Friday, February 1, 2008

Onomotopoeia

I may get scorned for this post, but I think it's worth it.

What word do you think best describes the sound of a sock hitting a pillow? Poof maybe? How about flif (I made that one up)? According to Amanda the correct answer is, "...Hit the pillow with a thud." Thud? Thud is the sound of a brick hitting hard dirt. Thud is the word for your head slamming into the door that was closing when you weren't paying attention. Thud in no way describes the sound of a SOCK hitting a PILLOW.

Let me back up a bit.

I have to wake up about 45 minutes before Amanda, which in and of itself sucks. As I was looking for a pair of socks in my sock pile (who folds their socks, really), I came across one of Amanda's. So, to segregate it from my stuff, I tossed it onto my pillow which happened to be next to Amanda's face while she slept. No harm, no foul.

After I got home from work that night, I mentioned that I found one of her socks in my sock pile and left it on the bed for her. She said, "Yes, I noticed it this morning when you tossed it at my face and it hit the pillow with a thud."

I couldn't stop laughing. It was like a phrase that Douglas Adams would write ("Hung in the air in much the same way that a brick doesn't"). But here's the thing, she was serious, and my laughing was making the whole situation worse. How can you not laugh when someone describes the sound of a sock hitting a pillow as a thud.

If I could write, the above would be funny. I guess you had to be there.

I guess you also had to be me.

2 comments:

Amanda said...

I said, "When you threw it at my head." Also I wasn't like getting upset because he was mocking my "thud". I think it was completely accurate of what I heard reverberated through my pillow not his. So there. PTHTHTHTH

Amanda said...

New form of arguing with your spouse. Via blogs. :) How digital age. (Besides 'thud' is one of my favorite words)