Perpendiculous Programming, Personal Finance, and Personal musings

2008.05.12

no entiendo

Filed under: Personal — cwright @ 4:18 pm

`Then you should say what you mean,’ the March Hare went on.
`I do,’ Alice hastily replied; `at least–at least I mean what I say–that’s the same thing, you know.’
`Not the same thing a bit!’ said the Hatter. `You might just as well say that “I see what I eat” is the same thing as “I eat what I see”!’
`You might just as well say,’ added the March Hare, `that “I like what I get” is the same thing as “I get what I like”!’

Peers often confuse me by what they say. I suppose I’m guilty of it too, since I exaggerate often and am generally pretty sarcastic, though I’d like to think I make an effort to be properly understood (misunderstanding is worse than not understanding).

In a recent discussion with Red Head, E’s suggestion was brought up. Her (RH’s) sentiments were as follows:

“E is crazy (unless couchmate is fantastic, and then E isn’t crazy)”

To a simple man such as myself, this reads as though “the person for me” should be “fantastic.”

At other times, the phrase “great” is used as an adjective associated with my person or my qualities (I feel this is an overstatement, and don’t say it to indicate superiority or delusions of grandeur.) Typical usage is “You’re a great guy” (often used when in the Friend Zone), or “You have such great qualities” (sometimes qualities is more informative and specific).

I guess I viciously doubt this simply because such claimed ‘greatness’ goes largely without manifestation. As such, I generally feel that I am of a much more average character, with more average qualities. I don’t understand why people say these things. The cynic in me presumes that its a self-esteem-building exercise.

it makes me often wonder why people spend the effort to say what they don’t mean, or why they don’t say what they do mean… I wish I could understand. Or, perhaps, I wish I didn’t feel like I needed to…

1 Comment »

  1. I gave a presentation on this passage from Alice in Wonderland as an example of Lewis Carroll’s logic games when I was in Germany and taking a class on classic children’s literature.

    Comment by Beth — 2008.05.12 @ 9:50 pm

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