So I'm sitting here working on the wonky-but-sincere blanket listening to a Wisconsin Timber Rattlers minor league baseball game on AM radio when I hear this sentence:
"I bet you still got splinters from ridin' the pine in t-ball".
I don't know why it struck me tonight since it's part of an advert that comes on about 10000000 times during any given Timber Rattlers' game, but it did. What language IS that?!
Of course I fully understand that the frozen pizza making sponsor of Timber Rattlers' baseball was razzing his colleague/brother about his lack of skills in the game of baseball being such that, as a child, he didn't get to participate in the baseball games played by the league for kids 8 year olds and younger. But think for a minute how much other background information one needs to have in order for that sentence to have any meaning what so ever.
I have a lot of international friends who speak English fluently, FLUENTLY, who would have absolutely no clue what that pizza guy was trying to say. In fact my British friends wouldn't get it.
Kinda makes me wonder how many times in the past 8 years someone has dissed me with the Italian version of a ridin'-the-pine insult and I didn't even know it.
On a related but tangential note...today one of my non-mother-tongue-english speaking friends asked me the definition of the word "corny". I said "cheesy". That cleared everything up.
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Hi Lynn,
ReplyDeleteI am sitting here literally laughing out loud. I am sitting here on a ship surrounded by people from 54 or more nations (that's the average number of different crew nationalities we have on board at any one time) and I have the same experiences. At least once a day I explan to someone, often my Norwegian born husband, what "right on," "suck it up," "pulling my leg," and other short phrases we take for granted mean.
Sure, "cheesy" was a great answer. :))
Is this all a hoot or what?
Best,
Lois
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI just checked into your blog again and it appears the first post I left isn't there, but my correction to my spelling error is there. If I am messing up your comments section, I am terribly sorry. Here is the comment I left to your current post:
Hi Lynn,
I am sitting here literally laughing out loud. I am sitting here on a ship surrounded by people from 54 or more nations (that's the average number of different crew nationalities we have on board at any one time) and I have the same experiences. At least once a day I explan to someone, often my Norwegian born husband, what "right on," "suck it up," "pulling my leg," and other short phrases we take for granted mean.
Sure, "cheesy" was a great answer. :))
Is this all a hoot or what?
Best,
Lois
Somewhere there is a book on Old Engligh and American euphamisms
ReplyDeletethat gives a completely logical explanation of all these wacky sayings. I'll try to dig it up.
Wayne (TFC)