{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"The News Journal","provider_url":"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net","title":"In a manner of speaking (a continuation from last week) &ndash; The News Journal","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"TPtKZ6oCtK\"><a href=\"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net\/manner-speaking-continuation-last-week\/\">In a manner of speaking (a continuation from last week)<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net\/manner-speaking-continuation-last-week\/embed\/#?secret=TPtKZ6oCtK\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;In a manner of speaking (a continuation from last week)&#8221; &#8212; The News Journal\" data-secret=\"TPtKZ6oCtK\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/* ]]> *\/\n<\/script>\n","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Bena-Mae-mug137.jpg","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":228,"description":"Colloqualisms of this region have always held a fascination for me. I find that no area of this country speaks more to the point and uses more colorful language in doing so than in this part of East Tennessee and Kentucky. The fact that we sometimes, yea, many times, murder the King\u2019s English only makes our manner of speaking more endearing, more unique. Take the expression, \u201cI ain\u2019t seen hide nor hair of him in a month of Sundays.\u201d Isn\u2019t that more picturesque than saying \u201cI haven\u2019t seen him in a long time?\u201d Or this one, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t believe him if he swore to tell the truth on a stack of bibles.\u201d Doesn\u2019t that sound more convincing than to merely say \u201cHe\u2019s a liar?\u201d \u201cBesides,\u201d one might add, \u201cI would never have no \u2018truck\u2019 with a man of his countenance who is such a born liar he has to get someone else to call his hogs.\u201d Ever since there were schools and classrooms, teachers have been reading notes from parents whose puzzling excuses left much to the imagination. One misleading note (from Richard Lederer\u2019s Anguished English) read: \u201cPlease excuse Jimmy for being. It was his father\u2019s fault.\u201d And this one; \u201cMaryann was absent December 11-16, because she had a fever, sore throat, headache, and upset stomach. Her sister also was sick, fever and sore throat, her brother had a low grade fever and ached all over. I wasn\u2019t the best myself, sore throat and fever. There must be the flu going around school, her father even got hot last night,\u201d Then there\u2019s the note which must have must have caused the teacher great concern: \u201cTeacher, Please excuse Mary for being absent. She was sick and I had her shot.\u201d Poor Mary. Anyone who has ever been cited for a traffic violation will empathize with these mixed up explanations. This one is entirely off the wall, yet believable: \u201cI pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law, and headed down an embankment.\u201d Another one that was most original, must have brought a grin to the officer\u2019s face: \u201cA cow wandered into my car. I was later informed that the cow was halfwitted.\u201d And how many times have we almost been in this situation: \u201cIn an attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telephone pole.\u201d In my case it was always a wasp or a bee but I attempted to swat it with a rolled up newspaper. Breathes there a social worker who has never been taken aback with a letter similar to the following: \u201c1 am forwarding my marriage certificate and six children I have on a half sheet of paper.\u201d And this one which could cause talk in the community: \u201cI want my money as quick as I can get it. I\u2019ve been in bed with the doctor for two weeks and he doesn\u2019t do me any good. If things don\u2019t improve, I will have to send for another doctor.\u201d Newspapers are not immune to making goofs and gaffes. The constant pressure of deadlines make them ripe pickings for leaving the wrong impression. Take this one that left me chuckling: \u201cA man was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct after he was found nude in a car at a hotel parking lot. A woman staying at the hotel said a man, wearing only a T-shirt, confronted her near her room. The woman told police she chased the man but he escaped.\u201d I am reminded of a story Professor Carl Hurley told about a trooper who pulled the driver of an old pickup truck over on one of the backroads near East Bernstadt, Kentucky. He was citing the driver for having a busted taillight. \u201cDo you have any I.D.?\u201d the trooper asked the old fellow after he got out of the truck, \u201cAbout what?\u201d the old fellow answered. You may have to think about that one for a minute, but if you\u2019re from Eastern Kentucky you get it immediately. \u201cIffn that don\u2019t take the rag offn the bush\/His elevator don\u2019t go all the way to the top\/They live up the road a-piece\/She\u2019s got a face that would stop a clock (or a freight train)\/He would squeeze a nickel til the buffalo hollered\/He\u2019s got more money than Carters got oats (or little liver pills)\u201d are just a few of the old-timey sayings I grew up with. They have become so much a part of our everyday speech that we no longer think of them as cliches. They make our conversations richer, more vigorous, more entertaining. Then there are the goofs, gaffes, fluffs and flubs that come together in making our common language the fascinating and hilarious tool with which we communicate. On that note I leave you with this example in a paragraph from a church bulletin that, by inadvertently leaving out the \u201c0\u201d in a word, changed the meaning of its message altogether: \u201cSmile at someone who is hard to love. Say \u201chell\u201d to someone who doesn\u2019t care much about you.\u201d Til next time, \u201cY\u2019all come. And if you can\u2019t come, write, ya hear?\u201d"}