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This list is inspired by Edward Gorey's method of using strange disjointed sentences from translation books as dialogue in such works of his as The Grand Passion & The Doleful Domesticity. Here are some bizarre examples from a dictionary/phrasebook of my parents’ native language:

  • I am going to whip you.
  • Why are the animals dead?
  • It has three eyes!
  • What is your motive for belittling me?
  • You are blind with your eyes open.
  • No matter what you say, you can't poison my mind.
  • Will you be happy about it if he dies?
  • He supposedly died being shot.
  • They saw each other in the pineapple field.
  • When they went there, they cried.
  • They pretended to laugh out of the shame.
  • He is pretending to cook with others.
  • These noodles are infested with flies.
  • The rice cake is hard.
  • Does it have curative powers?
  • I can’t forget their almost forgetting me the last time I went home.

with very specific single words for

  • rice crust
  • being a fake lawyer
  • carrying around a machete
  • praying insincerely
  • wearing shoes inappropriately
  • everyone doing their own cleaning at the same time

& so many synonyms for “bowlegged”.

apr 16 2024 ∞
nov 15 2024 +