I have no idea why I'm thinking about this right now, or why I feel it's worth writing about, but the purpose of this post is to express my displeasure with the oft-used phrase (and its variants) "I just threw up in my mouth a little bit."
Apparently it's been annoying people for quite some time. But these people seem to despise the pretentiousness of the saying. But it bothers me for a different reason: why say it that way, when that is the only place you can throw up? Yes, sometimes the throw up escapes the mouth and sometimes it doesn't (is there a magma/lava equivalent for puke, or is it always the same?), but the mouth is always involved. If someone ever vomits out of, say, their armpit, then I want the description to include the body part. Otherwise, it's not necessary.
Again, not sure why I thought this was blog-worthy; maybe it was just an excuse to link to the late, great Mitch Hedberg joking about a similar linguistic conundrum (starting at about the 6:35 mark; if you listen to the whole clip, watch out for some bad language).
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7 comments:
I'm sorry you don't like that saying.. I use it quite often. I'll try not to in front of you though.
It's good to see that you're starting to think about the more serious things in life.
I personally prefer to say I got the "mouth squirts" instead. It's much more effective because it sounds more crass, which is always a good. Plus people have to think about it for a second before they understand what you mean, & making people think is what I'm all about.
Marlene
I am a personally a huge fan of this saying. If you say, "I just threw up," it sounds too literal. Your listener might actually think you were sick. Then they might wonder where exactly it happened. But if you tell the location, i.e. in your mouth, they will know that you're not really that sick and that there will be no clean-up. Even more importantly, they will know that it was just a hyperbole.
Hopefully, you'll never have cause to use it in front of me, Megan. (Although, if both Megan and Jen are proponents of the phrase, maybe I'm wrong about the whole thing anyway...)
Mouth squirts is a fantastic term.
I always thought it meant that you would throw up but instead of it coming out of your mouth it would go back down your throat. That way you just through up in your mouth and not all over everyone or something.
Just about the funniest blog I've ever read. I totally agree with you, bro.
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