‽istis ponders: just because you could… (weekending February 18th
2023)
This weekending, ‽istis has pondered,
among other things, the similarities and differences in definitions of a cliché
and an idiom. Perhaps there’s something to
do with whether one is viewed negatively or is a source of annoyance, or viewed
positively and not so overused. Possibly there’s something to do with the respective
level of figurative-ness and literal-ness (?). Maybe there’s something to do
with whether the phrase is more or less spoken, or written? ‽istis wonders
whether ‘peak cliché’ status might be reserved for expressions where only the
first part of a phrase often needs saying: ‘the rest, as they say…’; ‘the proof
of the pudding…’; ‘not waving but…’ although there may always be ‘the exception
that…’[i]
Issues and news where this may be
relevant have included – just because you could:
·
assist dying (and thanks to Prue
Leith and Danny Kruger for a heavily ponder-provoking programme[ii]) - doesn’t mean you
should
·
use prayers of blessing for same-sex marriages (with doesn’t mean you should being the conclusion of some - including, it appears,
the Archbishop of Canterbury[iii])
·
triple profits in the same period that energy costs for
many households have also apparently tripled[iv] - doesn’t mean you should
·
maybe move from hopeful ‘rescue’ to regretfully and
tragically resigned ‘recovery’ in a disaster zone[v] - doesn’t mean you should
·
stay on as leader of a political party and holder of
the top job[vi] - doesn’t mean you should
(thank you Nicola Sturgeon for service and what ‽istis thought were clear and helpful near-daily Covid briefings, with or
without Janey Godley’s commentary![vii])
·
panic at the use of the term UFO (Unidentified Flying
Object) - doesn’t mean you should; it just may mean that there’s something in
the sky and we don’t know what it is yet…[viii]
·
release information about someone’s so-called ‘vulnerabilities’
in a missing person investigation[ix], or speculate for part of what just may one day be a 'true crime' podcast- doesn’t mean you should.
Yet, as practice on an instrument
recently purchased continues (said instrument having been hankered after for several decades
since a childhood family visit to a place housing and playing several of them –
oh, the joyous sound!), ‽istis is also happy to
confirm this week that perhaps, possibly, maybe just because you could, might sometimes
mean that you indeed should‽
©
‽istis
NB: further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and
past blog entries to be found on Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t
necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’:
@Pistis_wonders. ‘Follows’ and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...
[i] …history;
…is in the eating; …drowning (and thanks this week to Melvyn Bragg and guests
for what ‽istis thought was a fascinating ‘In Our Times’ programme on Stevie
Smith: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001j45h
); …proves the rule (though ‽istis has never quite really understood that one).
Did you manage to not complete the line,
despite yourself? And where would the traditional first question of Matt Chorley’s
Times Radio’s ‘hugely popular quiz: Can you get to No. 10?’ be without a stock
of well-known phrases and sayings? (see, for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6nZevgYWFQ
8’45” in)
[iii] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/10/anglicans-angry-same-sex-blessings-question-justin-welby-fitness-lead
[iv] https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/centricas-2022-profit-jumps-high-energy-prices-volumes-2023-02-16/
[vii]
For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqdIEaiceZI
