Online Misunderstanding
SenatorPinto (10:45:34 AM): i slept like a dog
crazybeautiful60 (10:45:44 AM): is that good or bad?
This is a small segment of a conversation which took place online. However I still think it is a really good example of standing ambiguity, because I was not able to resolve the meaning of the sentence from the content given by the speaker. The speaker was not thinking that there were multiple ways of interpreting the sentence “I slept like a dog”. As the listener I did not know whether “sleeping like a dog” was a good or a bad thing.
this is not a perception error, since you didn’t have trouble “hearing”/”reading” what he was saying. It’s interesting, though. We haven’t talked much about the processing of metaphor and simile in class. Based on what we’ve done so far, can you come up with any ideas about how someone would go about interpreting a novel simile/metaphor? What sorts of resources would we have to make sense of something like this?
“I slept like a ‘dawg’” in AAVE it is not good. It meant you were being promiscuous.
“crazybeautiful” is a good thing. Yes in the Sidduur (Jewish 3k +/- prayer book) there is a blessing for seeing “crazybeautiful” (extraordinarily beautiful mountains, trees and people). I use it the most for people- it’s a good thing a blessing even!
I think people would interpret novel similes and metaphors by recalling what associations they have with the words included in the simile. For example, if someone were to interpret the novel simile “I moved like a kangaroo,” they would think of characteristics of a kangaroo, and apply these to the way a person could move. Kangaroos are on 2 feet, check. Kangaroos bounce when they travel on 2 feet, check. Kangaroos are pretty fast, even with that little ‘roo in their pouch, check. Therefore, they can interpret the novel simile, “moved like a kangaroo,” as a person moving in a similar manner, as quick and bouncy. However, similes often have intended meanings that cannot be interpreted in this way. For example, I still do not know what “slept like a dog” means! Slept soundly?