Yes, correct pronunciation DOES matter

Posted on Posted in Uncategorized

Overheard on the way home this evening, 6th Ave and 54th:

“If he keeps up this pace, he’ll be comma toast by tomorrow.”

Sounds kinda tasty, actually. Comma toast. A healthy part of your grammatically correct breakfast.

62 Comments on “Yes, correct pronunciation DOES matter”

  1. Everyone doesn’t use right grammar, no-ways, right?

    Mmmm… garlic grammar toast? With comma cheese, please! 😀
    Posted by: Stephie-P

  5. No, I think it was supposed to be transcribed like this:

    “If he keeps up this pace, he’ll be, toast by tomorrow.”

    Wheeeee!
    Posted by: Norma

  6. No no, it’s:
    “If he keep’s up this pace, heel be comma toast . . . ”
    Posted by: David

  7. Heee!
    I like that better than “Where’s the meeting at?”
    Will somebody please get me the Hell out of Ohio!!
    Posted by: serena

  8. Maybe it was an accent?
    If not I’ll try to find it in my grocer’s freezer.
    Posted by: Christie

  9. haha, awesome. my favorite was hearing that someone was “waddling in his own misery”. mmm hmm.
    Posted by: erika

  10. Ugh. I don’t want to sound like an old fuddy duddy but I shudder to think of what will happen to the English language in a few more decades. Comma toast. Cut the mustard.
    Posted by: jodi

  12. Everyone doesn’t use right grammar, no-ways, right?

    Mmmm… garlic grammar toast? With comma cheese, please! 😀
    Posted by: Stephie-P

  16. No, I think it was supposed to be transcribed like this:

    “If he keeps up this pace, he’ll be, toast by tomorrow.”

    Wheeeee!
    Posted by: Norma

  17. No no, it’s:
    “If he keep’s up this pace, heel be comma toast . . . ”
    Posted by: David

  18. Heee!
    I like that better than “Where’s the meeting at?”
    Will somebody please get me the Hell out of Ohio!!
    Posted by: serena

  19. Maybe it was an accent?
    If not I’ll try to find it in my grocer’s freezer.
    Posted by: Christie

  20. haha, awesome. my favorite was hearing that someone was “waddling in his own misery”. mmm hmm.
    Posted by: erika

  21. Ugh. I don’t want to sound like an old fuddy duddy but I shudder to think of what will happen to the English language in a few more decades. Comma toast. Cut the mustard.
    Posted by: jodi

  24. Yeah, I like my comma toast with garlic too… that way I can have bad breath at the same time. 😉
    Posted by: Andrea

  25. Well, sometimes a semicolon sandwich is just too much for breakfast.
    Posted by: alison

  27. I had to say it out loud to get it. Pretty funny. Thumper will grace you with many more of these. For example, youngest son once said to me (at the age of 6) “I’m really good at shredding water”. Me meant treading water.

    BTW-my yarn arrived this week. Very drapey.
    Posted by: LaurieM

  28. HAHAHA! That one is funny . . .

    My mother-in-law has the enraging habit of using the word “ideal” instead of “idea”. As in “Oh, that’s a good ideal!” or “I have an ideal”. Grrrr.
    Posted by: chris

  29. oh, heck, there are millions of these (called “mondegreens” when they’re for song lyrics, for example “Pardon me while I kiss this guy” as a mishearing of “Pardon me while I kiss the sky”). One of my friends who was kinda-sorta pre-med had a “Redneck Medical Terms” t-shirt that boasted such things as:

    “Urine: opposite of ‘you’re out'”
    “Bacteria: the rear door of a cafeteria”
    “Very-close veins: veins that are very close and painful”

    (Actually, on that last one? I know people who actually call varicose veins “very close veins”)

    The one that happens around here and that irritates me is that no one seems to know what a “wheal” is (as a medical term). I’ve been told that I get “allergic whelps” which makes me want to respond, “Wait…I’m breaking out in PUPPIES?!?!”
    Posted by: fillyjonk

  31. I work with someone who frequently says “for all instensive purposes.” I think i should offer her a piece of comma toast.
    Posted by: regina

  34. My goodness, I’m slow. It took me about 2 mins to actually figure out what that person was saying. Need…more…caffeine.

    Thanks for the laugh!
    Posted by: Schrodinger

  35. If someone is comma toast, does that mean they can’t have a bottle movement?
    Posted by: juliette

  37. Yeah, I like my comma toast with garlic too… that way I can have bad breath at the same time. 😉
    Posted by: Andrea

  38. Well, sometimes a semicolon sandwich is just too much for breakfast.
    Posted by: alison

  40. I had to say it out loud to get it. Pretty funny. Thumper will grace you with many more of these. For example, youngest son once said to me (at the age of 6) “I’m really good at shredding water”. Me meant treading water.

