Thursday, July 12, 2007
Leave me alone
Here's a tip. If you are sneezing you don't actually
need to vocalise at the same time. It is perfectly
possible for you to sneeze by simply expelling air
without engaging the vocal cords at all.
Here's a tip. If you are sneezing you don't actually
need to vocalise at the same time. It is perfectly
possible for you to sneeze by simply expelling air
without engaging the vocal cords at all.
Try it.
Please just try sneezing without your loud, shouty accompaniment.
Please.
Just try it.
¶ 3:30 pm
Comments:
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If anon had been a closer reader of this blog I am sure he/she/they would have ammended it to "Pompous Fascist".
I have tried it. It doesn't work. I think it has something to do with the unreasonable size of my nose.
I have successfully alienated just about every regular reader of this blog — including the rather unconvincingly anonymous among us — with my biting, primal fury at those who shout while sneezing.
Look, do what you want. I will sit in my hole and fume.
Look, do what you want. I will sit in my hole and fume.
I hope you are not suggesting I am the "anonymous" poster. It does sound like something I would post mind you. Perhaps I am misunderstnding why the anonymity was unconvincing.
Don't stress, UT. It's perfectly OK with me if you want to comment anonymously. I'm pleased that anybody wishes to comment at all — whether they call me a fascist or not.
Here's some absolute genius for your Friday afternoon. 24 carat solid gold.
Here's some absolute genius for your Friday afternoon. 24 carat solid gold.
Seriously...how did you know it was me?..are you logging IP addresses? Am I the only one who uses Opera? Am I just plain predictable? I even tried a whimsical tone in my "throw you off the scent" comment.
I must say that video was 24 carrot gold...I was expecting some internet joke but that was highly informative...and paradigm-shifting in its weight. Quite Galilean. Complete with Beatles reference...
I must say that video was 24 carrot gold...I was expecting some internet joke but that was highly informative...and paradigm-shifting in its weight. Quite Galilean. Complete with Beatles reference...
Well, to answer you seriously as you ask: I do get the occasional American searching for recipes for chilli oil or quotes from Conan The Barbarian or something who use Opera but I would expect that of the people likely to have this page on their RSS feeds (as somebody commenting so quickly after it was published surely did) such a comment could only come from one person.
And I have to admit I did then check the IP address. That thing I said earlier about not caring whether I was called a fascist? Yeah, clearly untrue.
On that video, I liked the bit with the guy in the gym demonstrating the various techniques for sneezing into your sleeve. It is hard to sneeze when your tongue is in your cheek.
And I have to admit I did then check the IP address. That thing I said earlier about not caring whether I was called a fascist? Yeah, clearly untrue.
On that video, I liked the bit with the guy in the gym demonstrating the various techniques for sneezing into your sleeve. It is hard to sneeze when your tongue is in your cheek.
That video is very educational, Harpo. The thing is that all of the people demonstrating the perfect cough or sneeze vocalized to some extent. I admit that I'm a shout-sneezer. I can't help it. It's like not being able to keep your eyes open when you sneeze. It's just physically impossible.
Just as well we are blog-buddies and not friends on the other side of the computer screen.
Just as well we are blog-buddies and not friends on the other side of the computer screen.
I have a feeling I know exactly who inspired this post. I hope the regular readers of this blog believe me when I say Harpo is entirely justified in his intolerance of 'snyellers'. You listening anonymous?
Habits are very strong, Meva. Closing your eyes is a well-established mechanism of the body. Evolution has bred humans that shut their eyelids when they sneeze because those that don't go blind when all that force pops their eyeballs out of their sockets — it's a fact established in law, by the way, so the next time any of us drives through a busy tram stop killing half a dozes schoolchildren don't forget to mention, when the handcuffs snap shut, that a sneeze at the critical moment made it impossible to see — but the shouting is a habit.
And yes, Flyer was right: I did have somebody in mind when I wrote this: I trust he doesn't read this blog. I still love the rest of you.
And yes, Flyer was right: I did have somebody in mind when I wrote this: I trust he doesn't read this blog. I still love the rest of you.
But surely the forceful expulsion of air (I won't mention the etcetera's that go with the air) requires some noise? Surely?
You have passionately and vigorously defended your right to vocalise while sneezing. Kudos, Meva.
I genuinely wasn't expecting that this was the post that would get all the reaction. I might start writing about chess again or should I go the other way and start writing about abortion?
I genuinely wasn't expecting that this was the post that would get all the reaction. I might start writing about chess again or should I go the other way and start writing about abortion?
Onomatopoeia
The onomatopoeias for the sneeze sound are "achew!", "atisshoo" and "achoo". The first syllable corresponds to the sudden intake of air, the second to the sound of the sneeze.
I rest my case.
(And I might be a complete nutter as well.)
The onomatopoeias for the sneeze sound are "achew!", "atisshoo" and "achoo". The first syllable corresponds to the sudden intake of air, the second to the sound of the sneeze.
I rest my case.
(And I might be a complete nutter as well.)
You have been clearly thinking deeply about this, Meva, and you mount a compelling argument. However I never insisted that the sneeze be silent. The forceful expulsion of air that you mentioned must of course be chock full of volume and noisy, Meva-gratifying noise.
It is not the noise itself that I have objected to. You will have read me refer a number of times to the — in my mind needless — vocalising that sometimes goes with the sneeze. This post was about the vocalising, not the ‘atishoo’ itself. There are examples of people sneezing without vocalising and yet they can give you all the ‘achews’ you like.
Without question, if the post were about making people sneeze silently you would have just wiped the floor with me using that onomatopoeia argument.
The Great Sneeze Debate of '07 has legs yet. Long may it continue.
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It is not the noise itself that I have objected to. You will have read me refer a number of times to the — in my mind needless — vocalising that sometimes goes with the sneeze. This post was about the vocalising, not the ‘atishoo’ itself. There are examples of people sneezing without vocalising and yet they can give you all the ‘achews’ you like.
Without question, if the post were about making people sneeze silently you would have just wiped the floor with me using that onomatopoeia argument.
The Great Sneeze Debate of '07 has legs yet. Long may it continue.
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