Our ability to write and communicate is ever evolving
◆ Here’s to the many ingenious and funny ways we play with words
Recently I was being sent jokes on my phone from friends. You may have the same, lots of pictures with silly captions. I used to respond with emoji smileys but then I became bored so I began responding with fruit.
“Why are you sending me a tomato?” I was asked. “It means love and deep romance.” Really? So I answered another with an aubergine – big mistake, it can mean penis or sexually excited. Mmmm… time for a rethink.
It seems the world of emojis is more complicated than I thought: apple means you are engaged; cherry means you are in a relationship and banana means you are married. I think tomato can also mean that you are a cannabis smoker, but I am prepared to be corrected on that point.
Having exhausted that line I moved on to thinking about how to remember spellings.
Dashing In A Real Rush Hurry Or Else Accident, spells diarrhoea. Another mnemonic is Many Nuns Enjoy Monks Only Not In Convents, which of course is a mnemonic for mnemonic. Very handy if you are a sub-editor stuck on a desert island without spell check. Another is Rhythm Helps Your Two Hips Move.
But one thing I cannot fathom is the cryptic crossword which uses word play, synonyms, Latin, Greek… and the devil himself, references to cricket.
How about this: once again the prime minister’s back in the papers (4)?
Answer: Ream: R is the last letter of minister. This is placed in the word ream (papers).
Yes, me too…
Thankfully the Scotsman cryptic crossword has many fans.
I wonder what the invite to their annual party would read? Perhaps: after climb fancy a wild party (7)? A: Shindig.
Which reminds me that words and grammar and syntax are important, never mind what the AI chatbots say. Maybe soon AI will take over from editors and writers but one thing will remain: our ability to write and communicate is ever evolving and probably still ahead of the game.
I shall sign off with this play on words. What’s the difference between a literalist and a kleptomaniac? A literalist takes things literally and a kleptomaniac takes things, literally.