Monday, March 27, 2006

Sucat, his eyes uncovered!

You know, that puts the bow on the package.

Too right, I’m on it like a duck on a June bug.

Naw, that dog won’t hunt! We need to ripen that avocado.

That’s only because he’s all hat and no cattle.

He’s not playing with a full deck ‘cause he’s one can short of a six pack.

I agree, it’s like herding cats.

OK, let’s put that idea in the parking lot and check the expiration date in a few weeks.

Meeting adjourned!

What meeting? Did something go on here I missed? Ducks and cats and dogs and June bugs? What kind of meeting was that, Future Farmers of America? How come I didn’t get the memo? I didn’t even have my boots on.

I started listening to what people actually say recently and I’m amazed at how much we rely on metaphors. The Star Trek – Next Generation episode, “Darmok”, in which the Tamarians communicated entirely in metaphors, illustrated the most extreme example of that.

Why was that so difficult to figure out?

Temba, his arms wide.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Go find the website for the books "Green Weenies"... it's a collection of all the brilliant sayings the consulting industry has added to our daily jargon.

(Well, inside Corporate America at least.)

Ugh.

And? Your lack of planning does not constitute my fire drill. Amen.

Foo said...

When I read this, I only vaguely recalled the episode you're talking about. In case there are others like me, not gifted with eidetic memory, I'd like to share this article on Wikipedia.

meg said...

As a professional metaphor-wrangler, it looks like job security to me.

The Navajo language is nearly as metaphorical as that in "Darmok." We studied it in a linguistics class back in school, until our heads exploded.