Jul 28 2006
waffle words
overheard phrase:
’so I was manually trying to delete 3 binaries from the drive’
wendy-ist deconstruction:
- so = popular US phrase opener that appears be shorthand for ‘this is what happened next’
- manually = an unoffensive gender biased word that appears to mean not using any fancy tools. rather than ‘men not using fancy tools’.
- delete = software technical jargon for ‘remove’
- binaries = things that can only have two states, like ‘true’ or ‘false’ rather then having a continuum of existence or any form or ambiguity.
- drive = some computer part, not something that you do in your car
phrase recast to wendy world:
‘this is what happened next i was not using any fancy tools to remove 3 things that can only have two states from some computer part.
born to waffle, that’s me!
waffle words
When used as an introduction, “so” often serves as a “scene setting” word. In other words, it’s short for “Allow me to take this opportunity to establish the context for the narrative that follows.” The interesting bit of the story is not the attempt to remove the files, but rather it’s what comes after.