Thursday, April 15, 2021

April 15 2021 - Pieces of Your Mind

 

Can there be a 'piece' of information in today's world.  It seems disturbing.  "This piece of information is extremely revealing" seems to leave things unorganized, without context, and leads one to concern.  It is as though information is just like pieces of pie. That's more of how I think of piece - as a a piece of cake, ham, cheese, pie, etc.  All more or less the same thing that has been broken or cut off.  That makes sense for cheese, pie and cake.  But "taking the car to pieces" doesn't make sense to me.  The car isn't made of pieces, but of parts.  If we take the car to pieces, it seems we've missed the step of dismantling the components which are formed of parts and then we can refer to things as pieces.  But then I am getting detailed.  The car is strewn all over the driveway like some sort of car crash. Whoever 'took the car to pieces' is going to get a 'piece of someone's mind'. 

That's the thing - piece has a number of curious and interesting expressions:
go to pieces
nasty piece of work
a piece of the action
pick up the pieces
say one's piece
give someone a piece of your mind

That last one is wonderful - as though you can break off a chunk, like cheese.  And knowing the expression, this will be an unpleasantly smelly cheese.  Even in its first reference, we get the sense of this:   "A piece of my mind" was first referenced by Sir Henry Ellis, 1824 quoting its use in an English letter in 1572:  "Thus am I bolde to unfolde a peece of my mynde."

So off I go to find out what jokes there are for this moment of nasty behaviour:

Before giving a piece of your mind make sure you got enough to spare

If you keep giving people a piece of your mind, eventually you will run out of pieces to give

What did the patient say when the neurosurgeon said she needed to remove a mass from his brain?
Well, let me give you a piece of my mind!

And of course, the ugly baby joke:
Miriam gets on a bus with her baby. As she goes to pay her fare, the bus driver says to her, "I've seen a lot of babies in my time but that's the ugliest one I've ever seen in my life."
Miriam is shocked and very angry at this insensitive remark. She sits down and starts to cry. The man next to her asks her what's the matter.
Miriam replies, "The bus driver just insulted me."
The man replies, "I wouldn't let him get away with it. You go and give him a piece of your mind. Go on--I'll hold your monkey for you."

 

Today's picture is the garden around the corner on Sunnylea.  A beautiful Magnolia tree is underplanted in spring flowers. This is a multi-exposure image to create a dreamy effect.
Purchase at:
FAA - marilyncornwellart.com
Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

No comments:

Post a Comment