2. Tilapia. Another food word that I'm not sure how to pronounce. Ti-LAP-i-a? Or til-a-PI-a? I distrust a seafood that I had never heard of in my life until about 5 years ago. Where does this tilapia fish swim? Why have I never seen it in the wild? Is this a fake fish, like the "krab" in so many restaurant dishes?
3. Green. Why must this word embody the environmental movement? I'm too literal-minded of a person, so every time I hear the phrase, "green home," I think of a house painted green. When I read about a designer who's into "green dresses," I think she specializes in an avocado shade of fabric. When I'm told to "think green," I get confused. You want me to feel jealous? What?
4. Ambivalent. When I was a little kid, I mistakenly got it into my head that ambivalent was a synonym for antagonistic. To this day, I have to pause and mentally sort it out, so if you're talking to me, it's safer just to say, "I don't care one way or the other." If you use the word ambivalent, I might think you want to fight me.
5. Puke. To me, this is the cuss version of vomit. I can handle it if you're talking about your fat, alcoholic Uncle Fred puking in the hedges. But your sweet baby sick with the flu, "puking all night"? That seems so coarse. I know, I know. It's just me. But if you start in with some story of how you got sick after eating bad chipotle tilapia over rice and ended up puking into a green shopping bag, I'm going to get real ambivalent, real quick.
Dinner last night: Chinese buffet
Exactly one year ago:
18 comments:
I think I get chipotle right - "chip -oat - lay??" but tilapia? Well I just point to the menu and look stupid, or order the haddock! ;)
I like tilapia, but it's possibly just the stuff they put inside fish sticks without the breading.
And I don't like the use of the word "green" to describe environmentally friendly things. I wonder if kids will be able to learn colors in this new world.
I don't mind "puke." It's "barf" that sounds gross to me, even though I use the word from time to time.
I have to agree with you on number 1. When I was in high school, I worked at a Friday's, and I abhorred ever having to say "chipotle"
I wasn't sure how to pronounce it (because no one was going around blabbering the word yet), and I was too embarrassed to ask anyone how to, so I used to just end up stuttering ch-ch-ch-chi-podel (rhymes with yodel), at which point customers would usually give me a quizzical look.
How about upchuck, or tossing your cookies? And I'm with quadmama, i hate the word barf. Maybe it's bad memories from the 80's.
I used to think tilapia sounded wierd too until I finally tried it once at a seafood restaurant. It's super yummy!! My kids even like it...it's a very mild fish that you put breading on. I just dip it in egg whites, then italian-seasoned panko crumbs and pan fry in canola oil and they are super yummy!!!
I still haven't figured out chipotle...such a wierd word.
I'm guilty of saying "puke"...just the topic alone makes me wanna hurl but the word "vomit" to me sounds purely disgusting. I knew a friend in colleg who used to actully say the word "vomit" when she puked. I've been jaded ever since.
LOL - thoroughly enjoyed this post! :D Love your sense of humor and can definitely relate with some of those words (chipotle, puke...)....
You are cracking me up here! I hate the word puke too. I hate the actual substance even more!
(PS. You know I read every comment. Don't even think you get lost in the shuffle. I swear you don't!)
I hate some of those words too but I hate the word ripe.
How funny! Living in Texas, everyone knows how to pronounce chipotle. Some dish with chiptole in it is on every other menu in town.
I only knew tilapia as a Bengali word. It took me a while to learn the English pronunciation, even though English is my first language. :)
(Oh, my MIL hates "quinoa" - the word, not the ingredient.)
HA! I needed this laugh. Glad i stopped by! I agree with the "green" thing..its so overused I hate it. And I used to love the color green, a lot. Now its more than a color, its a culture, a political party and more. Ugh!
I hate the work "puke" too. Around here we say throw up. When we have to say it at all..which we all hope to avoid.
oh, you make me laugh! You know that when we went to Cincy, they have an entire chain of restaurants named ......Chipolte?
Oh, and honey, if you think 'puke' is bad, sit with me in triage one day. I PROMISE you that you will hear at least ONE person say 'vomicking'.
And now, I'm making myself laugh.
OK, I loved this the first time I read it, but I love it even more now that I realize it's part of your ProBlogger Challemge - go, girl!!
I have the same issue with chipotle, and I even speak Spanish! I'm always afraid I'm going to sound ridiculous by putting too much of a Spanish pronunciation into it. Oh, and with you on the "green" thing too.
I hate the word "supple". For some reason, it just sounds dirty and immoral. I guess we all have our hang-ups!
(Stopping by from Multiples & More!)
This is a great post. I'm laughing at your youthful confusion over the word "ambivalent", and how that still haunts you today. I mispronounced the word "canoe" when I was a kid...I just couldn't get the correct pronunciation in my head. I still pause ever-so-slightly to ensure I'm saying it correctly.
And I've never thought about it, but I agree that the word "puke" really shouldn't be used in the same sentence as one's sweet little baby. :)
(Stopping by from Multiples and More)
I completely agree about "green." It is over-used until do we even know what it means anymore?
My husband loves chipotle, so I am well-versed on how to pronounce it. (hopefully... unless he's pulling one over me... again...) :o)
I don't know where else it lives but I was in Uganda 3 weeks ago and Tilapia lives in Lake Victoria near Kampala, Uganda. There are a ton of them around there and they are HUGE!!!
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