Play on Words

Malapropism: Usually humorous misuse of a word or phrase.

-- From my Word of the Day calendar

My hubby and I are word people. Due to the nature of our careers as writers and editors, we appreciate good word usage and clever plays on words. We also get a good chuckle out of malapropisms, like "The coach is really raising the envelope this year" or "I think what she saw was just a pigment of her imagination."

Sometimes, though, it's just a slip of the tongue and we say the wrong thing on accident -- those Freudian slips that allegedly reveal subconscious feelings. Other times, we do it on purpose. Either way, it's usually amusing.

Yesterday morning in our daily call, I told Carter it was going to be a busy day at work because I had to get a magazine out the door. "What do you mean out the door?" he asked. I explained it was just a deadline phrase for getting the magazine to production and to the printers.

Last night at bedtime, Carter was talking about the two girls who had been vying for his love and attention. One of them gave up in the last week or so but the other one, Kayla G (I don't know why he refers to her with her last initial all the time) is still in the picture. However, he proudly exclaimed, "I finally found a way to get Kayla G. out the door -- not like a magazine but out of my life!" Apparently a new seating arrangements will do the trick. And I give him props for turning a phrase to suit his needs. There are days I wouldn't mind getting some of my work out the door and "out of my life" too!

At least Carter's play on words was intentional. I found out last night I am not exactly immune to Freudian slips myself.

I volunteered to do Thanksgiving for the in-laws at our house since Jim will be having knee surgery the day before and he may need to be on the couch for the day (and that's how most of us spend Turkey Day anyway, right?). My mother-in-law and sister-in-law have both volunteered to bring parts of the meal but I am handling the turkey. Now I did do this a few years ago when I had my family down for Christmas. Everyone lived to tell about it, so I guess I did OK.

So I know I am capable of cooking the turkey, I just don't like handling the innards and all that ick. You can imagine my pleasure while shopping last night when I found a turkey, albeit a more expensive one, that is already in a bag and ready to go in the oven. I don't have to touch it until it's done. Yay!

I was so happy that I told Jim when I got home. "Guess what? I found a turkey without the neck and the gimlets!"

The gimlets?! "Are you sure you didn't stop somewhere on the way home?" He asked.

I guess if you know me, you know I can have my own "happy hour" just spending time at Wal-Mart. I think it was just the euphoria of finding that turkey. I'm sure a "turkey gimlet" would turn my stomach. But I could go for a pumpkin spice cappuccino about now...