MSGID: 1:153/716.0 684b2a12
REPLY: 2:221/6.0 666c227e
CHRS: IBMPC 2
Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to Anton Shepelev:

AK>  -----Beginning of the citation-----
AK>  Why do French people eat snails?
AK>  They don't like fast food.
AK>  ----- The end of the citation -----

          This is an example of what I would call a "riddle", i.e. a puzzling
or misleading question which when used as a joke often involves a play on
words.

          Another example:
              Q.  What do you call an angry carrot?
              A.  A steamed vegetable.


AK>  A Collection of Intermediate Anecdotes in American English

          Hmm.  While my American dictionaries seem to agree that an anecdote
is a story which other people may find entertaining &/or amusing, many of them
also take into account that (as Anton said, and as a Canadian I agree) that as
far as we're concerned such stories are typically autobiographical or at least
reported by a person who if not on the scene at the time has done their
homework....  :-)


AK>  Jim walked into a store which had a sign outside:

          Caution:  There are many folks named or nicknamed "Jim" Over Here,
and the same applies to other names you mentioned.  Unless your informant also
tells you various names may have been changed to protect other people's
privacy & they are doing doctoral-level sociological research you can't be
sure the incident in question actually occurred.  The inclusion of a name may
add verisimilitude to a tale about events which didn't necessarily occur in
real life.


AK>  "Look at this," the dean said." Susan didn't know the answer to
AK>  this question, so she wrote, 'I don't know.'  And your football
AK>  player wrote, 'Neither do I.'"

          As a retired schoolteacher I can certainly relate to that one, and
I'm cheering for the dean.  But I don't imagine this story is entirely
true....  :-)


AK>  Then one day Mr. Harris hurried into the doctor's office

          Reminds me of the time when our GP, who was still wet behind the
ears, said "How are you?" to which I replied "I was hoping you could tell me
that."  I enjoyed making him think, and after awhile he began recommending to
me as if I'd never heard of it what I'd learned elsewhere & reported to him...
[chuckle].


 AS>  An anecdote is a personal and unverified story.

          Like the one above.  I could supply names & approximate dates, but
the iimportant thing is that Dallas & I later found another GP who related
better to our preferred learning styles, and both of us are content with his
as well.  :-)


AK>  Anecdotes are rather short humorous stories

          So are stories beginning with "a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead
are stranded in a lifeboat" or "a goldfish walks into a bar".  In such cases
we know the story is probably fictitious even if there's a grain of truth in
it....  :-)


AK>  Jim walked into a store which had a sign outside: "Second-hand
AK>  clothes bought and sold."  He was carrying an old pair of pants
AK>  and asked the owner of the store, "How much will you give me
AK>  for these?"  The man looked at them and then said rudely, "Two
AK>  dollars."  "What!" said Jim." I had guessed they were worth at
AK>  least five."

          A lot depends on whether one is buying or selling, doesn't it?  I
know (and you probably do too) the capitalistic advice to "buy low & sell
high".  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
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