how words work
$Zero
forming thoughts in your head.
(your head is that dreary heavy meaty thing bobbling about on your
neck).
anyway, the way words work is kinda mysterious.
nouns and verbs and whatnot.
tone.
timing.
inflection.
context.
perspective and experience.
misinterpretation.
it's all so chaotic.
and yet, when we as writers/speakers really try hard, we can somehow
make some sort of mostly universally understood sense using words.
actually, we don't always have to try hard to make sense.
it often comes naturally.
like a dog's bark.
or a bird's chirp.
or a movie-goer's laugh.
all of these noises are words as well.
(albeit hard to spell).
anyway, if you randomly string several nouns together you have the
basis for a story.
for instance, think of five to ten nouns off the top of your head.
write them down.
ask someone else to think up five to ten verbs (without showing them
your list).
then give each other a copy of your respective lists and both of you
independently write up a very short story using those nouns and verbs.
read the two results.
that's how words work.
your mind does most of the work.
if you call that work.
-$Zero...
why titles matter
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.writing/msg/e63d3cb1d569364a
Bill Penrose
> anyway, the way words work is kinda mysterious.
A friend of mine was injured in a volcanic explosion. A rock embedded
in the left side of his head, damaging the Broca's Area, where speech
is controlled. For the next year, he was unable to call up certain
words when he needed them. He could think of synonyms, or he might try
to define the word he meant. This could get frustrating, because
sometimes the words he needed to define the first term might not
appear.
If you suggested the correct word to him, he didn't understand,
although his understanding of speech was normal.
Frex (not an actual conversation, but an approximation of what it was
like):
"I am a citizen of the United...um...you know, the place in America."
"'States', you mean the word 'States'. 'United States' "
(Thinking...) "Maybe. That word means nothing to me."
On the other hand, if he heard the expression 'United States' in
context, he knew what it meant. It was only when forming speech that
he couldn't summon certain words.
Inside of a year, he had either relearned or regained most of the
missing words.
Words have odd powers, it's true, but what's even odder is what goes
on in our heads when we use them.
DB
$Zero
> On Nov 23, 11:16 am, "$Zero" <zeroi...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > anyway, the way words work is kinda mysterious.
>
> A friend of mine was injured in a volcanic explosion.
pretty lucky friend to be merely injured by a volcanic eruption, no?
unless he was really far away, in which case i would call that very
bad luck.
> A rock embedded
> in the left side of his head, damaging the Broca's Area, where speech
> is controlled. For the next year, he was unable to call up certain
> words when he needed them. He could think of synonyms, or he might try
> to define the word he meant. This could get frustrating, because
> sometimes the words he needed to define the first term might not
> appear.
>
> If you suggested the correct word to him, he didn't understand,
> although his understanding of speech was normal.
>
> Frex (not an actual conversation, but an approximation of what it was
> like):
>
> "I am a citizen of the United...um...you know, the place in America."
>
> "'States', you mean the word 'States'. 'United States' "
me wonders if W has been around lots of volcanoes.
> (Thinking...) "Maybe. That word means nothing to me."
are there volcanoes in Texas?
maybe in Connecticut?
> On the other hand, if he heard the expression 'United States' in
> context, he knew what it meant.
oh, nevermind.
it must not be volcanoes then.
> It was only when forming speech that
> he couldn't summon certain words.
>
> Inside of a year, he had either relearned or regained most of the
> missing words.
definitely not volcanoes.
> Words have odd powers, it's true, but what's even odder is what goes
> on in our heads when we use them.
you mean like on a brain scan machine?
does it look like R.E.M. when we're using words and mostly flat-lining
when we're not?
that'd be fun to watch.
not for everyone, though.
i'd imagine there's a few constant flat-liners amongst some of the
posters here, for instance.
if their posts are any indication, anyway.
-$Zero...
POLL -- how good is your attitude?
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.writing/msg/759b87db1dbf9ff5
boots
> A rock embedded
>in the left side of his head, damaging the Broca's Area, where speech
>is controlled. For the next year, he was unable to call up certain
>words when he needed them. He could think of synonyms, or he might try
>to define the word he meant. This could get frustrating, because
>sometimes the words he needed to define the first term might not
>appear.
Fucksake I didn't feel a thing, I thought I was just getting older
than hell.
--
Don't read this crap... oops, too late!
[superstitious heathen grade 8]
Bill Penrose
> pretty lucky friend to be merely injured by a volcanic eruption, no?
>
> unless he was really far away, in which case i would call that very
> bad luck.
His companions didn't make it.
"Surviving Galeras" by Stanley Williams and Fen Montaigne, listed in
Amazon and found in many libraries. Montaigne was his ghost writer (I
think Stan was still having trouble with words when the book was
written.)
Also, the heavily biased article at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galeras
A muckraking journalist, Victoria Bruce, wrote another book that
'attempted to fix the 'blame' on Williams. In fact, he took the group
up the mountain at the urging of the ones who were killed.
Vulcanologists are basically adrenaline junkies. In any case, the
event did no harm to his reputation among other vulcanologists
DB
uncle ted
>Bill Penrose <danger...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> A rock embedded
>>in the left side of his head, damaging the Broca's Area, where speech
>>is controlled. For the next year, he was unable to call up certain
>>words when he needed them. He could think of synonyms, or he might try
>>to define the word he meant. This could get frustrating, because
>>sometimes the words he needed to define the first term might not
>>appear.
>
>Fucksake I didn't feel a thing, I thought I was just getting older
>than hell.
Yaknow, you're boring as hell. Old, too.
boots
Thank you dunfock.