Thursday, April 5, 2012

E is for Hearing.

Every now and then I write something and I think, Damn that was a stroke of brilliance. Don’t get me wrong, most of the time when I write something I think, well that’s complete and utter crap. But every now and again I write something and it feels prefect.

And when that happens (mostly and especially for this blog) I quickly hit post. If you were ever reading my blog and wondering why the hell I have so many typos, I’ve probably answered that qunundrum. Anyway, when I post something fresh, something that feels perfect, I make a real and deliberate effort not to go back and look at it again. Cause I know as soon as I do, I’ll hear all the mistakes.

And when I say I’ll hear the mistakes, I really mean I’ll see them. This is actually one of my writing pet peeves (although I do it a lot too). When people hear things with their eyes. I get why we say it. When I read something I do hear it in my voice in my head, but really I’m not hearing it, I’m thinking it.

The English language could make things a bit easier. Really, do we need to hear things with our ears. Couldn’t we just earing instead of listening or hearing. And what about seeing, wouldn’t eyeing something be much more logical. I’m using my eyes to see it, aren’t I? And I really should feel things with my feelers, instead of touching things with my fingers. However, if I’m out feeling things with my feelers it means I’m probably no longer human, which could be a problem.

I think my point however, if I have one, is that ears are underutilized (which is a really fun word). Ears are awesome. They hear things and they listen to things. And no ear is exactly the same. Law and Order SVU taught me that. Although I know I shouldn’t get facts from Law and Order SVU, that’s what CSI is for.

How is A-Z going for you? Are you hearing lots of cool blogs? Do you have any writing/reading pet peeves. Did you know in the Unicorn Series by Tanith Lee—the MC has a pet that’s a peeve. What is your favorite body part?

14 comments:

  1. I'm the typo king. I dispense them over my posts like sprinkles on ice cream. They're just part of writing I suppose.

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  2. I've only read the last book in Lee's series, but enjoyed it.

    English has always been a kooky language, and your comments make a lot of sense. Maybe I should totally incorporate that into an alien language.

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  3. It's funny how writing can be 'heard.' I get what you mean by technically thinking it, but you hear it inside your head, but it's still in your head. If you think about it too much, it's a total mind warp.

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  4. I have kind of an absurd amount of pet peeves, but one of mine is similar to what you mentioned. It's when someone writes something like, "Maybe, maybe not," she shrugged. You can't shrug words. It doesn't work like that!
    ...
    OK, I took a few deep breaths and got over it again. But I totally get where you're coming from.

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  5. Haha, I know what you mean about the 'hearing' thing. I say that all the time in conversation, 'oh I heard about that', when I really read about it somewhere. But saying you heard it sounds so much better for some reason!

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  6. I hear what you're saying (ha, ha). The English language is filled with conundrums and perplexities like these. I'm glad it's my first language because I wouldn't want to learn it as an adult.

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  7. While we aren't taking part in the A-Z challenge, I do have to say it's a lot of fun doing our blogroll and seeing what different takes people are having on each letter. By the way, if I ever use the term 'earing' in the future, I will surely give you credit for it. Nice one:)

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  8. I try to hear with my eyes when I can, and listen with my mouth. It never works out, but hey, that's life. A-Z is going well, hearing lots of blogs. :)

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  9. LOL that IS what CSI is for. (That made me spit a bit of coffee.) I'm loving A to Z, although like last year I'm nowhere near able to visit as many blogs as I'd like.

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  10. I make lots of typos, too. Then go back and fix them. And my pet peeves are similar to Tobi's - you can't shrug, laugh or snort words. Drives me bonkers!

    Thanks for visiting my blog today!

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  11. lol. When I read your title I was like ...E is for 'earing' (in a British accent).
    And don't worry, I think we call get facts from television! hahaha!

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  12. Trust me, I 'ear ya!

    I used to do quality assurance work for a medical transcription company. The hospitals were in the U.S., but not all the doctors were native, if you get my drift.

    I had an expletive for the bad dictators, which I won't mention. At any rate, the transcriptionist would type out the dictation and then I'd listen and make formatting and fix errors, grammar mistakes etc.

    Once you started to get tired, you'd see words rather than hear them. It became very easy to miss little, important words.

    Of course, the boss would message me, call me an idiot, and ask me if I could hear. You talk about a job that could be frustrating - wow!

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