Have I got an idea!
I tried this idea out on folk at Science Fiction and Other ODDysseys, but the response was ummm, not wholehearted. But I still think it's a worthwhile idea, so I'm trying again.
OVERHEARD, HALF-HEARD and MISHEARD ABSURDITIES
We've all walked in on a conversation at an inopportune moment, catching a bizarre phrase or sentence out of context. Or maybe we've misheard something that made us laugh.
For instance, at the writing conference I attended in October, I was walking in a group of people all headed for the door to go to the next session and I heard, "She's a cow," said in the most matter of fact tone. I figured out that what she really said was, "She's at Cal." My version was funnier.
A friend has been adopted by a homeless rooster that wandered into his yard one day and never left. I knew this, yet I didn't know he'd named it. I walked into the room to hear him talking to someone about Chicken Butt.
And kudos to a fellow staff writer, who had just been advised to trick his computer into doing what he wanted. Without skipping a beat, he said, "Computer, look, your shoe's untied." That wasn't half-heard, but it made me chuckle.
I'm seriously considering running a column for people to post their half-heard and misheard snatches of conversation. Go ahead and place your affirmative vote for such a column by adding a misheard or half-heard funny snippet to this post.
And I need to name said column. Suggestions welcome.
Visit SFOO for an interview with Jay Lake. And MostlyFiction Book reviews has my review of Brian D'Amato's In the Courts of the Sun.
I've also revamped my website and offered a no shipping deal on Awesome Lavratt. Check it out at annwilkes.com.
OVERHEARD, HALF-HEARD and MISHEARD ABSURDITIES
We've all walked in on a conversation at an inopportune moment, catching a bizarre phrase or sentence out of context. Or maybe we've misheard something that made us laugh.
For instance, at the writing conference I attended in October, I was walking in a group of people all headed for the door to go to the next session and I heard, "She's a cow," said in the most matter of fact tone. I figured out that what she really said was, "She's at Cal." My version was funnier.
A friend has been adopted by a homeless rooster that wandered into his yard one day and never left. I knew this, yet I didn't know he'd named it. I walked into the room to hear him talking to someone about Chicken Butt.
And kudos to a fellow staff writer, who had just been advised to trick his computer into doing what he wanted. Without skipping a beat, he said, "Computer, look, your shoe's untied." That wasn't half-heard, but it made me chuckle.
I'm seriously considering running a column for people to post their half-heard and misheard snatches of conversation. Go ahead and place your affirmative vote for such a column by adding a misheard or half-heard funny snippet to this post.
And I need to name said column. Suggestions welcome.
Visit SFOO for an interview with Jay Lake. And MostlyFiction Book reviews has my review of Brian D'Amato's In the Courts of the Sun.
I've also revamped my website and offered a no shipping deal on Awesome Lavratt. Check it out at annwilkes.com.
