said. After a littlewhile, I got to thinking what would happen if I answered theirquestions literally - so I did. The first of many similarconversations was as follows.
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Customer. "How long is your next taxi?" Me. “About 4 yards.”Customer. "What?" Me. "About 4 yards." Customer. “What the ****are you talking about?" Me. "You asked me how long my next taxiwould be and I told you about 4 yards" Customer. "You knew whatI meant" Me. "Yes but I answered your actual question."Customer. " **********!! " Puts the phone down. (I didn't have ataxi available anyway!)
I find it fascinating that in all walks of life people uselanguage the same way. They rarely say exactly what they meanclearly and concisely. This is everyone's fault including my ownbecause I'm occasionally as guilty as the next person for notsaying what I mean, but we let it happen firstly because we knowand understand what people are saying when they speak to us;secondly because we've got lazy.
Language has always been constantly changing and developingbecause that's what language does; so who knows what extra funyou will be able to have with it in say five or ten years. Inthe meantime, try and bear one thing in mind - the next time youorder a taxi, ask about the availability of one - and not itsexternal measurements.
About the author:I am a proofreader of hard copy items and website copy. I alsowrite web copy.
