Both Gary and my families are from Florissant, a suburb of Saint Louis. (It is not pronounced “Fluorescent” but rather “FLOOR-ih-sent.” It’s French! French for “Valley of the Moms.”) It’s a middle-class suburb, and happily it’s becoming more and more diverse the older it gets.
So, Gary and I were driving to Florissant on Highway 270 in the inclement weather on Christmas Eve, and as we exited the off-ramp I said,
“Watch out for black ice.”
Gary was shocked for some reason. “What! What did you say?”
“Black ice. Watch out.”
“Ellen! You aren’t serious! You did not just say that!”
“What? Watch out for black ice? What’s wrong with that? You have to be careful.”
“Oh my GOD! What is wrong with you?”
Luckily, we both caught on and I started enunciating more clearly.
15 responses to “Road Conditions in Florissant”
Need some help with that one.
That? Is HILARIOUS. Exactly for how long did this go on?
.75 – Say black ice ten times fast.Catherine – Well, when I wrote it up I considered exaggerating. “No, Gary you have to watch out for black ice especially on the off ramps” but I decided not to because I’m already on thin (black) ice just reporting what happened. So the next thing was that I said “Black” (long pause) “ice.”
For the longest time, I thought Jimi Hendrix was saying “Excuse me while I kiss this guy” in Purple Haze.
Bwahahahah!I find it double amusing that while in your car, driving in such dangerous conditions, with your very lives in his steering wheeled hands, Gary still had the available attention to be diversity conscious, ethnicity sensitive, and politically correct. The man has brain power to spare!
At our department potluck last week, I would’ve sworn the department leader for recruiting said, “There was black guys everywhere!” I found this an especially odd statement coming from a black man as well as a man whose subjects and verbs generally agree. I asked him to repeat himself and was pretty embarassed when I realized what he said.
‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy. ~Jimi Hendrix (or what it?)
I’m slow on the uptake – it took me way too long to figure that out…
‘Scuse me while I kiss the sky.
People in my neck of the woods just use the N-word. ;)(Honestly, probably not any more. It’s a lot better than it used to be. … But I still like making fun of rednecks.)
Suebob – There’s a line in a Steven Page song, “Put your hand in mine, I’ll introduce you to my pets,” only I always thought it was “I’ll introduce you to my pants.”Sherri – Yes. He is a genius.Caroline – Did anyone else realiuze what you’d done?3- Luckily, I did not reply that it was Mick Jagger, even though I was convinced.magpie – I made it hard on purpose. I’m surprised anyone got it.Becs – You are the Jimi Hendrox expert, since you saw him live.Ajooja- ah, that’s right, you live south.
Queen – er, no, I never did see him live. I was, like, 13 during Woodstock. There are a couple of books out about mis-heard lyrics. http://www.amazon.com/Scuse-While-Kiss-This-Guy/dp/0671501283/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230467477&sr=1-1And even a website:http://www.kissthisguy.com/
Becs- I think I’ve been to kissthisguy! Thats a good site.
Kissthisguy.com is a really funny site. They have a huge database of misheard lyrics and even have some audio clips that are funny!
Tito – I have heard to same from many sources.