Exchanging Looks.
Ever have a linguistic phrase or vocabulary word that confounds you? This one confounds me: they *exchanged looks.*
When I was a wee young thing, I read the Nancy Drew series voraciously. I think that may be where I first encountered the term, “exchanging looks” or “exchanging glances.” Whenever Nancy and her pals meant up with the bad guys or the mysterious woman, they exchanged looks. In my head, I constructed a mental image of what happened at that point. When Nancy and her chum George (a woman, by the way) exchanged looks, I imagined that meant they traded the looks that were on their faces at that moment–so, if Nancy was looking sad and George was looking mad, then they would trade those looks, and Nancy would then look mad, and George would adopt the sad look previously belonging to her friend. Get it?
I guess in my young mind I thought the word “exchange” meant a transaction of some sort had to take place…so that the people involved in exchanging looks were something like clowns who could take off their masks and hand it to the other person. It’s only been in my unimaginative adulthood that I came to realize that “exchanging looks” merely means their eyes met. They looked at each other. They glanced each other’s way. No trading of facial expressions at all. No smile or furrowed eyebrows undetectably passing by each other in the ether between people to land on the other’s now reinvented face.
And, yet, every time I read or hear that expression–even today–I have to make a mental note, like a mental hiccup or an intellectual pause, of what it really means. I have to remind myself that they only shot a glance the other’s way. The residue of my more imaginative mind still lingers, and it makes my intellect perform some extra work. I kind of like that idea, actually.
Anyone else have any mental hiccups or confounding expressions they’d like to share?
When I was little and heard the phrase “knight in shining armor”, I always thought “NIGHT in shining armor”. I also don’t think I knew what armor was. So I pictured some guy was like night time and was shining like the moon. It didn’t make any sense, but that was the best I could do being a clueless kid!
Comment by: Aimee - 01.21.2007 - 6.19 pm
When I was younger and to this day the phrase “already” as in “enough already” or “are you coming already” drives me crazy. But now that I have read it so often, it must have been imprinted in my brain because I find myself using the phrase even though I detest it.
Comment by: Jenni - 01.21.2007 - 6.38 pm
I was a voracious Nancy Drew reader also- (also read the Hardy Boys and The Bobbsey Twins)- and yesterday, we took the kids to Chapters and told them to pick out a new book or 2 for bedtime. Guess what my 9 year old returned with? Yep- Nancy Drew! I thought that was cool- and she came up with it on her own. I might just have to re-read that whole series!
Comment by: Carolyn - 01.21.2007 - 7.07 pm
“Her eyes flew around the room.” Just picture it.
I love these. I can’t wait to hear what other people mention.
Comment by: KY - 01.21.2007 - 8.13 pm
How about the one “touch base”? I really like the expression - it makes sense to me. Sometimes, however, I see it being misinterpreted…misused, I suppose. Maybe this is a different confound”ment” than you were asking about, SBird - one that I experience from others vs. a blip in language that I experience independently. Anyway - I get confounded, I suppose, when others say to me…”let’s touch basis/bases” later about the situation” or “I’ll touch bases/basis with Tucker later this week”. Maybe it isn’t as much confounding as just niggling.
Give me some time - I will think of more.
Comment by: wzgirl - 01.21.2007 - 8.21 pm
When I was little my mom always told me to “mind my P’s and Q’s.” I always knew exactly what she meant (be polite!), and I always just assumed it was a derivation of “please” and thank you” whereby “P’s and Q’s” = “please and thank you’s.” It made perfect sense to me!
But apparently there are several competing origins for the phrase - such as literally reminding children to write their lowercase “p’s” and “q’s” properly, since they look similar, or keeping track of the number of pints and quarts one had consumed at a pub…
Comment by: atomic mama - 01.22.2007 - 11.39 am
Well, this one always confounded me — mostly because I was saying it incorrectly for a good 25 years — “for all intents and purposes.” I thought it was “for all intensive purposes.”
I saw it written (correctly) in an article I was reading, and being the a-hole that I tend to be sometimes, I started making fun of the person and their stupidity. M. wondered what was so funny…and that was the beginning of what will no doubt be lifelong humiliation. I have NEVER heard the end of it and I’m sure I never will.
Comment by: Jessi - 01.22.2007 - 12.03 pm
Mine’s got a Canadian link - I used to play “maple leaf” as a kid, rather than “make believe.” Took me a while to figure out what dress-up and fun games had to do with trees…
Comment by: Sam - 01.22.2007 - 5.32 pm
Oh, I thought of another one–it’s actually my sister’s. She thought “inclement weather” was actually “increment weather”–ie, it’s getting worse, bit by bit.
Comment by: KY - 01.22.2007 - 7.51 pm