Sep 21, 2023, 05:50 PMA little lagniappe here:

"Consider the daffodil.  And while you're doing that, I'll be over here, looking through your stuff."  -  Jack Handey  :D

(https://i.ibb.co/vv0vgkf/daffodil.jpg) (https://imgbb.com/)

Hahaha yes, I love Jack Handey so much.

"Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes."

"By their own admission, the advocates of separation say foreign assistance will be necessary. At what cost? Let us imagine a war without victors. When the guns all silent. Many would have bled and sacrificed only to have exchanged the light yoke of Great Britain for the heavy dominion of an alien power. Some have argued that America will become one great commonwealth. But what is to keep 13 unwieldy colonies from splitting asunder? I have a strong impression in my mind that this will take place. No, gentlemen. To escape the protection of Great Britain by declaring independence unprepared as we are would be to brave the storm in a skiff made of paper."

I always liked this line of attack, even if I don't agree with it.

Quote from: Mrs. Waffles on Sep 23, 2023, 04:59 PMHahaha yes, I love Jack Handey so much.

"Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes."

I used The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine to pull website snapshots from 2000-20001 and manually extracted every quote from Nick DeCamp's Chocolate-Covered Musings that had been posted to Amused.com (The Center For the Easily Amused) website in the early days of the internet. VERY Jack Handey-esque humor.

Examples:

When archaeologists discover a cave painting drawn by some primitive man, I bet they have to use bleach or something, because there's no way that regular detergent is getting that stuff off.

If I may use an analogy; life is like a big thing that spins around really fast or something. I don't know. I'm really bad at analogies.

If you love something, set it free. Just make sure you are not near a freeway or anything.

Sometimes, I play a little trick on people that makes them really mad. I call it "Whack with a garden shovel." Well, it's not really a trick. It's just a whack with a shovel.

If you are searching desperately for the meaning of life, try the floor of my car, because there's a lot of crap down there.

A fun word I like to say is "mucus." Go ahead, try it. Mucus, mucus, mucus. See, I told you.

I think a great name to have would be Hans. Then if someone asked you your name, you could just hold up your hands. Then they would say, "Ten?" Then you would shake your head no. People are stupid sometimes.

I like to call my pillow "Muchacho," because he's my friend. He's my Mexican pillow friend, Muchacho. Hola, Muchacho.

"If you're looking for sympathy, you'll find it between suicide and syphilis in the dictionary."

Not sure who said it first, but I heard a vet say it was a popular saying in his combat outfit during WWII.

Quote from: Mrs. Waffles on Sep 23, 2023, 04:59 PMHahaha yes, I love Jack Handey so much.

"Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes."

LOL - that may be my favorite one, Mrs. Waffles.   :laughing:

"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate.  And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it."  -  Jack Handey   ;)

Obfuscate & obsequious.

Two of my favorite words beginning with the letter 'O.'

If we're talking O words, my favorite is "ostensibly".

Quote from: Mrs. Waffles on Sep 24, 2023, 04:39 PMIf we're talking O words, my favorite is "ostensibly".

That's a good one.

"Ostentatious" is another one I like.

Ominous

oblique
opalescent
ocarina

Obelisk

owlish

^{(because it gives me an excuse to post this  8))}
(https://www.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/Spotted-Owlet_DSC4954_Delhi-Apr-2019-1160x770.jpg)

Quote from: Guybrush on Sep 21, 2023, 06:48 AMThanks, Lisna! You've cleared up a mystery for me, which is the title of Supergrass' debut album.

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f0/I_Should_Coco.jpg)

That's certainly an enigmatic album title! I listened to a track of theirs: Alright, which kind of fits: young, eclectic, English fun.
Frankie Howerd used the expression with an outraged tone, to mean,"I would never do that!": "Pay $100 for a sandwich? I should coco!"

