one of us used a euphemism, and that got us to discussing those handy little phrases we use to emphasize a point or illustrate a thought. There are many more I've heard, or even used, than I can recall on demand; but one or two are real favorites.
There's steed of a different hue, or horse of a different color if you prefer the standard version. Co-worker mentioned one I've used many times, when the fertilization material hits the ventilation device, in case you can't say when the S___T hits the fan because of the setting you're in. By the same token, one could say el toro do do instead of bull s__t.
I've always loved playing with words, so I'm a real fan of puns and have evoked groans in hordes of folks (usually one or two at a time). And I think there's nothing wrong with using a fancy word instead of a plain one, although I suppose it's poor taste to do it to show off your vocabulary. I've probably been guilty of that, but I didn't mean to be insulting.
Of course, plain or fancy, being able to use appropriate phrasing is a wonderful thing. A long time ago, a friend told me a story about a group of local people involved in agricultural studies following second world war. After watching the results of a particular experiment and hearing the group leader say it was quite a 'phenomenon', a farmer said, "That ain't no phenomenon; that's just a natural fact.' Even if he wasn't familiar with the bigger word, he understood it's meaning. That's cool.
No comments:
Post a Comment