04 October 2005

The English language


Now, don't get me wrong, I love English - I hardly ever even read books in Norwegian.. But sometimes I wonder... A typical (British, anyway) response to something like this (that I stole, of course):

- You do realise I despise you, and consider you pond scum. Well, lower actually. You're like the fungus that feeds on pond scum. No, lower. The pus that infects the mucus that cruds up the fungus that feeds on the pond scum.
- Yes, I appreciate that!

What's to appreciate...? Are we talking s & m here?
Or is this just, you know, like you say when someone has just broken their leg before their long-awaited summer holidays by the Mediterranean, and their friends remark 'how inconvenient'? And it's not inconvenient, it's f* horrible! Ok, inconvenient will suffice...

5 comments:

author said...

I love that!

It's like Woodhouse:
A: You DO get lost in theese hallways, don't you?
B: Yes, you DO, don't you?
A: Yes, you DO!

But I thought the word 'appreciate' didn't always necessarily mean "like" - but just as often it means I 'understand'.

Is it not so?

Anonymous said...

All right, Scholiast, some context here would help. Rarity is right, the recipient probably means they get the point, but in the right hands, well, it could be S&M...

What on earth are you reading?

Scholiast said...

I wasn't reading anything... The 'fungus' part is from My Best Friend's Wedding and the appreciation was mine.. I know full well what it actually means, I don't mind misinterpreting things on purpose from time to time, though ;)

Just D said...

uh, Huh?

Scholiast said...

"d" - I'm just fooling around with words, sort of like Wodehouse only not as eloquently. Yet ;)