The Joys of Language: favourite quotes, etc.

[ribbons]

@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.   

[ribbons]

A little lagniappe here:

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

[Lexi Darling]

A little lagniappe here:

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

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."

[TheBig3]

"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.

[innerspaceboy]

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."

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.

[Psy-Fi]

"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.

[ribbons]

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."

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

"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   

[Psy-Fi]

Obfuscate & obsequious.

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

[Lexi Darling]

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

[Psy-Fi]

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

That's a good one.

"Ostentatious" is another one I like.

[Marie Monday]

Ominous

[ribbons]

oblique
opalescent
ocarina

[Marie Monday]

Obelisk

[ribbons]

owlish

^{(because it gives me an excuse to post this  )}

[Lisnaholic]

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

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!"

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 ?

A little lagniappe here:

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