Clean Lines
Lower it up.
When my children were younger if they wanted the music or a movie turned up they would say, “Lower it up, please.” It started with our oldest daughter and the phrase was handed down to the other two. My youngest still slips up and says it now and then. I love the phrase and I use it myself when they are in the car. They will roll their eyes at me because they are far too mature for such silliness these days, but I remember.
I was in the car today, I reached for the volume and thought about the phrase. First I’ll issue a warning. I’ve been listening to a lot of Grammar Girl podcasts, by a lot I mean I’ve moved onto back episodes. This could be added to my list of “issues” if it continues, but for now, I can’t get enough of her breaking down words and parts of speech and just…well, it’s invigorating.
So, today’s podcast was about irony and all the different types of irony. I had no idea there was Socratic Irony. For those of you who actually care, Socratic Irony is when you play a little dumb to get your audience to engage and think about the answer. Teachers use this when the say things like, “Why did JFK make that speech?” Get it? The teacher already knows the answer, but he/she wants the students to engage. That’s called Socratic Irony. See…totally invigorating.
I’m way off topic here, so I won’t even go into Cosmic Irony because that jumps into the realm of crazy exciting and I need to get back to “lower it up”. I was thinking maybe “lower it up” could be irony and then I decided it wasn’t, but it felt like something prophetic. Like a “from the mouths of babes” sort of thing. I paused Grammar Girl after I got gas and thought about this phrase. Maybe it has something to do with slowing things down so they become clearer or whispering is better than yelling.
As I pulled into my driveway I figured it out. “Lower it up” is just a cute way of saying “turn it up.” My daughter was little and wanted to sing along with the Spice Girls. She jumbled her words, that’s it.
Sometimes words are just words.
My thoughts from the laundry room. Clear Your Mind Before Bed.
children education expression family fun Grammar Girl kids life Parenting thoughts words children family fun Grammar Girl kids life self expression Socratic Irony thoughts Words
Reblogged this on Aberrant Lady.
You’re right, of course; sometimes words are just words. But as far as “lower it up” goes, everybody knows that if you want people to pay attention to what you’re saying, whisper it.
Interesting (to me, anyway) side note: I did some substitute teaching at an elementary school a few years back & was surprised to hear the kids, playing kickball at recess, calling for a “re-over”–apparently a hybrid word formed from the concepts of “re-do” and “do-over”.
Re-over is great. I think children just spit it out and if other children get their meaning that’s all that matters. I was going down the path that my children were giving me some version of “speak softly and carry a big stick”, but thankfully they were just being kids. Thanks for the comment and the interesting (I thought so too) comment.