    BTW-my yarn arrived this week. Very drapey.
    Posted by: LaurieM

  41. HAHAHA! That one is funny . . .

    My mother-in-law has the enraging habit of using the word “ideal” instead of “idea”. As in “Oh, that’s a good ideal!” or “I have an ideal”. Grrrr.
    Posted by: chris

  42. oh, heck, there are millions of these (called “mondegreens” when they’re for song lyrics, for example “Pardon me while I kiss this guy” as a mishearing of “Pardon me while I kiss the sky”). One of my friends who was kinda-sorta pre-med had a “Redneck Medical Terms” t-shirt that boasted such things as:

    “Urine: opposite of ‘you’re out'”
    “Bacteria: the rear door of a cafeteria”
    “Very-close veins: veins that are very close and painful”

    (Actually, on that last one? I know people who actually call varicose veins “very close veins”)

    The one that happens around here and that irritates me is that no one seems to know what a “wheal” is (as a medical term). I’ve been told that I get “allergic whelps” which makes me want to respond, “Wait…I’m breaking out in PUPPIES?!?!”
    Posted by: fillyjonk

  44. I work with someone who frequently says “for all instensive purposes.” I think i should offer her a piece of comma toast.
    Posted by: regina

  47. My goodness, I’m slow. It took me about 2 mins to actually figure out what that person was saying. Need…more…caffeine.

    Thanks for the laugh!
    Posted by: Schrodinger

  48. If someone is comma toast, does that mean they can’t have a bottle movement?
    Posted by: juliette

  49. I worked with a guy who told me someone wore so much after-shave “he smelled like a French poorhouse.”
    Posted by: Catherine

  50. Took me a second to get that one comma too.

    An English professor friend got this charming phrase from a paper on Shakespeare:
    (Character) “was bathed in the urethral light of heaven.”

    Who knew Shakespeare was so kinky?
    Posted by: KathyMarie

  51. The answer to the “Where’s the meeting at?” question is: “Back-air”.

    I like this one, too: Physical-year instead of fiscal. Gosh!
    Posted by: Stephie-P

  52. A knitting one for you (from an email I received earlier this week): “No inter-mitten month to month membership/cancellations.”
    Posted by: teresa

  53. I once had a coworker inform me that her daughter was hospitalized over the weekend because she had “ammonia in her lungs.” I was utterly aghast – until I realized that she meant “pneumonia in her lungs.” (Hospitalization for pneumonia is still pretty bad, but not, I think, as bad as ammonia.)

    I was too dumbfounded by the word swap to realize until later that “pneumonia in her lungs” is, of course, redundant. (As opposed to what – pneumonia in her head?)
    Posted by: Erika

  54. I overheard someone discussing the movie “Get Rich or Try Dieing”.
    Posted by: Leslie, Richmond, Va. USA

  55. That is my new favorite word/phrase. By 10 o’clock at night I frequently am comma toast.
    Posted by: Laurie

  56. I worked with a guy who told me someone wore so much after-shave “he smelled like a French poorhouse.”
    Posted by: Catherine

  57. Took me a second to get that one comma too.

    An English professor friend got this charming phrase from a paper on Shakespeare:
    (Character) “was bathed in the urethral light of heaven.”

    Who knew Shakespeare was so kinky?
    Posted by: KathyMarie

  58. The answer to the “Where’s the meeting at?” question is: “Back-air”.

    I like this one, too: Physical-year instead of fiscal. Gosh!
    Posted by: Stephie-P

  59. A knitting one for you (from an email I received earlier this week): “No inter-mitten month to month membership/cancellations.”
    Posted by: teresa

  60. I once had a coworker inform me that her daughter was hospitalized over the weekend because she had “ammonia in her lungs.” I was utterly aghast – until I realized that she meant “pneumonia in her lungs.” (Hospitalization for pneumonia is still pretty bad, but not, I think, as bad as ammonia.)

    I was too dumbfounded by the word swap to realize until later that “pneumonia in her lungs” is, of course, redundant. (As opposed to what – pneumonia in her head?)
    Posted by: Erika

  61. I overheard someone discussing the movie “Get Rich or Try Dieing”.
    Posted by: Leslie, Richmond, Va. USA

  62. That is my new favorite word/phrase. By 10 o’clock at night I frequently am comma toast.
    Posted by: Laurie