Author Topic: In the New Yorker...  (Read 1921350 times)

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #560 on: October 11, 2012, 07:52:23 am »
Gee, I have homely phrases (homilies?) aplenty but no one wants to interview me! One I have started using lately is "up the yin yang" and I can't seem to quit myself of it.

I have tried to not verbize nouns and hold back the tide. Was thinking that one of the earliest instances of verbizing was when Richard Harris sang "Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for happy-ever-aftering, here in Camelot." Anyone recall an earlier example?
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Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #561 on: October 11, 2012, 09:13:32 am »
When you say "homely," which definition do you mean? I think, arguably, it's both.

home·ly/ˈhōmlē/
Adjective:   

    (of a person) Unattractive in appearance.
    (of a place or surroundings) Simple but cozy and comfortable, as in one's own home.

I don't find it unattractive, just very old-fashioned and surprising in an Englishwoman (she lives in Scotland now but she was raised in the West of England, near Bristol) who is younger than I am.

Gee, I have homely phrases (homilies?) aplenty but no one wants to interview me! One I have started using lately is "up the yin yang" and I can't seem to quit myself of it.

Try harder. Maybe put a dollar in a coffee can or something every time you use it. That phrase isn't homely; yin-yang is just a euphemism for anus.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline serious crayons

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #562 on: October 11, 2012, 07:29:27 pm »
I have tried to not verbize nouns and hold back the tide. Was thinking that one of the earliest instances of verbizing was when Richard Harris sang "Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for happy-ever-aftering, here in Camelot." Anyone recall an earlier example?

I don't know any offhand, but I'd be surprised if earlier word-playing songwriters like Cole Porter hadn't verbized.


I don't find it unattractive, just very old-fashioned and surprising in an Englishwoman (she lives in Scotland now but she was raised in the West of England, near Bristol) who is younger than I am.

Those Brits have all kinds of homely sayings. I work with a man who's my age but British, and he spouts lots of funny ones.

One thing he says a lot is "a shed load," to indicate mass quantities. I've often wondered if he's actually unintentionally misusing a cruder Americanism that he misheard.

Quote
Try harder. Maybe put a dollar in a coffee can or something every time you use it. That phrase isn't homely; yin-yang is just a euphemism for anus.

You can't judge a homely euphemism entirely by what it's euphemizing; "Jiminy Cricket" and "dad blast it" are pretty homely.



Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #563 on: October 11, 2012, 07:39:19 pm »

One thing he says a lot is "a shed load," to indicate mass quantities. I've often wondered if he's actually unintentionally misusing a cruder Americanism that he misheard.


This reminds me of the scene where Meryl Streep in her Academy Award winning role in Sophie's Choice admired Kevin Kline's "cocksucker" (instead of seersucker) suit.
"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline serious crayons

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #564 on: October 22, 2012, 11:17:22 am »
I'm about midway through the article on microbes in the Oct. 22 issue. Fascinating!  :o :)


Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #565 on: October 22, 2012, 11:40:40 am »
I'm even further behind than I usually am. I took an issue with me on my ramble and then didn't even open it.  :-\
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #566 on: October 24, 2012, 08:36:35 pm »
Well, I think I've achieved a new personal record: I now have four issues of The New Yorker "on the go" at once.  ;D
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline serious crayons

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #567 on: November 11, 2012, 02:10:30 am »
Alex Ross' Nov. 12 piece about the political evolution of the gay community is riveting.


Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #568 on: November 11, 2012, 02:28:26 am »
Alex Ross' Nov. 12 piece about the political evolution of the gay community is riveting.

Absolutely. As soon as that issue arrived and I saw that article, I dropped all my other New Yorkers to read it.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #569 on: November 12, 2012, 10:44:32 pm »
I am pretty behind on my New Yorker reading, but not hopelessly. Recently I reread the fiction "The Semplica Girl Diaries" by George Saunders. It is haunting and grows on you. It's a diary written by a well meaning but financially strapped dad and is set in the near future, so it's a little sci-fi. Anybody else read it?
"chewing gum and duct tape"