Print

Print


No one ever says, "I'll be right with you"--unless they won't, eh?

I understand that what they're really doing is recognising that I'm being 
get waiting and indicating, ritualistically, that they'd like to minimise 
the wait, so I resist responding, "No, you won't, or you wouldn't say it."

In Chinese, as I remember, the presence or absence of the question-particle 
(ma) tells you whether someone who asks, "How are you?" wants a ritual or 
real answer.  Gambits is the ESL term for such like, isn't it?  I remember 
standing at a bus stop in rural China, having just said "Ni hau" ("How are 
you?) to the others who were waiting, only to overhear one peasant say to 
another, "See, I told you foreigners always say, 'Ni hau.'"


At 04:55 PM 02/11/2006 -0330, you wrote:
>Roger Graves wrote:
>
>>I have been asked to participate on a radio show tomorrow in a segment on 
>>cliches in honor of National Cliche Day. Does anybody out there have any 
>>old chestnuts they would like to share? Any favourite student phrasings? 
>>I await your responses with baited breath.
>>
>>Roger Graves
>
>Have you ever noticed how people who start their stories with "To make a 
>long story short..." routinely fail to do so? That's a cliche with 
>irony...   To me, though, some of the most insidious and detestable 
>cliches are the relatively new ones born in political backchambers and 
>corporate boardrooms.  "Window of opportunity" comes to mind (and there 
>are lots more where that one comes from...)
>
>Ginny Ryan

                -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
  To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to
  [log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,
         write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask]

For the list archives and information about the organization,
    its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
              http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
                 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-