Acts of Speech

Lusia Mousky · Post by **Lusia Mousky** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:44 pm

Hello !

I live in continental Europe, have studied linguistics and am interested in acts of speech. Hope to come across some interesting ones here.
They can evoke a nice bunch of associations, like when Proust was tasting a cookie.
Sometimes you are so puzzled by them, when they are ambiguous or cryptic, that you cannot make up your mind whether you should feel insulted or not. Can a very interesting insult be a gift that you keep in your pesonal collection and like to remember ?
I hope that you see what I mean.

I also read Aristotle.

Kind regards from Lusia M.

bullwinkle · Post by **bullwinkle** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:47 pm

Lusia Mousky wrote:Can a very interesting insult be a gift that you keep in your pesonal collection and like to remember ?

Someone once told me that I had so much nose hair that they expected to see Tarzan swinging from one of my nostrils to the other.

It still makes me laugh.

Bullwinkle

Lusia Mousky · Post by **Lusia Mousky** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:00 pm

Making someone laugh is a very big service indeed.
Laughing is so healthy, it is good for your heart and for your mental health.
Were you able to return the service to your dear friend ?

bullwinkle · Post by **bullwinkle** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:35 pm

Lusia Mousky wrote:Were you able to return the service to your dear friend ?

I just kicked him in the nuts....

Lusia Mousky · Post by **Lusia Mousky** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:43 pm

bullwinkle wrote:
Lusia Mousky wrote:Were you able to return the service to your dear friend ?
I just kicked him in the nuts....

Oh !
So you were not amused after all ...

koyaanisqatsi · Post by **koyaanisqatsi** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 3:56 pm

Hello Lusia, I wonder if you know anything about parapraxis - the classical Freudian slip of the tongue. Proustian associations are a bridge from the 'outside' in and a parapraxis is an act of speech where the 'inside' pokes it's head out.

I heard a corker recently when I was viewing some houses with an estate agent. He was in full flow giving me the pitch and applying the first rule of sales, make whatever you are seeling feel exclusive and soon to be snapped up by others. Anyway he described the houses in this area as "Selling like hot-pants!" instead of hot cakes.

Repression? It was amusing, especially given he didn't realise what he'd said but everyone else present did.

Lusia Mousky · Post by **Lusia Mousky** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 2:17 pm

Yes, a slip of the tongue can be amusing and revealing.

But an act of speech is anything you say if you combine an intention with it.
You can inform in a cool way, but your choice of words is not unimportant. Sometimes one insignificant word can speak volumes.
There is also the length of the act of speech, the rhythm ...