Caught by a Karenism
Actual iChat conversation:
daved: What does Ray have to say?
catshepherd: Juei has a stupid meeting
catshepherd: I’m looking at the code while he’s in his meeting
catshepherd: We’ll look at it together at 4
catshepherd: But my hope for a quick fix is diminishing
catshepherd: The jury’s not out yet though
daved: you mean still out
catshepherd: Yeah
catshepherd: Karenism
catshepherd: She gets me saying them sometimes too
The love of my life, Karen, has a habit of coining her own words and phrases. They are an amalgam of malapropisms and neologisms, with her own unique imprint. They are so uniquely characteristic of her that I call them Karenisms.
In previous entries I have talked about them. Karen knows this, and she accuses me of habitually picking on her. Actually, she usually says, “They make perfect sense to me, I don’t know what your problem is.” I have always enjoyed them.
However, today I found myself quite subconsciously using one of them in an iChat with my colleague Dave. I wanted to indicate to him, in a pithy and colloquial way, that the outcome was not yet certain. I probably meant to say “the jury is still out” — but I did not. Instead, a Karenism invaded my speech. Without thinking I wrote, “The jury is not out yet.” My colleague Dave, an analytical and clear-thinking fellow, pointed out my error. Juries, when undecided, are “out”. When they have decided, they are “back.” To say “the jury is not out yet” makes no sense.
I explained all of this to Karen over dinner. She said, “It makes perfect sense to me. I don’t know what your problem is.”
August 27th, 2004 at 11:55 pm
At first, I thought this particular Karenism was a case of the particular northern-european mixing of “yet” and “still” that I so frequently encounter with my relatives-in-law from Minnesota and thereabouts.
In which case, a version like “the jury’s yet out,” would make perfect sense.
In exactly the same way that “I threw over the cow the fence some hay,” makes perfect sense in the parts of Lancaster County, PA where my college German TA did his thesis work.
August 31st, 2004 at 11:23 am
Brother, I think saying, “The Jury’s not out yet”
makes sense.
Think about it.
BEFORE the jury is out, they are still listening to the evidence of the case.
So, if evidence is still being gathered and presented, the jury would not be out. It would still be IN the court room hearing the case.
It is perfectly logical