Wednesday, June 10, 2009

ripe

i was thinking about the word "ripe" today, and how it captures such an epic event: the moment in which something is at its peak before it goes to rot. when we say "the moment was ripe" we mean the time to act has come because it is the optimal time, where our endeavours have the best chance at succeeding. and yet at that same moment, we say "that shit was ripe", an understanding that optimal time is ephemeral and soon it will be over-ripe. that usage is being lost i think as we begin to confuse moments in our minds. ripe is colliding with over-ripe. if you were around an excessively sweaty person, would you think he smelled ripe? or over-ripe? and when the scent of sex is in the air, is that not also ripe? i have the texture of many avocados remembered in my hands as i have sought the perfect ripeness. that moment in time. the ripe time.

3 comments:

  1. Interesting blog Mo! I’m not sure if the ‘optimum time’ use of the word "ripe" has... ripened (sorry). I believe we’ve used both definitions for quite some time, like the enduring phrase, “a ripe old age”, referring to someone past their peak.

    On another note, I'd like to ask a question of someone "who worships at the alter of words". The meanings for “I try always” and “I always try” are synonymous, hence there are no rules as to whether the verb precedes the adverb or, more commonly, the adverb precedes the verb here. Can you tell me why you chose to write “I try always”? Why this stylistic choice?

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  2. hey VTH:

    thanks for coming by and checking out the blog, and commenting too. it's been a while since we've done any sparring on mundane topics so i'm going to reject your example of "ripe old age" as usage of over-ripe, because i think the operative indicator over-ripe-ness in that trope is "old age" you are in the prime of old age. if that means over-ripe is contigent on old being in there. if somebody said "ripe age" i wouldn't hazard a guess, but the urban dictionary has 18 as the number for ripeness, at least for females.

    and your comment about "i try always" is an interesting one. i don't deny it was deliberate. however, i frowned over it. i have this theory that my brain, and english have been influenced by growing up listening to my parents speaking portuguese, and that has been at war with the influence of the english literature i have read, and that my speech patterns have evolved this pidgin by having me structure english phrases in portuguese ways. i'm not certain of it because i haven't studied portuguese grammar closely enough. but recently i read a book by a brazilian author in english, called epitaph for a small winner by jose machado assis, and the whole time i was reading it, it felt familiar, like i'd read it before. i did wonder if it was because the translated portuguese was resonating to me in the same way that my own language does, in other words, i think i'm writing english with a portuguese phraseology. having known me for as long as you have, and having taken some spanish lessons, and being in a relationship with somebody who speaks english as a second language, what do you think?

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  3. hey VTH:

    thanks for coming by and checking out the blog, and commenting too. it's been a while since we've done any sparring on mundane topics so i'm going to reject your example of "ripe old age" as usage of over-ripe, because i think the operative indicator over-ripe-ness in that trope is "old age" you are in the prime of old age. if that means over-ripe is contigent on old being in there. if somebody said "ripe age" i wouldn't hazard a guess, but the urban dictionary has 18 as the number for ripeness, at least for females.

    and your comment about "i try always" is an interesting one. i don't deny it was deliberate. however, i frowned over it. i have this theory that my brain, and english have been influenced by growing up listening to my parents speaking portuguese, and that has been at war with the influence of the english literature i have read, and that my speech patterns have evolved this pidgin by having me structure english phrases in portuguese ways. i'm not certain of it because i haven't studied portuguese grammar closely enough. but recently i read a book by a brazilian author in english, called epitaph for a small winner by jose machado assis, and the whole time i was reading it, it felt familiar, like i'd read it before. i did wonder if it was because the translated portuguese was resonating to me in the same way that my own language does. i think that is the only reason that booked seemed so familiar. having known me for as long as you have, and having taken some spanish lessons, and being in a relationship with somebody who speaks english as a second language, what do you think?

    ReplyDelete