Peace or Peas (No Gomery)
I thought the patron said "I need an encyclopedia of peace." She did have a strong accent, after all. I was transported back to my undergrad days, to that 4th year political science seminar mysteriously entitled "An Inquiry into the Nature and Meaning of Peace." No, it was not simply the absence of war. I wondered if there was such a thing as an encyclopedia of peace.
It didn't help that the professor wore a silk ascot daily and that his bald pate was normally covered by one of seemingly dozens of berets. The worst thing was his verbosity. I have never heard a man say so much and yet say so little. If anyone could have written an entire encyclopedia on peace, it was this man. It would have been inane and possiblly vacuous, but I believe he could have done it.
I recall that my major paper was a discussion of dystopian literature. How often does one get the opportunity to wax philosophical on English literature in a political science course? I'd say rarely.
On further questioning (in a series of open questions - good librarian that I am) I discovered that she said "I need an encyclopedia of peas." A whole encyclopedia of peas? That can't exist. But, I did find a ten page entry in an encyclopedia of food and nutrition. That did the trick. Another happy student walked away, searching for a photocopier.
Technorati Tags: peas, peace
13 comments:
WHIRLED PEAS? A new vegetarian staple or a concept beyond our comprehension.
Correction. She said she needed an encyclopedia of penises.
reminds me of a program at my undergrad uni called "Peace and Conflict Studies"...or, rather, "Peas and Conflict Studies"...
That's usually when I get a pen and paper and ask them to write it down. And if they apologize for their broken English, I ask what language THEY speak, and tell them "Well, you speak much better English than I do YOUR language"!
Like to see a peas encyclopedia. I've seen long works on tomatoes and the like, so there just might be one out there....
I think it funny to even ask for an encyclopedia of peas.
I think the polly sci prof you mentioned could also write an encyclopedia on peas. We've all had those profs who go on and on about nothing until five minutes after the class is supposed to end and make you late for the train.
Verbose, vacuous, and inane? I may have a future yet...
Peas? Thank god you were around to help.
Dumb kiddies....
The Encyclopedia of Peas; some truly interesting reading.
I'd read the encyclopedia of peas. I'm betting there's a whole subsection on "honey and other condiments"
All we are saying is give peas a chance.
I adore reading posts where the writer employs a vocabulary that is obviously part of your everyday personal pool of words. I enjoyed the anecdote especially because I have extensively worked with the hearing impaired which also leads to interesting word misunderstandinds/similiraties.
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