Annoyingly Amusing Misunderstanding Word Game

You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I’m Grant Barrett.

And I’m Martha Barnette. And with apologies to Eugene O’Neill, the quiz man cometh.

It’s John Chaneski, our quiz man.

Hi, John.

Hey, John.

That’s me, guys. Hi. Nice to see you guys again. You know, sometimes people ask me, how can I be funny? And of course, I can’t teach you how to be funny, but I can teach you to be amusingly annoying. In fact, it’s sort of the stock and trade of a dad.

For example, if someone makes an illustrative noise to enhance a story, I’ll always ask them to repeat it. It’s annoying as hell, but what’s important is that I think it’s amusing.

So like, for instance, it says, oh yeah, they’re walking down the street and all of a sudden, ka-chunk, the guy fell over. I’m like, sorry, what did the guy do? Ka-chunk? I’m sorry, one more time? What did he do? Ka-chunk?

As long as you make somebody repeat something over and over again, it’s annoying to them and it’s amusing to you.

Now, another thing is to ask annoying questions about where things are. For example, if someone says, we’ve got to get moving on this. The time is now. I will always interrupt and say, I’m sorry, excuse me, when is the time? Now. Sorry, when? Now.

Now you’ll know how to be annoyingly amusing. I’ll describe a situation and ask you where or what something is, and you have to tell me again and again where or what it is. All right?

Oh, no.

Yeah, no, you’ll get this. It’s easy. It will be very, very annoying.

Here’s the first one. Yes, you’re right. I don’t see any more aliens around. What did you say the coast is? Clear. I’m sorry. What was that again? Clear. The coast is what? Clear. It’s clear. Clear.

That’s right. The coast is clear. All right. Sure. You’ve got the drop on me and the tables have turned. Where did you say the shoe is? The shoe is on the other foot. Where can I locate that shoe? Wait. Sorry. What again? Where is that shoe? It’s on the other foot.

Oh, on the other foot. Okay, okay. True, so true. There are clear signs that something unpleasant is about to occur. What did you say the writing is? I was going to say in Denmark, but on the wall. The writing is in Denmark. I’m sorry, where was it again? On the wall. I’m sorry, where? The wall. It’s on the wall.

Oh, on the wall, on the wall, sure. It’s over there on the wall. As you say, this project is very complicated, and something could prove to be a problem. Where did you say the devil is? In the details. Where’s the devil again? In the details. In the details, right. Okay.

Finally, yes, Professor, it’s all said and done. We just need to record this for posterity. What did you say the rest is? History. What? Sorry, come again? What’s that? One more time? Try this here over here. The rest is her story. Try this side over here this year. That’s my better. The rest is her story. Her story. That’s right. Okay.

Anyway, listen, I’ve got to go chase after my family. They just left me, so. Right. I better get going. You guys are great. Thank you, John.

Oh, John, that was actually very fun. I really appreciate it. Thank you, Martha. Thank you, Grant. Nothing like bickering with friends.

That’s right. Maybe you’ve been bickering about language in your house, or somebody misunderstood something where you work. We’d love to sort out your language confusion. Call me and Martha, 877-929-9673, or tell us the difficulty in email, words@waywordradio.org.