0
Feathers Posted 19 years ago
Vocabulary
Conundrum
Hello there -- I have two questions today.
(1) In Dilbert by Scott Adams (its block calendar, Sep 22), Dogbert, as an ethics hotline manager, answers the phone this way:
(2) While checking my dictionary, I found the following example of the word "conundrum" in Wordbank -- and got baffled by the conundrum itself. So, please help me to understand the following sentences.
(1) In Dilbert by Scott Adams (its block calendar, Sep 22), Dogbert, as an ethics hotline manager, answers the phone this way:
-- This is Dogbert. Please state your conundrum.My first question is: is it normal to use the word "conundrum" casually, like this? Instead of "problem"?
(2) While checking my dictionary, I found the following example of the word "conundrum" in Wordbank -- and got baffled by the conundrum itself. So, please help me to understand the following sentences.
One just hopes nobody sets him any more Lewis Carroll-style conundrums by way of a lark -- "If you devide a loaf of bread by a knife, what's the answer?" -- or we shall all rue the day.??
Top answer
" However, the very nature of an ethics delimna is that you don't know what to do, creating a conundrum. Part of the humor in the strip is that Dogbert is the least ethical "people" (since he's a dog) you will ever encounter. Don't worry about the Lewis Carroll example.
- " However, the very nature of an ethics delimna is that you don't know what to do, creating a conundrum.
- Part of the humor in the strip is that Dogbert is the least ethical "people" (since he's a dog) you will ever encounter.
- Don't worry about the Lewis Carroll example.
- A lot of Alice in Wonderland has nonsense in it.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
8 Answers
0
Hi Feathers,
No, in everyday speech, we say "problem." However, the very nature of an ethics delimna is that you don't know what to do, creating a conundrum. Part of the humor in the strip is that Dogbert is the least ethical "people" (since he's a dog) you will ever encounter.
Don't worry about the Lewis Carroll example. A lot of Alice in Wonderland has nonsense in it.
No, in everyday speech, we say "problem." However, the very nature of an ethics delimna is that you don't know what to do, creating a conundrum. Part of the humor in the strip is that Dogbert is the least ethical "people" (since he's a dog) you will ever encounter.
Don't worry about the Lewis Carroll example. A lot of Alice in Wonderland has nonsense in it.
00
Grammar GeekHi Feathers,Hi GG! I see.. If I knew it was not usual to use "conun
No, in everyday speech, we say "problem." However, the very nature of an ethics delimna is that you don't know what to do, creating a conundrum. Part of the humor in the strip is that Dogbert is the least ethical "people" (since he's a dog) you will ever encounter.
00
Well, yes, I love Dilbert. There's a strip hanging in my office right now about how marketing people make products sound.
I really like Lewis Carroll, but remember that he wrote his stories for a little girl, and children laugh at nonsense. At the tea party with the Mad Hatter, you can become thoroughly confused by the conversation!
I really like Lewis Carroll, but remember that he wrote his stories for a little girl, and children laugh at nonsense. At the tea party with the Mad Hatter, you can become thoroughly confused by the conversation!
00
Hi again! I don't seem to understand this part... Can I take it literally?
Grammar Geek... how marketing people make products soundGG, I'm going to read Lewis Carroll, to see if I can recognize nonsense as nonsense. I think I have one somewhere...
00
One just hopes nobody sets him any more Lewis Carroll-style conundrums by way of a lark -- "If you devide a loaf of bread by a knife, what's the answer?" -- or we shall all rue the day.
__________
"Translation":
We hope that no one will present him with any more riddles in the style of Lewis Carroll in an effort to find amusement in it, because if they do, we
__________
"Translation":
We hope that no one will present him with any more riddles in the style of Lewis Carroll in an effort to find amusement in it, because if they do, we
00
I missed that play of words, totally. My eyes are watery now -- I laughed too much!
CJ, you are just amazing....(sigh)...!! Thank you so much for your help!
PS. I wasn't sure about "by way of a lark," so I'm grateful for your full translation, too.
CJ, you are just amazing....(sigh)...!! Thank you so much for your help!
PS. I wasn't sure about "by way of a lark," so I'm grateful for your full translation, too.
00
From the beginning of Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf:
"Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself. ... What a lark! What a plunge! ..."
A lark is a seeking of amusement or adventure.
(In a totally different meaning it's a kind of bird!)
CJ
"Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself. ... What a lark! What a plunge! ..."
A lark is a seeking of amusement or adventure.
(In a totally different meaning it's a kind of bird!)
CJ
00
"Divide a loaf by a knife: whats the answer to that?"
The answer, as given by the Red Queen, is quite clearly bread-and-butter. Not some silly metaphor for numbers.
The answer, as given by the Red Queen, is quite clearly bread-and-butter. Not some silly metaphor for numbers.
0
Related Questions