"__! That smarts! __! That hurt! __! That's not fair, givin a guy a shot down there!"

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Those familiar with my posting history also know of my lack of wit, which is why I’m going to let this wonderful little passage from my co-worker’s sixth-grade son’s grammar textbook (English Grammar and Composition: First Course, John E. Warriner and Sheila Laws Graham, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977) speak for itself:

THE INTERJECTION

You already know that an exclamatory sentence is one which expresses strong feeling. One part of speech has the same purpose as an exclamatory sentence: the interjection…

[…]

EXERCISE 24. Copy the appropriate sentences on your paper, supplying an appropriate interjection for each blank. Try to use a different interjection in each.

  1. _____! I stubbed my toe!
  2. _____! I dropped the eggs!
  3. _____! What a touchdown!
  4. _____! What a pretty dress!
  5. _____! Did you see it?
  6. “_____!” I exclaimed.
  7. The time, _____, had come.
  8. _____! It’s hot!
  9. “_____!” I shouted.
  10. _____! It’s about time!

:eek:

I visualize the poor teachers being forced to go through each classroom copy come summertime, eraser poised at the ready, all the while muttering some pretty colorful interjections on their own.

2

I don’t know about 7, but I really can’t think of that many non-profanities that fit all those!

Aside from exlamations like “yahoo,” “whee,” or “d’oh.” And who says “Whee! It’s about time!”?

3

I can’t be the only one singing that song, now right?

Innnnn-terjections! Show excitement! Or emotion!

  1. Ouch! I stubbed my toe!
  2. Oh no! I dropped the eggs!
  3. Whoa! What a touchdown!
  4. Wow! What a pretty dress!
  5. Hey! Did you see it?
  6. “Cool!” I exclaimed.
  7. The time, oh my, had come.
  8. Shazam! It’s hot!
  9. “Yikes!” I shouted.
  10. Hooray! It’s about time!

[sub]That should really read “Hooray, I’m for the other team.” But that’s my tv rotted brain at work.[/sub]

4

Say what? That squid thread was hilarious!

And re. the OP’s actual subject matter, I’m a former English teacher (university level), and I find it difficult to believe that any students need to be taught interjections. Maybe taught what one is, which is clearly the purpose of this exercise, but there’s not a three-year-old alive who couldn’t complete those sentences with something spicy, a la Chris Rock.

(Yeah, I’d have done the accent grave on “a la,” but I still haven’t figured out how to code them.)

5

Just for the heck of it, how about the way various fictional characters would say these things?

  1. Doh! I stubbed my toe!
  2. Great Krypton! I dropped the eggs!
  3. By Crom! What a touchdown!
  4. Holy haute coutre, Batman! What a pretty dress!
  5. Good heavens, Watson! Did you see it?
  6. “He’s DEAD, Jim!” I exclaimed.
  7. The time, foolish mortal, had come.
  8. Shazam! It’s hot!
  9. “KHAAAAAAAAAN!” I shouted.
  10. YEEEEEE-HAAAAAAA! It’s about time!

Notice I left number 8 as Skeezix suggested, because the mental image of Gomer Pyle complaining about the heat was just so vivid! :slight_smile:

6

Oh you guys, I love you! The viz of Big Ol’ Buttery Conan stabbing his giant foam finger in the air and gritting out, “By Crom! What a touchdown!” is just too beautiful. If I had a drink, it’d be all over my monitor right now after reading your posts. But I don’t, so I had to substitute my own spit.

Here’s one of the usage examples from the book:

“The weather here, alas, is worse than I expected.”

The authors must have been hoping in their heart of hearts for responses like

  1. Gadzooks! I stubbed my toe!
  2. O! I dropped the eggs!
  3. Hi, Opal! What a touchdown!
  4. Sirrah! What a pretty dress!
  5. Zounds! Did you see it?
  6. “Odd bodkins!” I exclaimed.
  7. The time, forsooth!, had come.
  8. Ye cats! It’s hot!
  9. “How now!” I shouted.
  10. Strewth! It’s about time!

…Those romantic fools!

At Vlad Dracul’s suggestion:

Lords of Light! I stubbed my toe!
Wak! I dropped the eggs! (or “Hippikaloric! You dropped the eggs!”)
Felgercarb! What a pretty dress!
Smurf and blazes! It’s hot!
“Belgium!” I shouted.

…And thank you, jackelope. Captain Dr. Admiral Ackbar Ambergris Zoidberg DreadCthulhu el Spermie de Tentacles von Squiddie McSquid thanks you, too :slight_smile:

7

How is that squid doin’ by the way? Has it found a mate yet?

:smiley:

8

I think there was one of those old school house rock bits on this very thing.

9

“Great Maker! I dropped the eggs!”

10

They’re generally set apart from a sentence by an exclamation point, or by a comma when the feelling’s not as strong.

11

Great Hera! It’s about time!

12

Hi, green_bladder! Thanks for asking about him. Weeeelllll, it seems Captain Dr. Admiral Ackbar Ambergris Zoidberg DreadCthulhu el Spermie de Tentacles von Squiddie McSquid has officially reached Friskiness, if you know what I mean and I think you do. It’s at the point now where dumping a bucket of cold water on him or trying to distract him with his favorite chewy rubber sperm whale toy ain’t working any more, and my SO refuses to come over to the house because the beak marks on his leg ache every time he so much as catches a whiff of ammonia. (Sorry about that little incident, hon, but hey… Love me, love my giant squid.) Last night was particularly bad: I now have several javelin-sized sperm packets embedded in the stucco wall of this very room I’m typing in.

I am concerned about the possibly small size of the existing giant squid population, which is why I’m loathe to have a vet snip off Li’l Captain Dr. Admiral Ackbar Ambergris Zoidberg DreadCthulhu el Spermie de Tentacles von Squiddie McSquid. And I’m unhappy to report that my experiences with other Architeuthis dux owners has been less than warm: all of them wanted to see his pedigree first. Poor Captain Dr. Admiral Ackbar Ambergris Zoidberg DreadCthulhu el Spermie de Tentacles von Squiddie McSquid needs RELIEF, don’t they understand that?!

So when you’re happy…?