Ambiguity, mixed metaphors and literal humour.

[Noba Loney]

Most of the time I'm not mislead by taking things too literally. It's more like part of my brain wants to present dad jokes based on ambiguity in language.

For instance, a can of soup that has "shake well before opening" written on it.

Now, I know what that is supposed to be conveying, but at the same time I can't help reading it as either an instruction to shake one's body before opening the can, or to shake the can a week before opening it.

Hilarious stuff I'm sure you'll agree.

Recently however, this frankly odd mixed metaphor did get me for a moment, and ironically it appears as part of a list of supposed autistic traits.

"Eats outdated norms for breakfast."

My first thoughts are - porridge is quite normal I suppose, but is it outdated? What sort of breakfast are they talking about here?

Actually, it's a good little list but I'm still not quite sure what that one means.

 

[onlything]

My first thought was 'Are norms some kind of food I never heard of and why would one eat them outdated?'. Then it was 'Maybe it's like with alcohol or something' and 'Maybe it was supposed to be worms but still a weird idea...' and then just slight amusement when I got the meaning.

It was similar with the 'Is fascinated by dates' in one of the tests I took. The thought went like 'Nah, they're too sweet', then into puzzlement about the dates of any kind in general and how they are made, then realisation that it's probably not about food but either meetings or days... Huh.

Somehow it's all about food these days.

So... You're not the only one!

Meaning? Possibly something about rejecting norms we consider outdated (being blunt while discussing them)?

 

[Fino]

What's an "outdated norm?" Maybe it means that this person "does" "outdated norms" a lot, the "eating for breakfast" part meant to convey that they do whatever it is on a daily basis. Lots of "outdated norms."

 

[GadAbout]

It's a typo. It should have read, "eats outdated worms for breakfast."

 

[Kalinychta]

“Eats outdated norms for breakfast“—this has to contain at least one typo. It makes no sense.

 

[Noba Loney]

It probably seems even stranger out of context. The list takes the form - "qualities an autistic person has."

It's from a Tweet promoting a product / service that I'm not promoting (or have anything to do with).

Here's the rest, though. Not into associating "autistic intelligence" with AI even if by way of a positive comparison.

Prefers serious content over trivia
Spots patterns & inconsistencies
Eats outdated norms for breakfast
No nonsense, task focused
Dependable
Quickly assimilates knowledge of subjects
Artificial Intelligence of the future?
No, Autistic Intelligence today...duh

 

[Noba Loney]

My first thought was 'Are norms some kind of food I never heard of and why would one eat them outdated?' Then it was 'Maybe it's like with alcohol or something' and 'Maybe it was supposed to be worms but still a weird idea...'.

You know, I pretty much did exactly this as well. Are norms a kind of breakfast cereal I'm not familiar with? How can it be outdated? Maybe there was cocaine in it.

 

[NothingToSeeHere]

"Eats outdated norms for breakfast."

I'm normally pretty good with metaphors but I have no clue what this is supposed to mean. "Outdated norms"= old fashioned social norms I guess, things like old fashioned language use, thinking that women should be house wives and men are the head of the household, racism and homophobia... To "eat something for breakfast" [metaphor] is to deal with or defeat something easily. The sentence makes absolutely no sense.

 

[Gracey]

I don't remember eating norms this morning ?


I've checked the printed list of ingredients on the cereal box,

absolutely no norms were harmed in the creation and packaging of my cereal.

 

[Streetwise]

Most of the time I'm not mislead by taking things too literally. It's more like part of my brain wants to present dad jokes based on ambiguity in language.

For instance, a can of soup that has "shake well before opening" written on it.

Now, I know what that is supposed to be conveying, but at the same time I can't help reading it as either an instruction to shake one's body before opening the can, or to shake the can a week before opening it.

Hilarious stuff I'm sure you'll agree.

Recently however, this frankly odd mixed metaphor did get me for a moment, and ironically it appears as part of a list of supposed autistic traits.

"Eats outdated norms for breakfast."

My first thoughts are - porridge is quite normal I suppose, but is it outdated? What sort of breakfast are they talking about here?

Actually, it's a good little list but I'm still not quite sure what that one means.

i’ve been exposed to somebody who studied English literature for degree level they were sarcastic a certain amount of the time you get brainwashed by it it becomes your culture eats outdated norms for breakfast is based on the idea of you can do whatever you want to do ,you are strong enough ,at the root is insecurity , A lot of the time it is sarcasm ,based on insecurity again

 

[Progster]

Should have checked the sell by date.

 

[Noba Loney]

Another common one - a sign on a door to a building that says "keep closed at all times."

This is going to make entering or exiting rather difficult.

On the one hand, why is my brain such a pedant. On the other, it's a silly phrase if you don't actually mean ALL times.

 

[onlything]

Another common one - a sign on a door to a building that says "keep closed at all times."

This is going to make entering or exiting rather difficult.

On the one hand, why is my brain such a pedant. On the other, it's a silly phrase if you don't actually mean ALL times.

Signs and rules are one thing that would often get me in trouble with other people, ironically. As a child I was quite a pedant concerning them and even now I get uncomfortable 'breaking' this kind of rules. People ignore them all the time in social or work situation and a balancing act leading to understanding of when exactly the signs and rules are to be ignored is exhausting...

If you obey, you'll be rejected. If you break them, you'll be rejected. There are specific situation when each is implemented but it's difficult to learn about what and when.

And then you make a faux pas and there is only damage control left to do. Like the other day at work when I felt stressed enough to stim and my manager caught me - thankfully it was small enough to be forgotten after some good work later that night but... Eh.

 

[the_tortoise]

“I eat ______ for breakfast” means (as far as I know) “I am stronger than/can overcome/can win against _______”.

So perhaps “Eats ______ for breakfast “ is a version of “I eat _______ for breakfast” and in the case of “outdated norms” means the person defies or overcomes outdated social expectations.

 

[Mary Terry]

Animal crackers, Girl Scout cookies, Mississippi mud pie, Whoopie pie, Bubble & Squeak, Spotted Dick, Stinky Bishop, and Headcheese. Yum!

 

[Fino]

To "eat something for breakfast" [metaphor] is to deal with or defeat something easily.

Say what! I thought it meant to do something often. Ha!

 

[unperson]

We're from the department of wave-making and it's a don't-make-waves world.

 

[Kalinychta]

It’s cruel to say a thing like “eats outdated norms for breakfast” to autistic people, because we’ll spend the next 5,000 years trying to decide what it means. Whoever came up with that has a real mean streak.

 

[Streetwise]

It’s cruel to say a thing like “eats outdated norms for breakfast” to autistic people, because we’ll spend the next 5,000 years trying to decide what it means. Whoever came up with that has a real mean streak.

Don't worry it just means they're being cruel, they don't like the way we speak so they are sarcastic about it.

 

[AnnadinNoliman]

Another common one - a sign on a door to a building that says "keep closed at all times."

One of my favorite jokes is by Demitri Martin who read a sign like that and said "dude, you're thinking of a wall!".

On a similar note this morning I had breakfast at a restaurant and they offered a "hungry man breakfast" and I realized I could emphasize it to sound like a "hungry-man breakfast" as in a breakfast meant for a hungry man. But I could also just as easily say "hungry man-breakfast", as in a man-breakfast that is hungry. It was very funny.