I found the description of the book "Jewish as a Second Language" by Mollie Katz. Of course, Jewish isn't a language. The book's subtitle is "How to Worry, How to Interrupt and How to Say the Opposite of What You Mean". I am basically against worrying and I am pretty good at doing it minimally, partly because I am aware of how poor my record of prediction is. I have worried in the past, only to discover that I was spending lots of effort worrying about the wrong thing! Interrupt is a fairly hot topic with me. I reserve the right to speak when you are silent. It is not my fault if you "weren't finished". How about I use the chance to speak while you verbally reload?
I have observed that some smallish groups seem to be able to all speak at the same time and all hear what all the others are saying. Some groups seem to have a strong practice of not speaking when another is talking. Some don't.
But saying the opposite of what you mean is interesting. If you say "The sky looks umphie today," I may ask what you mean. You might explain that you accidentally swallowed your gum at that last word when you meant to say "ominous". Or, you might explain that you don't know of a more common word to describe your take on the sky and "umphie" just seems like a good term for now, while admitting that you have never heard of the term before and are in the dark as to its meaning. You and I may be present at the birth of one of those cute newborn words or we might find that one or the other of us can say or point to analogs or explanations of umphie.
What I find interesting is the ability we have to say one thing and mean another. You might say I am a really bad guy and mean that I am interesting and righteous and upright. You might have had a boyfriend who was really bad and that was really good.
It is not the saying the opposite that I am focused on but the fact that we often know what we mean, whether or not we say words that express what we mean. We know what we mean but where did we get that desire, the aim to state that particular meaning? Where do we hold the real meaning while using different terms and constructions and images to convey it? When we try to express ourselves but don't feel that we succeeded, we must have some way of knowing and remembering what we want to express. Since we can say the opposite or a toned-down version, we have a way of knowing and holding a meaning but it must not always be in words. What form is it in, then?
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