Quote from: Psy-Fi on Sep 19, 2023, 05:18 PM

Soft Language - George Carlin

That's an accurate observation from George Carlin, psy-fi. TBH, I don't read Shakespeare for pleasure, but buried in his plays are some great examples of plain words and clear images (in the style of Carlin's starting point:"shell shock"):-

- vanish into thin air
- make your hair stand on end
- cry "havoc!" and let lose the dogs of war
- Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it
- Lend me your ears
-if music be the food of love, play on
-Infected minds to their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets

"Deaf pillows" is so good, and who amongst us has not told a secret or two to our pillows ?

Quote from: ribbons on Sep 21, 2023, 05:50 PMA little lagniappe here:

^ Well, that was a word I had to look up, ribbons !! :)

^ ;) It was a word my mother used from time to time, Lisna.  She's been on my mind lately as her birthday just passed.  When I was a child and she gave me candy or some treat she'd say, "There's your lagniappe."   

^ Haha! It sounds to me that your mum was passing on to you a piece of language that she particularly wanted you to have. With my son, I did the same with the phrase, "diddled, dished, and done" which I would use whenever I could, certain that if he didn't learn it from me, he wouldn't learn it at all.

I'm sorry I haven't responded to your post until now, ribbons, but I was suddenly prompted by reading this in a book about New Orleans yesterday:

QuoteI have no documentation of when the word lagniappe first came into use in New Orleans, but it was very likely during the Spanish colonial era...The word is used in New Orleans, and, in its Spanish form, throughout the Hispanic world. In Colombia, you might hear a salsa band's encore tune referred to as la ñapa. The word comes into Spanish from Quechua, the indigenous Andean language: yapa, hispanicized to ñapa, which, with the Spanish article, becomes la ñapa, which in Louisiana became creolized to lagniappe. It might have travelled from Peru to Louisiana any way that silver did.

Well done, your mom, for giving you a small linguistic fruit that comes from such a long genalogical tree !

Quote from: Mrs. Waffles on Sep 21, 2023, 12:35 AMOf all their characters, Snagglepuss seemed to have the most vocal idiosyncrasies. Heavens to Murgatroyd! Exit stage left! It's (blank), (blank) even! Love it.

Did you not notice that half of it's lavender slang?  I look at Snagglepuss like a more daring Paul Lynde, and straight people didn't get that either!

Quote from: larsvsnapster on Nov 23, 2023, 04:14 PMDid you not notice that half of it's lavender slang?  I look at Snagglepuss like a more daring Paul Lynde, and straight people didn't get that either!

Of course! Well not when I was super young, but as soon as I became aware of gay culture I certainly recognized it. I was a teenager in the 2000s when there was a sizable "so-and-so cartoon character is gay" discourse among a lot of conservative-leaning media, and he was kind of a go-to reference for a lot of that.

Quote from: Mrs. Waffles on Nov 23, 2023, 06:16 PMOf course! Well not when I was super young, but as soon as I became aware of gay culture I certainly recognized it. I was a teenager in the 2000s when there was a sizable "so-and-so cartoon character is gay" discourse among a lot of conservative-leaning media, and he was kind of a go-to reference for a lot of that.

There were two from Paul Lynde that I can't believe made it to air, but the straight people didn't notice:

Peter Marshall:  A little what is a dangerous thing?
Paul Lynde:  A little pervert.

Peter Marshall:  Who's better looking?  A fairy or a pixie?
Paul Lynde:  (Butchly) Looks aren't everything!  (after much deliberation and moxie building) I'll .... I'll go for the fairy!

I'm going to have to find Hanna Barbera's 60's album of The Wizard of Oz (Here it is (https://www.discogs.com/master/737991-Snagglepuss-Snagglepuss-Tells-The-Story-Of-The-Wizard-Of-Oz)) because I could have sworn there was something on it that was in the double and triple entendre direction, although I haven't heard it in 50 years.

Red-hot news in the world of words:-

QuoteMerriam-Webster's word of the year is "authentic."

The online dictionary says there has been a high volume of searches for the word's definition for several years, but 2023 saw a "substantial increase," thanks to "stories and conversations about AI, celebrity culture, identity, and social media."

The reason so many look it up is because "authentic" has several meanings, according to the announcement on the dictionary's website, including "not false or imitation" and "true to one's own personality, spirit, or character."

