I’m following Rhia‘s lead here, and calling this disease what it is: Pig Flu. No, it’s not swine flu (not that I think Swine is that much of an upgrade from Pig). We need a good solid plosive to really portray our disgust at this disease.
What is a plosive? If you’re not an English major or a vocalist, you may not know. Plosive are consonants that make an exploding sound when you say them. They rely on a certain amount of built up pressure behind your lips. P,D,B,K, and T are the major ones.
Notice, all the best/nastiest words start with P
- Pee
- Poo
- Prostate
- Paula (P)Abdul
- and many others (c’mon… my mom reads this blog)
So the “Pig Flu” does seem to enhance the nastiness of the disease. Bravo, Rhia.
Tonight is the top 5 of American Idol, which I am now renaming Pamerican Pidol, in honor of the Pig Flu, and also to honor it as one of the best/nastiest words in our English language.
American Idol has a great vowel-filled, roll-off-the-tongue feel to it. Throw in a few P’s and we instantly have a show that fewer Americans will like and talk about.
Henceforth American Idol will no longer be known as A.I., but as P.P.
When I was in choir during college, our choir president, Jeff, was in charge of consonants. Even today, when I listen back to our recordings, I can hear Jeff hacking away at those beautiful consonants – especially the plosives.
This blog was brought to you in part by the Foundation for WhiteEyebrows’ Stream of Consciousness.
I took a linguistics class during that one semester when I was an English teaching major, and they call the ‘P’ sound an unvoiced bilabial-something. It pairs up with the ‘B’ sound, which is a voiced bilabial-something. Cause, you know, your lips stay the same while you make both sounds.
This comment brought to you by the Foundation for Annike’s Insomnia. Goodnight and God bless.
P.S. I haven’t said this yet, but that picture on your header is beautiful!! The view is stunning, and the dress is gorgeous!
I was here. I never now what to say but I am reading.
You forgot the word “pimento” in your list of disgusting P words. 🙂