What a game.

a sense of something being "very different" would cause one to have doubts 
about a fundamental premise or requirement the thing is presumed to match or 
employ.  

Regarding the itch, my first reaction is a feeling of repulsion because I don't 
know you intimately enough to be your scratcher.  If you were a pretty girl I 
might oblige.  Otherwise I'd tell you to go find a doorway or a tree or get a 
tool of some sort if you need your itch scratched and don't tell me anymore 
about it, please.  

Also,I think the likening you describe is really a metaphor and not a simple 
analogy because you are comparing a physical state with a vague mental state, a 
transitive state at that.  So, with respect to the metaphor I'd guess that you 
are suggesting that the author has an itch (vague feeling/idea) and tries 
varied words and phrases to hopefully hone in on the most satisfying relief 
that is the result of the feeling/idea being conveyed symbolically.  An 
ambiguity or second level metaphorical interpretation would be that this 
process also mirrors a reader who, as an author surrogate, repeats the process 
of the author.

That's a long way of saying your feeling/idea itches and scratch yourself with 
words until they seem to perfectly contain the now satisfied itch and 
presumably the reader repeats the process or tries to. Or not.
wc




________________________________
From: Michael Brady <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Saturday, June 27, 2009 1:26:42 PM
Subject: Re: marks

On Jun 27, 2009, at 2:19 PM, [email protected] wrote:

> I believe that any two given notions are ALWAYS different to some degree, and 
> often VERY different.


I'm thinking of a notion. I'll give you a clue by sending these electronic 
shapes to your location.

Here is my notion, in the form of two related questions:

How do you calibrate "very," as in "very different"?
How important or crucial to your assertion is the degree of "very"ness?


I have another notion, and I'll send more clues:

My second notion is in the form of an anecdote or example, which I associate in 
my mind analogically to this topic.

My back itches, but I cannot reach it. I ask someone else to scratch it for me. 
"Not there, a little to the left." "Nope, too far. Back to the right, and down 
a bit."

But as this happens, the itch seems to move to another position. "Can you 
scratch a little up and to the right?" Eventually, some of the itch is 
scratched and some of it just abates, and you decide you can live with the 
little bit that remains.

My analogical association correlates the itch with my "meaning" of a word, and 
your attempts to scratch it with your attempt to recreate that "meaning" in 
your head.

Did these electronic shapes convey anything to you?


| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Michael Brady
[email protected]
http://considerthepreposition.blogspot.com/

Reply via email to