The dictionary said it has also been a term favored by celebrities like singers Lainey Wilson, Sam Smith and Taylor Swift, who have all made headlines this year with statements about seeking their "authentic voice" and "authentic self." Another fan is Elon Musk, who has previously said that people should be more "authentic" on social media. However, that became more of an issue earlier this year when Musk, as the new boss of Twitter, now X, got rid of the trademark blue check sign of authenticity - now only available at a price.

The rise of artificial intelligence has blurred the lines between what is real and what is not, leaving celebrities, brands and social media influencers - among others - keen to prove their authenticity.

One of the other words to stand out in searches this year, according to the dictionary, was the closely related "deepfake." This is defined by Merriam-Webster as "an image or recording that has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said."

In 2022, Merriam-Webster chose "gaslighting" as its word of the year, saying it had become a ubiquitous term in the "age of misinformation."

Other words that led much traffic to the online dictionary in 2023 included coronation, dystopian, indict and doppelgänger.

Meanwhile "rizz" went straight to the "top of lookups" in September, when the example of internet-driven slang was added to the dictionary.
For the uninitiated, Merriam-Webster explained: "As a noun, rizz means 'romantic appeal or charm' (as in 'a bro who has rizz'); as a verb (typically used with up, as in 'rizz up that cutie') it means 'to charm or seduce.'"

Here's a good quote from Mahatma Gandhi:


It occurred to me this morning as I was thinking about a conversation I had here with Toy Revolver some time ago: he'd been explaining to me his position, that everybody should be entitled to own a house or apartment, but not one of excessive size.

Time to come back, Toy Revolver, aka OH, our guru, our Gandhi !

My geography teacher had a poster with that on at the front of the classroom. I remember it well.

She also had one saying "Apathy is not an option" and from the back of the class it looked like Roathy is not an option and I wondered what roathy meant.

Quote from: jimmy jazz on Mar 17, 2024, 03:45 PMShe also had one saying "Apathy is not an option" and from the back of the class it looked like Roathy is not an option and I wondered what roathy meant.

:laughing:  I don't know what it means either, but I'm prepared to accept your teacher's advice: that it's not an option!

Anaïs Nin was many things, including a great journal writer. She wrote a bunch of not-for-publication journals in her lifetime, yet they contain some beautiful imo writing. These two quotes are within a couple of pages of each other, from the journal she was writing during one of the happiest periods of her life:-

AN on happiness:

QuoteWhat can I do with my happiness? How can I keep it, conceal it, bury it where I may never lose it?
I want to kneel as it falls over me like rain, gather it up with lace and silk, and press it to myself again.

AN on life and literature:

QuoteWe talked about the trick of literature in eliminating the unessential, so that we are given a concentrated dose of life. It's a deception and the cause of much disappointment. One reads books and expects life to be just as full of interest and intensity. And, of course, it isn't so. There are many dull moments in between.

She does something I really like: writes in 1931 in a voice that could almost be from yesterday. 

(https://i.ibb.co/5kR1Ctj/1000001920.jpg)

@Lisnaholic

sorry about that lol
didnt see this thread

^ No probs, Quantum S ! That's a good, uplifting quote for everyone.

I only once dipped into Marcus Aurelius' famous book, but I bet it's full of quotable lines. Even less have I ever explored medieval Afghan poets - but I recently read a book where the author had done the work for me, because she put, right on the opening page of her memoir, the following quote:-


- that's apparently from Rumi (or full name, Jalal Al Din Muhammad Rumi) and for me, it reminds us that painful experiences are often the ones that we learn from most. 

Speaking of words that can only be used in one context, here are a few more:
Budge: Budge is never used in any way but negative - can't budge, won't budge, wouldn't budge etc. You never hear someone say "It was in my way but it budged when I pushed it" or "I'm gonna budge this a little so I can sit down". The only way this word flies otherwise is if you stick an "i" in before the "e", but that's another story.

