Human Rubberband, anyone?

[conuly]

Holy fuck.

Note: The warning says this is NOT TO BE USED AS A SLINGSHOT. That hadn't even occurred to me.

Note: Apparently, the Brits have it right. Rubber is so called because one uses it to make those things that rub out mistakes. But I still prefer our term "eraser" for those.

Comments

[sayga.livejournal.com]

When I was little (and therefore had a British accent), we were in the US and this store had Hello Kitty erasers. I shouted to my mom, "Look Mummy! They have Hello Kitty rubbers!" Apparently everyone in the store turned to look at me. Whether it was the accent or use of the word, I'm not sure though. :P

And that rubber band looks SO cool!

[conuly]

You know, I bet they do make Hello Kitty condoms. She's on everything else by now!

[pne.livejournal.com]

I switched from "rubber" (the word I had learned from my English father) to "eraser" (the word the majority of my peers in school used) after an embarrassing incident at school.

My father wasn't happy with the choice (he prefers our speech to be free of "Americanisms") but I said I wasn't going back.

The funny thing, though, is now that I have Amy and speak English with her, my first instinct is to call them "rubbers". I guess the word you first learned does leave a lasting impression.

On the other hand, a male hen is also a "cock". So she might get ribbed for that as well by people whose mind is in the gutter (or who aren't familiar with that word for it and assume she can only mean something else).

(I did find it a bit amusing a while back when she said, "You're the cock and I'm the chick". A bit objectifying but amusing :D Now if she had worked "huevos" in somehow, she'd have hit the trifecta.)

[conuly]

A male chicken, you mean. Hens are female chickens, by definition.

[pne.livejournal.com]

A male chicken, you mean.

Yes, I suppose so.

Hens are female chickens, by definition.

True. I was going for something like "the male counterpart to 'hen'" and blanked on the collective noun that could talk about either sex fowl.

[conuly]

Some people go too far in the other direction. There's a book I saw in the library about a rooster who "lives with a bunch of chickens". He *is* a chicken. And then they have the nerve to say he's not, he's a rooster! BUT A ROOSTER IS A CHICKEN! GAH!

(I saw that posted on one of the linguistic blogs, but I had hoped I wouldn't see it in my own library. WHY are farms so popular in picture books? I don't live on a farm! Why not have more city books in a city library?)

[sayga.livejournal.com]

When I was little (and therefore had a British accent), we were in the US and this store had Hello Kitty erasers. I shouted to my mom, "Look Mummy! They have Hello Kitty rubbers!" Apparently everyone in the store turned to look at me. Whether it was the accent or use of the word, I'm not sure though. :P

And that rubber band looks SO cool!

[conuly]

You know, I bet they do make Hello Kitty condoms. She's on everything else by now!

[pne.livejournal.com]

I switched from "rubber" (the word I had learned from my English father) to "eraser" (the word the majority of my peers in school used) after an embarrassing incident at school.

My father wasn't happy with the choice (he prefers our speech to be free of "Americanisms") but I said I wasn't going back.

The funny thing, though, is now that I have Amy and speak English with her, my first instinct is to call them "rubbers". I guess the word you first learned does leave a lasting impression.

On the other hand, a male hen is also a "cock". So she might get ribbed for that as well by people whose mind is in the gutter (or who aren't familiar with that word for it and assume she can only mean something else).

(I did find it a bit amusing a while back when she said, "You're the cock and I'm the chick". A bit objectifying but amusing :D Now if she had worked "huevos" in somehow, she'd have hit the trifecta.)

[conuly]

A male chicken, you mean. Hens are female chickens, by definition.

[pne.livejournal.com]

A male chicken, you mean.

Yes, I suppose so.

Hens are female chickens, by definition.

True. I was going for something like "the male counterpart to 'hen'" and blanked on the collective noun that could talk about either sex fowl.

[conuly]

Some people go too far in the other direction. There's a book I saw in the library about a rooster who "lives with a bunch of chickens". He *is* a chicken. And then they have the nerve to say he's not, he's a rooster! BUT A ROOSTER IS A CHICKEN! GAH!

(I saw that posted on one of the linguistic blogs, but I had hoped I wouldn't see it in my own library. WHY are farms so popular in picture books? I don't live on a farm! Why not have more city books in a city library?)