Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

A fulfilling passtime?

I always think of Alan Watts's defining of the spiritual in activity, eg not as thinking about God while peeling the potatoes, but as consisting in peeling the potatoes.

There is a "Chore Scale" from the "nearly pleasurable" (in my case, doing the washing up, preparing food for cooking), through the "moderately distasteful" (clearing out bins, cleaning the loo) to the "nearly unpleasant" (vacuuming - I'm with Nature! - ironing). They're all things that I'm not too mithered to do, but which I'd be very happy to let someone else do for me. I can think of many, many things that I would describe as "fulfilling pastimes" - none of them would be "chores" (which is, in any case, a more economical word).

[jean]

... All may of thee partake:
Nothing can be so mean,
Which with his tincture (for thy sake)
Will not grow bright and clean.

A servant with this clause
Makes drudgerie divine:
Who sweeps a room, as for thy laws,
Makes that and th’ action fine.

This is the famous stone
That turneth all to gold:
For that which God doth touch and own
Cannot for lesse be told.

(George Herbert)

[ahinton]

doing the washing up

I'll refrain from mention of dishwashers given remarks elsewhere on these boards(!)...

the "nearly unpleasant" (vacuuming...)

Central vacuuming system.

They're all things that...I'd be very happy to let someone else do for me

Better still!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I'll refrain from mention of dishwashers ...

When? (And, as mentioned elsewhere on these boards - dishwashers give me not even "nearly pleasure"; they turn a chore into a drudge.)

Central vacuuming system.

I think my comments about having taken early retirement might have misled you into thinking I'm "rolling in it" (money, that is, not dust). These machines look heaven-sent, but would cost me over a month's "income" from my pension - AND I notice that the manufacturers tell me that I will have to vacuum "less often". If I'm going to have to give up a holiday to get one, I want to know that I won't have to vacuum EVER again!

[Serial_Apologist]

When? (And, as mentioned elsewhere on these boards - dishwashers give me not even "nearly pleasure"; they turn a chore into a drudge.)


I think my comments about having taken early retirement might have misled you into thinking I'm "rolling in it" (money, that is, not dust). These machines look heaven-sent, but would cost me over a month's "income" from my pension - AND I notice that the manufacturers tell me that I will have to vacuum "less often". If I'm going to have to give up a holiday to get one, I want to know that I won't have to vacuum EVER again!

That could be a version of the more extreme case of the patient in a psychiatric hospital who, when asked why he is always banging his head against a wall, replies, "Because it's so nice when I leave off!"

(Do not try this at home - it could be the resulting brain damage that is speaking).

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

That could be a version of the more extreme case of the patient in a psychiatric hospital who, when asked why he is always banging his head against a wall, replies, "Because it's so nice when I leave off!"

(Do not try this at home - it could be the resulting brain damage that is speaking).

- most of those walls disappeared when I retired: the others I now walk round.

[ahinton]

I think my comments about having taken early retirement might have misled you into thinking I'm "rolling in it" (money, that is, not dust).

Oh, not at all - although I do hope that you are!

These machines look heaven-sent, but would cost me over a month's "income" from my pension - AND I notice that the manufacturers tell me that I will have to vacuum "less often". If I'm going to have to give up a holiday to get one, I want to know that I won't have to vacuum EVER again!

Best get a human vacuuming "system", then!

[ahinton]

- most of those walls disappeared when I retired: the others I now walk round.

When the expression "walls have ears" is used, I notice that the user never reveals to what they're supposedly connected; afte all, ears aren't much use on their own...

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

When the expression "Walls have ears" is used, I notice that the user never reveals to what they're supposedly connected; afte all, ears aren't much use on their own...

I thought it referred to the sausage manufacturers?

[Serial_Apologist]

When the expression "walls have ears" is used, I notice that the user never reveals to what they're supposedly connected; afte all, ears aren't much use on their own...

That's what the prostitute told Van Gogh when he presented her with his: "Ullo, what's this ear?"

[ahinton]

I thought it referred to the sausage manufacturers?

Not ice cream ones, then?

[ahinton]

That's what the prostitute told Van Gogh when he presented her with his: "Ullo, what's this ear?"

Indeed - although I'd read that what she actually exclaimed was "Gogh! What's this ear?"

[P. G. Tipps]

That could be a version of the more extreme case of the patient in a psychiatric hospital who, when asked why he is always banging his head against a wall, replies, "Because it's so nice when I leave off!"

(Do not try this at home - it could be the resulting brain damage that is speaking).

Don't invited truncheon-blows to the head have much the same effect, S_A?

[Dave2002]

What word do you use in its place, Dave?

Sorry - it's a horrible word. I don't really want to discuss it like that.

[MrGongGong]

I think my comments about having taken early retirement might have misled you into thinking I'm "rolling in it" (money, that is, not dust). These machines look heaven-sent, but would cost me over a month's "income" from my pension - AND I notice that the manufacturers tell me that I will have to vacuum "less often". If I'm going to have to give up a holiday to get one, I want to know that I won't have to vacuum EVER again!

A friend of mine is a sculptor
He has worked alone for many many years in a studio in his back garden, he tends to work at an incredibly "geological" pace BUT his work is truly wonderful
The "deal" he had with his partner was that he would do all the kitchen tasks while making work and she went out to work for £
Several years ago he sold a big sculpture to David Bowie
He went and bought a dishwasher
He has now made many more extraordinary works