Another linguistic question

[angus]

I like 'em too.  And kippers.  And tuna.  But not anchovies.

Sardines and anchovies and kippers come in a tin.

tuna, like salmon, often comes in a can.

but good tuna comes fresh and cut into a big steak.


Always sit next to a vegetarian at a dinner party.  You'll get two servings!

[angus]

if you need an emily post style rhyming scheme, you can rhyme can with brands.  (use can instead of tin in that case, take some artistic liberty, and the skew-rhyme won't offend the anglophone sense)

change a brand
open a can
sardine's in hand
Sam, I am.

like that. 

yeah, facing the sea implies that you face the sea while you open the tin (usually a little metal ring soldered, or affixed with a brad, serves as the opening mechanism).

but if you want to make sure the reader has the sense that the sardine tin, and not necessarily the opener, faces the sea, you can say, "...longing for the open ocean of his childhood, as we all do, the sardine wills the man to open the tin toward the sea..."

or something like that.

[angus]

mmmmmmmmm.   Brunswick!   mmmmmmmmmm.

[angus]

if you need an emily post style rhyming scheme, you can rhyme can with brands.  (use can instead of tin in that case, take some artistic liberty, and the skew-rhyme won't offend the anglophone sense)

change a brand
open a can
sardine's in hand
Sam, I am.

like that. 

yeah, facing the sea implies that you face the sea while you open the tin (usually a little metal ring soldered, or affixed with a brad, serves as the opening mechanism).

but if you want to make sure the reader has the sense that the sardine tin, and not necessarily the opener, faces the sea, you can say, "...longing for the open ocean of his childhood, as we all do, the sardine wills the man to open the tin toward the sea..."

or something like that.

Suddenly, I'm dying for sardines. But all I have are potatoes and sausage.

Anyway, it's the sardine that wants the tin to be opened. So I guess it should be toward the sea. DAMN! Is it "sea" or "ocean"? What's the difference? Is "sea" a more poetic word?

Is this perfect English? (Skärholmen is a subway station in Stockholm.)


The sardine in the subway

I don't want to wash myself with that soap.
I don't want to brush my teeth with that toothbrush.
I don't want to lie in that sofa bed.
I feel no need for that toilet paper.
I'm not interested in that insurance.
I won't change into another cigarette brand.
I don't feel like watching that movie.
I refuse to get of at Skärholmen.

The sardine wants the tin to be opened toward the ocean.

sea alliterates nicely with sardine, just as subway does.  change it to sea.  also, you mean "get off" not "get of"

I'm sure a more right-hemisphere oriented poster could help you, I'm a bit of a left-hemisphere geek myself, what with the interest in mathematics and such.  Maybe the Emperor will chime in.

[angus]

They come in a tin, damn it! Cans require an opener whereas a tin has that nifty little key to open those stinky little fish right up after you cut yourself first!

lidaker,

Note how NewFederalist uses "cut yourself" 

see the emphasis?!

This is exactly why you should say "wash myself"


Spanish and French have these 'reflexive verbs' such as irse and masturbarse, for example.  In english, we have to construct them from scratch, just like in all the Germanic languages.  So, yeah, go for it, as in:  Wash yourself, you dirty bastard!  (compare this to:  "Wash, you dirty bastard!"  See the difference?!)

"lavarte, cabron, lavarte!"
    --Comandante Che Guevara