Blathering

Friday 16 January 2009

As a cultural sort of thing between Australians and Americans, can I just say that whenever I see someone using the word "dang", it really pisses me off? It rankles and grates like a giant vegetable grater. It's so ... nice and inoffensive. I find it really offensive :P

A couple of nights ago I watched a silly English show called Star Stories which parodies celebrities and shows me, to my dismay, how much I know about them even when I couldn't give a toss. Last night's episode was a parody with Tom Cruise in the starring role. The Nicole Kidman character walked in blustering the word "fuck" every 3 seconds and telling people where to go and generally being completely caricaturish and seriously, I don't know where the hell they got that impression of Australian women from???

I am still noticing it's 11 past 11 all the time. Every week. Every day. Sometimes twice a day. I just noticed it before. My eye was drawn to the clock and there it was, 11 past 11. If you type 11:11 into Google, you get a whole lot of whack naffery. It was no help at all. Does anyone else notice 11 past 11, or am I the only unhinged one amongst us? And what the dang godamn hell does it mean? Maybe I just need to watch some Young Ones episodes.

8 comments

  1. Dang, woman! You really are fucking blathering about all that 11:11 new age BS?

    ;-)

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  2. Seriously...I hate dang. You are so right. Along with darn and shoot and fiddle-sticks. I feel like "everyone knows what you really mean so why don't you just say it instead of this high and mighty holier-than-thou" crap.

    With the exception of Tyler, of course. ;-)

    I have no idea what 11:11 means to you in your context. Since I found no real consistency in it on the web, it probably means whatever you want it to mean...or that you took a green beret mission before you entered this plane of existence. Or something like that.

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  3. LOL!!!! Hahaha!!

    I was gonna delete this post because I thought people it was a bit mean and offensive and people might not get my strange sense of humour.

    But you did (although you might be walking awway muttering, "that woman, she's a dang fucking bitch"

    MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! :)

    Seriously, I just don't get the dang thing. It seems realy silly to me. Does everyone say it?

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  4. I did think of Tyler actually when I was thinking od deleting this post. Because she is so lovely and sweet and nice sounding from out her mouth, you know, and the poor thing has to put up with the likes of me.

    A green beret mission? I shall have to look that up :) I just don't get it and it's sorta creepy. I know someone somewhere said it was the "universal time". Sometimes I try to pray in that time (I know this sounds really naff) but other times I just sigh and think, "Fuck off, 11 past 11"

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  5. I was going to leave a dang-inspired comment but Erin beat me to it.

    Erin, Fiddlesticks, LOL!!! I haven't heard that since my grandmother passed away many moons ago. That and (you non-Aussies won't get this one) "Hoo-roo" and "Hoo-ray", both meaning "Goodbye".

    What are grandmothers for other than to be old-fashioned?

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  6. HERE

    And I'm NOT muttering. I'm speaking very clearly, and loudly about you, oh high-one-of-the-I-hate-dang-priestesshood.

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  7. I agree that in many cases dang is a non-comittal quasi curse word that indicates someone who really doesn't know himself well enough. However, in the southern U.S., dang actually has a couple of uses that are specific to it. The most popular is a long, drawn out dang when something has happened that astonishes, or when someone has just told you a particularly harrowing story. Not that one couldn't probably use a lond drawn-out damn there, but it would really be substituion and I know what you think about that. :)

    My kids make a wish anytime they notice 11:11 on the clock in the car. I don't know why. but they all do it. Yesterday I was looking through my sitemeter account when I looked up and noticed the clock on my computer indicated it was 15:15:15 on January 15. Can't say I wasn't a little startled. Then I mostly thought it was cool.

    Finally, your native daughter Nicole and her hunky husband Keith live in our little town of Franklin. They are frequently seen at local restaurants and coffee shops, and no one here has anything but the nicest things to say about both. If Nicole ever was bitchy, it was probably living with Tom Cruise that made her so. ;/

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  8. Heather - I like hooroo :) I saw this grandmother on the train yesterday, she was so wrinkled and wizened, but when I looked at her hands she had lots of rings, and painted long nails. And it was sorta sad in a way. I got the sense that she was so uncomfortable with being old. I could see the younger woman underneath her, but I thought, sheesh, what sort of a society is it that forbids us to do what we're going to do anyway? It was sort of sad. But anyway ... :)

    Shelia - Ahhh, so thats where Nicole has got to. Glad to hear she's behaving herself in local eateries ;) I agree, Keith is a bit of a raunchy man (as long as he doesn't sing). It was funny, the caricature of an Australian on this show and part of me was saying, "No! It's not like that!" But parody is overblown by nature. That's what makes it funny :)

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