Image and Poetry!

Regenerative Culture Language & Oral Tradition
#1

So far in reading about rewilding language, I sense that attention falls heavily in the nooks of syntax – avoiding ‘to be’/static/based-in-noun english as much as possible. Stoked as I feel about this, but I also find it awkward and unintuitive (which I understand will pass with practice). For me, I like to think about and experiment with word choice and phrasing.

For example, when I talk about ideas or plans, words like “concrete” and “solid” come to mind.

These plans aren’t concrete yet.

But I hate concrete! Hell if I want my plans to feel rock solid, impermeable, gritty ;). The unexpected lurks around every corner, so my plans would unfold better if they aren’t (oops!) concrete. Working in a garden from time to time, I think about how good soil opens itself to air and water and roots to move through. Maybe my plans should mimic the best of the natural world – like the duff of the forest, damp, soft, fertile.

These plans aren’t fertile yet.
I still need to aerate these plans a bit.
These plans still need to decompose more.
This still needs to percolate a bit more.

I’d also like to bring more images and poetry to the surface of speaking. Rather than speaking with abstract, empty words (e.g. “interesting,” “good,” etc.), I want to touch the words spoken, feel them rattle my lips, feel their crunch, taste them.

a: How was your day?
b: Long, boring, exhausting.

a: How was your day?
b: Like stomping on gravel from sun-up to sun-down. (Ouch!)

I’ve only got some young, tender shoots here. Can you bring some more flavors this stew?

~wildeyes

#2

I can dance to that tune!

I have several friends from the south who operate off of a whole treasurehouse of metaphors and sayings, and their culture encourages its folks to invent new ones. Thus the famous “like a red-headed stephchild”, or other more odd ones, “happier than a field full of pregnant red hogs”.

And on and on. I love this angle on e-primitive.

#3

My mother used a lot of these. I have a favorite: Madder than a wet hen!

#4

My pick-o-the-field is “lower than a bowlegged caterpiller”

#5

Aftr satisfyin hr food hungr Grandmothr often say’s, “I feel as full as a tick.” Haha; when I heard that th first time I laughed my head off.

#6

I let my plans stew and ferment, throwing all the ingredients together is part of it, for sure, but sometimes they need cooking and time to increase their likelihood of a full-filling meal.

#7

You gotta watch out for those southern sayings. Elsewise you might end up like the boy who dropped his gum in the chicken house. He didn’t know what the hell to pick up.

These plans aren't concrete yet.

These plans haven’t grown past secondary succession yet.

#8

I have a feeling ‘will’ for the future tense differs from ‘will’ as in will to do something. Thanks for bringing up Language Log–that’s something for everyone there–the better posts at least.

On a different note, I had a small realisation in the shower yesterday. ‘Used to could’. English lacking modal infinitives limits many things, and leads to annoying unnatural language, but when someone comes up with a way around that, everyone ridicules them. Why not, ‘I would like to could to do that?’ as opposed to using ‘be able to’?

#9
[quote] These plans aren't concrete yet.[/quote]

These plans haven’t grown past secondary succession yet.

These plans are still sprouting or these plans havn’t blossomed yet.

I really like this idea, connecting us back to the real world, outside of our built up world. I can’t think of any more idioms to change though, I think my brain is dead due to lack of sleep, maybe tommorow.

#10

If you want to use that, ai suggest changing it to “I would like to could do that”; just to comply with the an-infinitive-then-a-conjugated-verb “rule”. Nice idea :slight_smile:

#11
[quote=Singanothertime on April 05, 2008, 02:13:35 PM] Why not, 'I would like to could to do that?' as opposed to using 'be able to'?[/quote] If you want to use that, ai suggest changing it to "I would like to could do that"; just to comply with the an-infinitive-then-a-conjugated-verb "rule". Nice idea :)

Why does that sound so wrong, “I would like to could to do that”? Maybe “I would like it if I could do that” would work and sound better? Why does the first one sound so wrong?

On another note. Chase, are you a linguist or something?

#12

Compliance, bah! Compliance is for the civilized!

Just messing with you, Chase. :wink:

#13

Mat, are you a bloodhound or something? :slight_smile: jk. Nope, just an amature. Unless, by linguist you mean “one who studies language”, then yes. :stuck_out_tongue: