Humor comes from anything, and from anywhere, but we have to have “ammo.”
I look for the inconsistencies in real life. One thing I’ve noticed is that, many words we use regularly, have lost their antecedents. Here are some examples:
When someone looks like they just got up from bed, all rumpled, and wrinkled, we may say they look disheveled, but I never hear of anyone, who looks neat and clean, described as sheveled.
Unkempt is another word with a similar meaning. My mother never told me, “You are certainly looking kempt today.”
How about bedraggled and bewildered? Try telling your sweetie, “You’re lookin’ really draggled and wildered tonight babe!” See how far that gets you.
We reverse our vehicles to go backward, but we do not verse them to go forward.
My son can get distracted, but I have never seen him tracted. And why don’t we appreciate tractions at the office, since we all hate distractions so much?
We hire people to find defects in products, but who finds the fects? Which brings to mind the question, if someone defects when they leave their country, if they go back, are they fecting?
Before we can make a reference to something, do we first have to make a ference?
We can have first runs and reruns, but never first peats followed by repeats.
Bad people may be reprobates, but good people are never probates.
An evil reprobate may debauch, defile or deflower a woman. Does this mean the probate hero bauches, files and flowers her?
We are supposed to inspect what we expect, but where the heck do we find all those pects in the first place? At the dentist we are told to expectorate, so when we drink I guess we are inspectorating?
I’m so distraught. But don’t worry, I’ll be just traught later.
To disemble is to lie, to resemble is to look like, so would sembling be not looking like we aren’t lying?
I hate to interrupt this right now, but feel free to terrupt the discussion in comments.
Subscribe for free if you can’t survive without this stuff. In other words you might vive without it. And I don’t want that on my conscious.
on Dec 16th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Dan – I love the site. . . and the wordplay. I foolishly told my wife that she was looking particularly draggled and wildered tonight. . . and she told me that it would be a ternity plus an eternity before we’d speak again if I didn’t tract and retract what I said. . .
Thanks also for the comments.
on Dec 16th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Thanks Koe,
I got a little manic towards the end. I’m glad to hear your wife wildered the draggled comment!
Half Life of Linoleum has some great posts on it. I enjoy it.
on Dec 16th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
My ego NEVER gets “flated”.
on Dec 16th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
I’ve thought about this before … very funny!
on Dec 16th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
I have been known to be disgruntled from time to time, but never gruntled.
on Dec 17th, 2008 at 12:29 am
I might vive, as you say, without your blog, but I don’t want to test that theory.
on Dec 17th, 2008 at 4:10 am
Very good Dan. I have also noticed that if you say a word enough times it sounds like gibberish. Try saying a word over and over.
on Dec 17th, 2008 at 6:23 am
I am aiming to be combobulated today!
on Dec 17th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
More than a little bit true – I’ve always thought these little inconsistencies in our language to be funny, though, haven’t really brought it into the same detail you have. ‘Remember’ being one that always gets caught in my head.
on Dec 17th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Flated, combobulated, member, vive, gruntled, I think you are all getting the idea. It’s a strange world of English out there.
on Dec 17th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
I’m not “sembling” when I say–Great Post!!
on Dec 17th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
One of my faves is discombobulated. As much as I enjoy using that word, I’ve never heard of anyone who is combobulated.
Nice post.
on Dec 17th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Apparently, I’ve been retired for quite a while, because I was tired earlier and now I am again. People who no longer work are said to be retired, I guess because they spent all that time working and getting tired in the first place.
Thanks for bring this up. It’s a fun topic.
on Dec 27th, 2008 at 1:38 am
this is a great article! i will visit this site from now on.
on Dec 30th, 2008 at 2:41 am
Very interesting, I have never think about it before, it is really very funny, thanks for sharing.
on Mar 25th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Not quite all antecedents have disappeared – my mother used and still uses the term “well kempt” for a neatly groomed and dressed man or woman.
You’ve also made assumption (probably incorrect, but I haven’t checked to be sure) that the start of all of those words are prefixes to a root word. Somehow I doubt it.
Fun read, though.
on Mar 25th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Gary
You are correct. I suppose that many of these words do not actualy have antecedents. Or have they been out of use so long no one remembers? Maybe we could call it poetic license and leave it at that.
Thanks for commenting!