Sunday, January 13, 2008

The Way Words Work

"A word is not the same with one writer as with another. One tears it from his guts. The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket." ~Charles Peguy

Today my brain is in a fuzz, because of all the writing-related stuff I have to do before the end of this month, so I thought I'd share these funny, very philosophical questions a friend emailed me. You've probably seen some of them in other places...but they're still worth a laugh. And they do make you wonder about how metaphors and idioms get formed, in this language!


How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?

Why do you have to "put your two cents in"... but it's only a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going to?

Why does a round pizza come in a square box?

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up like every two hours?

Why are you IN a movie, but you're ON TV?

Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binocularsto look at things on the ground?

Why is "bra" singular and "panties" plural?

Did you ever notice when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him for a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?

Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane ?

If the professor on Gilligan's Island can make a radio out of a coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat?

Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!

If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that ACME crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Why Do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?

Why did you just try singing the two songs above?

7 comments:

Dru said...

omg, and there I was singing both songs.

Those were all funny and good questions. Now I do want to know are there answers for each.

Marianne Arkins said...

LOL... I bet everyone sings the songs.

Have a good rest of the weekend!

Emma Sanders said...

LOL, those are perfect questions when you're brain is in a fog.

I also stopped by to tell you YOU'VE BEEN TAGGED! You have to list 7 things about yourself and tag 7 new people.

Please see my blog for details...

http://www.emmasanders.blogspot.com

windycindy said...

Thanks for the laughs! I needed them today! Have a great week.....Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com

Melissa Blue said...

"Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane ?

If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that ACME crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?"

These three killed me.

L. Lemanski said...

Ha! I love these. I was just asking the question about Twinkle Twinkle the other day . . .

Allie Boniface said...

Ha Ha...I sang them both too!