Blindspots And The Appliance Of Language
One of sixteen vestal virgins
who were leaving for the coast
and we called out for another drink
but the waiter brought me toast.
There are some songs to which I will never remember the lyrics . Just like there are some actors whose (whom’s, surely?) names I get mixed up.
The trouble with blind spots is the more you get it wrong, the bigger the deal it becomes and the more you think you might get it wrong so you do. It’s like the whole pipes thing.
I mix up the words dishwasher and washing machine. It’s a butter-side-down thing because every time I get it wrong, that’s what sticks in my mind, so it seems like I get it wrong most of the time. With that in mind, I can be standing there with armfuls of dirty clothes and say to her indoors (what? I’m indoors, too):
“Has the, um (Think. It washes your clothes. That kind of washer. Thatwasher.) -DISHwasher (fuck.) been on?”
And I know it’s wrong, too. As I hear myself say it, it comes out stupid. Technically, a dishwasher is also a washing machine as well. I’m sure it would be easier for me if they just called it a clotheswasher.
I mean I don’t get bread machine and answering machine mixed up, but I would if the bread machine was just called a “machine”.
June 13th, 2007 at 7:43 am
Use ‘machine’ instead, for both. If you are standing indoors in view of your wife while carrying a load of laundry, she will implicitly pick up that you are talking about the washing. If, on the other hand, you are headed for the kitchen , or in the kitchen, and perhaps have a dirty dish in your hand, then she will intuitively know that you are referring to the dish washing machine.
Ah, yes, the appliance of language.
June 13th, 2007 at 9:21 am
I think that an additional layer of abstraction would work well here. If you’ve got an armful of clothes or dishes, you can just say “Has the (waggle your payload) washer been on?” and let context do the rest.
Or get rid of the dishwasher.
June 13th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Ah haha! Whilst living in London I always got “the washing up” (aka in American: doing the dishes) mixed up with washing clothes. Even though there’s no mention of a ‘machine’ at all, I still automatically thought “We just had dinner, why are they talking about doing laundry?” Then when I was properly assimilated, I went back to the States and confused the crap outta everyone.
June 13th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
I read the first two lines of that wee poem and thought the end was going to be “how many were orgying in St. Ives?”
Now THAT’S a riddle…
June 14th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
We call ours a ‘Wish-Dosher’ and we live in hope that one day it will ‘dosh wishes’… *sigh*