A new year of blog writing beckons; and we’re
off…
Ever heard that expression, “Don’t look at me
in that tone of voice”? A long-winded
oxymoron perhaps? An oxymoron, by
definition, is essentially where two words, that are the opposite of each other,
can be used for the purpose of emphasis; at least that is my take on it.
During my recent annual Holiday
correspondence with friends old and new I had an interesting experience. It was also a good reminder of another phrase
oft heard in my days, "Perception is
reality", which could mean something along the lines of, that which one perceives to be true; one believes to be true. This is often the case whether it is real or
not. Example; a guy walks in to a
restaurant and orders a steak and kidley pie.
The server says, “Steak and kidley!
Do you mean steak and kidney, sir?” and the guy replies, “That’s what I
said diddle I?” Or perhaps the lonely
traveller that stops at a wayside inn for the night and is enjoying a glass of
ale at the lounge bar of the inn. There,
in front of the roaring fire, is the innkeeper’s dog, a handsome St. Bernard
that is curiously licking away at his canine genitals. The traveller turns to the inn-keeper and
says, jokingly, “I wish I could do that.”
To which the innkeeper replies, with a serious look on his face, “He’s a
good dog; if you give him a biscuit, he’ll let you.”
Where am I going with this? With the spoken word, the chance of creating
a misunderstanding in the message is quite small; above example accepted. But the chance is much greater with the written
word; such as an email or even this blog.
An old friend of mine and I were recently catching up with each other
after about a year and somehow each other’s message got misinterpreted. I had unintentionally offended my old friend,
and in turn I felt offended also.
Words. How carefully one must use
them, yet how poorly one does at times; albeit unintentionally. I am pleased to say that I believe it all
worked out okay with my dear old friend of many years.
Words.
So if we now know what an oxymoron is, the question that begs would be: What, exactly, is a metaphor and analogy? I could be wrong, but as I see it…
Metaphor is just a figurative use of terms,
in the context to which, they are not literally applicable; whereas analogy
would be some sort of pesky noun that makes you itch and sneeze.
Happy New Year! I promise to work harder with my words!
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