Our vanishing language
The bus strike is over, but it will be weeks before we are back to normal. I was getting ready to drive Dean and Emma in today, grumbling about how hard it is to coordinate all the comings and goings.
Emma: "'Cause you're still the chauffeur, eh, Mom?"
Me: "Yes, yes, I'm still the beast of burden!"
Emma: "Awwww...you're not a burden to us!"
Aaaarrrgghh! My own daughter doesn't know this simple figure of speech! I don't know which was worse, discovering this gap in her knowledge of English, or having to explain my punchline. Grousing isn't much fun if you have to explain your gripe to the audience!
Emma: "'Cause you're still the chauffeur, eh, Mom?"
Me: "Yes, yes, I'm still the beast of burden!"
Emma: "Awwww...you're not a burden to us!"
Aaaarrrgghh! My own daughter doesn't know this simple figure of speech! I don't know which was worse, discovering this gap in her knowledge of English, or having to explain my punchline. Grousing isn't much fun if you have to explain your gripe to the audience!
posted by Dr. Mabuse at 2/05/2009 12:20:00 pm
3 Comments:
"You're not a burden to us!"
The meaning is inverted... maybe she was being a wisenheimer intentionally?
No, no, she's too ingenuous for that - she thought I was being self-deprecating, and wanted to reassure me!
Maybe it's part of the Aspergers - she's very literal, and so figures of speech like that don't necessarily click?
Tell her to start listening to more Rolling Stones... :-p
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