I love a joke Red Skelton told about a spaceship that landed on Earth. Two aliens got out. The first thing they saw was a parking meter. They walked up to it and looked at it admiringly. Then one alien turned to the other and said, "Do you have change for a hern?"
The sheer absurdity of that joke is what strikes me as so funny.
Speaking of absurdity, perhaps the most jaw-dropping moment in a very long time on Jeopardy! occurred on tonght's episode when the clue "A statute mile consists of this many feet" elicited only one guess (What is suxteen hundred?) and blank stares from the other contestants. Even though the reigning three-day champion was an emergency room physician, nobody else buzzed in. The correct answer, which I had assumed every schoolboy knew, is "What is 5,280?" Now that is absurd.
I compiled a list of words that begin with the letters 'para' and in short order I came up with the following:
parabola
parabolic
parachute
parade
paradox
paradoxical
paradigm
paradigmatic
paraffin
paragliding
paralegal
parallel
parallelogram
paramedic
parameter
paranormal
paraplegic
parasailing
The language of my wife's parents, Albanian, includes the word para (it sort of rhymes with our 'huzzah!'). It means money. Often when Mrs. RWP and I are out shopping and encounter a particularly expensive item for our budget, one of us will say to the other, "Shumë para!" to convey a message [Too much money!] without informing the sales clerk. Knowing a second language can come in very handy at times.
If you are wondering about my compiling that list, I must be in my Robert F. Kennedy phase. He famously said, 'Some people see things as they are and ask "Why?". I dream of things that never were and ask, "Why not?" '.
At the end of the day, absurdity is in the eye of the beholder.
You heard it here first.
Hey I knew the answer too! Shume para is a nice code phrase you two have.
ReplyDeleteSurely most people knew the answer. It just surprises me that the Jeopardy contestants didn't. Thank you, Terra.
DeleteAn appreciation of the absurd is essential!
ReplyDeleteYour answer reminded me of an old saying: If you can keep your head about you when all about you are losing theirs, you simply don't grasp the situation! Thank you, Janice.
DeleteBefore I even looked at your "para" list I thought of paramour. As far as the number of feet in a mile weren't we required to know that in grammar school. We had to know a lot of measurements. 8 ounces in a cup for instance. 3 teaspoons to a tablespoon.
ReplyDeleteOf course! How could I have omitted paramour? You made me think also of paramount. We had to learn lots of things, statute miles, nautical miles, short tons, long tons, number of centimeters in an inch, and so forth. Apparently facts are no longer important. Thank you, Emma.
DeleteWhat happened to paraphernalia ? More importantly what happened to Parahandy?
ReplyDeleteParaphernalia is excellent! I don't know why I didn't think of it. I have never heard of Parahandy in my life, however, so I looked it up. It is actually Para Handy and I understand now why it is so well known in your corner of the world! Thank you for commenting, Graham.
ReplyDelete