Yes, it has been a good week for quotations, particularly those that are about language or teaching or teaching language. As a word nerd who likes to give a lot of attention to coincidence, I like that this amusing word week started with my birthday.
I was playing a game called Faux-Cabulary, which is kind of like a cross between Balderdash and Cards Against Humanity. You use cubes with different roots and prefixes and suffixes to form fake words in attempt to be the best match for a fake definitions, such as “The inability to predict which way the football will bounce.” This game led to the moral (which will one-day become a well-known platitude, yes?):
“Sometimes you can beat elephant poop.”
The others sprang up in different conversations and contexts over the week, and I know there were several more fun witticisms from me and others, but there are the ones I wrote down.
About Freud
“If you ask me (which no one does), ‘anal retentive’ just sounds like a fancy term for ‘constipated’, which is just a fancy word for ‘plugged’.”
To a student of mine
“I’m sorry, but I have no idea high ‘freakin’ baller!’ is on the taxonomy of values.”
About miscommunicated acronyms
“Yes, I’m an English teacher: POS means ‘Parts of Speech,’ and IPA means ‘International Phonetic Alphabet’.”
To me and about my teaching
“That book was a total hero’s journey, and the only reason I know that is because of you.”
From the author Aaron Michael Ritchey about my tagline
“May your travels be memorable, and your adventures unbelievable…” Mike Jack S – I love that. It’s on Mike Jack Stoumbos’s business card.”
This may seem totally self-indulgent, but then again, it’s my blog, and I love giving my opinion in asides and witticisms. To end the quote series I quote Frasier:
“When I can’t give an opinion, you may as well call the coroner, tag my toe, I’m dead.”
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