Re: SURVEY: Scariest Short Sentences in Your ConLangs

On Thu, 01 Sep 2005 05:39, tomhchappell wrote:
> --- In conlang@yahoogroups.com, "Ph.D." <phil@P...> wrote:
> > Tom Chappell wrote:
> > > Reputedly the scariest five-word sentence in North
> > > American English is
> > >
> > > "Daddy, I want a pony."
> >
> > That doesn't seem very scary. The response is "No."
> >
> > Much scarier is "The IRS is auditing you."
> >
> > --Ph. D.
>
> Thanks, Remi and Phil.D.
> I agree that your sample sentences are pretty scary!
> Remi's is a lot like "being sent to Coventry".
> (BTW the Xerox Language Guesser said Remi's sentence was Albanian.)
>
<snip>
>
> I suppose the words "Daddy, I want a pony" are only scary to persons
> who actually might be on-the-fence about whether or not to accede to
> this request.  If you maybe-can-afford it and maybe-can't; if your
> child might-be-safe and might-not-be; if she (let's face it, this is
> the kind of request that comes from daughters, not sons, and to
> fathers, not mothers) might-be-responsible, and might-not-be; and if
> she has not over-used "the magic words", and uses them with sincerity
> this time -- I imagine it could be scary.  (Not to me --- it would be
> as scary as "Daddy, I want to fly to Mars.")
Consider it from the perspective of a Centaur parent overhearing an Orc child
asking his father ...

I suppose the answer would be, "You can et me but brother let me tell you that
you're going to have to get me first!"
>
> Anyway, that's what I've heard.
>
> -----
>
> Of course, "the IRS is auditing you", to me, sounds like
> "the Red Cross wants you to donate blood" sounds to a turnip.
>
> -----
>
> Tom H.C. in MI
--
Clinersterton beademung, with all of love - RIP James Blish
-----
Mau e ki, he aha te mea nui?
You ask, what is the most important thing?
Maku e ki, he tangata, he tangata, he tangata.
I reply, it is people, it is people, it is people.

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