Don't repeat what I say
We used to have a thick ream of blank A4 paper. The children use it for drawing and for all sorts of paper craft. But the paper's almost all gone now.
Pia: Daddy, why don't we have any more blank paper?
Daddy: (wasn't aware we had run out) Why? Don't we have any more blank paper?
Pia: (suddenly angry) Daddy! Don't ask me, I'm asking you! Why don't we have any more blank paper?
Daddy: I know you're asking me.
Pia: But you are repeating what I say!
Daddy: (confused) I wasn't repeating. You asked me why we had no more blank paper. I asked you, 'Why? Don't we have any more blank paper?'
Pia: But they're the same words
And she was right. Same words, different punctuation.
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2 comments:
Vince,
Reminds me of the joke where a man and a woman were asked to punctuate the stream of words below:
Woman without her man is a savage
The man punctuated it thus:
Woman, wihout her man, is a savage.
The woman punctuated it thus:
Woman! Without her, man is a savage.
Interesting how different punctuation puts a completely different spin on things, huh?
Hi Jun,
That's fun. I tried a couple of variations on that sentence:
Woman without her man. Is a savage.
Woman. Without her Man is.
A savage.
Woman without. Her man is a savage.
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