For someone who couldn't read but has a repertoire of sight words, what longish word would you find funny for that person to know? Not make-fun-of-him funny, but odd enough to be humorous.
I'm giving a speech for our literacy group but haven't come up with an appropriate word. The usual suspects have crossed my mind, supercalifragilisticexpealidocious and antidisestablishmentarianism, but I'd like something with more realism to it -- and not quite that long.
Posted by EricJamesStone (Member # 1681) on :
You mean, someone who only recognizes words that are familiar groupings of symbols, but since he doesn't really know the alphabet he is unable to determine that a word he's never seen might correlate with a word he knows?
Posted by EricJamesStone (Member # 1681) on :
I guess that he would consider words he didn't recognize to be... incomprehensible.
In fact, the incomprehensibility of one word and the incomprehensibility of another would present him with two incomprehensibilities.
Posted by Kickle (Member # 1934) on :
I don't have a word , but I have a thought where this person would see the word - TV. Some psydomedical term, a drug or food additive that we all are suppose to buy or have symptoms of - I got an idea, what's that fungus that lurks under everyone's toenails? It would be fun to string a bunch of these terms together.
[This message has been edited by Kickle (edited June 26, 2004).]
Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :
How about "dictionary"? Or do you want something longer and more obscure?
I like defenestrate myself...and it has so many interesting uses.
Posted by Kickle (Member # 1934) on :
I'm trying to think fungus,but hermaphrodite is the only word that comes to mind and that's probably a bad choice .
Posted by Kolona (Member # 1438) on :
You guys are on the right track -- although I'll pass on the fungus. No, nothing obscure. 'Boa constrictor' is good. (Christine, are we reading the same things? I just came across 'defenestrate' in something. Go figure.) I think I might go with 'Caribbean' since it alliterates with 'Kroger' and 'K-Mart.' Although 'boa constrictor' is still intriguing. Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
I think the work Kickle was looking for was either "myco-protein" or "mycotoxic" (based on his earlier thought about it being a drug or food additive).
No, nothing obscure. 'Boa constrictor' is good. (Christine, are we reading the same things? I just came across 'defenestrate' in something. Go figure.) I think I might go with 'Caribbean' since it alliterates with 'Kroger' and 'K-Mart.' Although 'boa constrictor' is still intriguing. 