Talking about the concept of metaphors has really interested me, and made me more aware of metaphors I am exposed to in my day to day life. One specific variant that I find to be interesting is the use of memes as metaphors. More specifically, I’d like to discuss quotes and screenshots taken from short videos that were uploaded on the social media app Vine. In communities I’m a part of online, as well as with my friends I have in real life, I noticed how much we’re able to get across by just showing a picture or saying a quick phrase. At one point I was discussing it with a friend, and I compared it to an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (This is the second time I’ve gotten the opportunity to write about Star Trek for this class, and I am over the moon about it.) titled “Darmok,” where Captain Picard is stranded on a planet with an alien whose language is based entirely upon allegories based on his culture’s history and mythology. Equating this communication to be a bunch of overblown references to online culture amused me to no end. In the case of screenshots of Vines used as reaction images, one of my favorites is one taken from a video of a man driving down a street and passing a “Road work ahead” sign. The looks into the camera and sarcastically says, “Road work ahead? Uh, yeah, I sure hope it does!” This has lead to people posting this still of the video, basically saying in shorthand, “Yes, that is the intended way that things should be working, and I hope they continue to work as such.” In the case of quoiting vines in verbal or textual conversation, one that delights myself and many others is a reference to a vine where the person recording walks into a room singing “I want to see my little boy,” where another man is holding a cat that seems to halfheartedly struggle out of his arms. The man holding the cat exclaims, “Here he comes!” on beat to the cameraman’s song, who then repeats his chorus. One singing or typing “I want to see my little boy” is often used to refer to one’s pets, friends, or favorite characters, expressing joy and perhaps some sort of nurturing feelings. These references can be looked at to be a mixture of slang and jargon, These work as slang as they are mostly used within communities of younger people who were aware of Vine when it was still running, and jargon as it requires special knowledge gained from watching the videos to understand. As silly as it may appear to be, I truly love the kind of culture that the Internet and Vine has brought to the table. I like to think we’ve made our own modern form of allegories and hieroglyphics in the form of quotes and reaction images that we’ve gathered and understood over shared experiences that could never happen without the internet.
0 Comments
“Burning bridges” means to cut ties with someone or something even though it might be beneficial to know in the future. The somewhat violent imagery lends itself to showing the negative connotation of this phrase.
A combination of the first two that I’ve heard more frequently in recent years is “I’ll burn that bridge when I get to it.” It’s used to describe an event that will be a large problem in the future. In my experience, it’s used humorously. This combination requires not only understanding of the humor involved, but also knowledge of both proverbs. “Nair” is a term used in the Super Smash Brothers player community to describe a simple attack done while the character is jumping in the air. Jargon used to describe actions in the game such as “nair” shows the user is a member of the community, and can easily talk about those actions in succinct ways that outsiders might have trouble understanding. List of metaphors: ”I’ll cross the bridge when I get to it” is a proverb that implies that the user will not worry about something until it becomes relevant. “Don’t burn your bridges” means that it’s unwise to cut ties with someone or something that might be beneficial to know in the future. The somewhat violent imagery lends itself to showing the negative connotation of this phrase. “I’ll burn that bridge when I get to it.” means that the user is anticipating an event in the future that will go badly. It requires understanding of “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it” and “Don’t burn your bridges.” “Nair” is a term to describe a simple attack done in the air in the Super Smash Brothers series of video games. It’s used by people who are at least somewhat well versed in the community of the playerbase. “Eating like a bird” means to eat very little. It might apply to how a bird will peck at their food, seemingly not eating very much. “Time is money” means that the user feels that their time is valuable, and wasting it is the same as wasting money. It can be used in annoyance of something that someone feels to be a waste of their time. There are a number of rituals that schoolchildren will do the night before a school day for good luck in the hopes that they will get a snow day. The children have superstitions that these actions will lead to a snow day. “Slow and steady wins the race” is a parable in reference to the story of the tortoise and the hare. It implies that taking the time to work hard at something is more rewarding than doing it quickly, ending with a shoddy job. “The cat’s out of the bag” refers to a piece of information that was at once secret, but is now known by all involved parties. “We’re not laughing at you, we’re laughing with you.” This is often said after some blunder or social faux pas that everyone else in the vicinity finds humorous. It can at times be said sincerely, as the people laughing truly meant to ill will, but it can also be insincere and a way to save face. “I’ll burn that bridge when I get to it,” is a proverb that I’ve heard being used in recent years. It is a combination of the first two proverbs I have listed, “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it” and “Don’t burn your bridges.” It’s said when the user knows that there is an event that will happen sometime in the future, and that they’re convinced that they will not handle it well. Occasionally I’ll hear it being used humorously, jokingly implying that the user will deal with the problem in a violent or otherwise overactive way. This proverb requires the understanding of the two it is based on, as well as the understanding of the humor behind it. The groups who use this phrase might be knowingly flippant and humorous about it. It might be used more often by younger generations, as it’s origin seems to be a post on the blogging website Tumblr that’s popular with adolescents and young adults. Because of this, it might be a combination of slang and proverb. As a proverb, the people who understand it can “instantly extract information about human concerns” (10). But as it’s used by younger generations, it’s another way that “youth culture separates itself from adults” (11). “Nair” is a piece of jargon used within the community of people who play the video game series Super Smash Brothers. It’s a shortening of the phrase “Neutral air,” which refers to a simple attack done while the character is jumping or falling through the air. It’s a succinct way to describe a “neutral air attack” and would be difficult for anyone who is not familiar with the community to understand. Hickey’s explanation says that jargon is “the specialized language of a particular occupational group” (5). While playing a video game isn’t necessarily an occupation, I feel that the term is jargon rather than slang. Slang is used to “make language personal” and to “express our membership within a group.” “Nair” is a way to precisely and quickly describe a certain action within the game, which is used differently than common slang might be. It is also all but impossible for someone outside of the community to pick it up, or to even have a reason to use it anyway. Actions such as flushing an ice cube down the toilet, sleeping with one’s pajamas inside out, or any number of other seemingly nonsensical things are rituals that schoolchildren will go through in hopes that they will bring about a snow day. A ritual is “a stylized performance in which members of a group enact shared beliefs” (10). While they are done in each children’s own home, it is a pervasive superstition within the community in the school that these actions will be good luck. The types of effective actions can vary based on geographical locations. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
April 2019
Categories |