Ruthless: has anyone ever been treated ruthfully? Yes, again you can pop "t" in front of it but again that changes the meaning entirely. Who has ruth, and why are we all missing it, being ruthless. Who is Ruth anyway? Bored, enquiring minds want to know!

Trove: Never in the entire history of human experience has this word ever been used other than in concert with "treasure". I don't even know quite what it means. Perhaps a collection, an amalgamation? Not be confused with the Cyndi Lauper song "I Trove All Night", which has to do, I think, with her digging for treasure way after dark.

Keen!

Another word like that is "feckless," which TH has used on the forum before.

The comic book character Groo the Wanderer famously said, "I am not feckless! I have plenty of feck!" :)

Similarly, an anecdotal story I once heard about a guy who hadn't the best English (may have been German, not sure) when angry about how people called him ignorant snarled: "You people think I know fuck nothing! But I know fuck all!"  :laughing:  :laughing:

Quote from: Lisnaholic on Dec 20, 2024, 04:53 PM^ No probs, Quantum S ! That's a good, uplifting quote for everyone.

I only once dipped into Marcus Aurelius' famous book, but I bet it's full of quotable lines. Even less have I ever explored medieval Afghan poets - but I recently read a book where the author had done the work for me, because she put, right on the opening page of her memoir, the following quote:-

"The wound is the place where the light enters."

- that's apparently from Rumi (or full name, Jalal Al Din Muhammad Rumi) and for me, it reminds us that painful experiences are often the ones that we learn from most. 

I bought the meditations book recently. Read book one and it's really nice

I hope it's ok if I copy this conversation from the "Annoying Things" thread, because the discussion swung round to things we like about language: 

Quote from: Buck_Mulligan on Mar 03, 2025, 09:33 PMAs a native Dubliner I don't dislike Dublin expressions or pronunciations at all. I mostly find them amusing, such as:
sending the childer to sku-al.

Quote from: Trollheart on Mar 03, 2025, 10:03 PMAh yeah they're great. I love the way we say "I got drowneded" and I'm pretty sure the phrase "Driving me up the wall" is unique to Ireland? My brother told me when he was in Boston he was trying to explain the concept of "yer man" and nobody could understand. They kept saying "but why is he MY man?" Some things just don't translate: yer man knows what I mean, wot? So does yer wan.

Quote from: Marie Monday on Mar 03, 2025, 11:19 PM'driving me up the wall' is not unique to ireland at all lol

Quote from: degrassi.knoll on Mar 03, 2025, 11:57 PMI adore "yer man" and try to incorporate it into my vernacular often.

^ I also really like "yer man". I love the way it seems to subtly pass on a responsibilty to the person you say it to - or at least that's my understanding:
"Now, yer man Bill Clinton would have..." and I am now answerable for anything Bill Clinton has done.

Other language out of Ireland that I love: in the book The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, a tenant in a Dublin boarding house is threatened with eviction by her landlord:
 "You'll be out, Miss Hearne, bag and baggage!"

And a phrase I've heard on Derry Girls, which is a wonderful sitcom set in Derry/Londonderry, in Northern Ireland: Catch yerself on!
It seems to mean; "You're deceiving yourself with ideas that are too ambitious" or "Don't give yourself airs!"
The accents and the political situation might be an obstacle at first, but Derry Girls is a really funny program, chiefly about the dramas that go with mid-teen childhood. Highly recommended.

I love this German quotation that William S Burroughs put in Naked Lunch.  jeder mAcht eine klien dummheit.  "Everyone makes a little dumbness".  It's great as a put down,  or for self depreciation   

That Derry Girls phrase had to be adapted for an international audience, otherwise it would make even less sense. The original is "cop on" or 'cop yourself on".

Another one is the milder version of F*** off.
If you were winding me up, and I was getting mildly irritated, I might say "Ah wouldya Feck off outta dat".

We also used cop-on in this sense: "Why don't you just go down to the Belcamp (pub) and ask the barman for a large bottle of Cop-on!"  :laughing:

I must say, I love the Northern Irish greeting "What about ye?" It sounds both dismissive and sort of confrontational at once, but all it means is "how's it goin'?"