Monday, May 31, 2010
Precision Speech and the Arkansas River
I like rivers and streams. When driving I am a road hazard around bridges because I want to see the flowing water. Once in the eighties I was driving through Arkansas on the way from Texas to Kentucky. The Arkansas river runs through Little Rock where I stopped for gas. I had been daydreaming and was not sure of exactly where I was. In particular I was not sure if I had crossed the Arkansas river or whether it was still further down the road. Without choosing my words carefully I told the attendant which way I was going and asked: “Is the Arkansas River still up ahead?” He looked at me and without a hint of a smile said: “Well, it was when I came to work this morning.”
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You might have missed an opportunity here... maybe he thought you were askin' about moonshine?
ReplyDeleteOn an Army bivouac my sergeant told me to take a 2&1/2 ton truck down "that" path & hide it. Two days later when I pulled the truck up to the back of the convoy the sergeant hoped on the running board and angrily asked "where have you been! I looked everywhere for you" Obviously not a precise statement. I should have let it go.
ReplyDeleteAs a proponent of precision speech I admire this woman. On the other hand I believe that one should, as they say, “pick you battles”
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/venti_size_fury_A0uKw71Ky1UAOksmbjrBhI