Rob has set me questions…
1. You’re a linguist right?
Right.
Which words, in whichever language, do you most like to say / hate to say?
French is a beautiful language to speak – everything sounds like honey (unless, of course, you speak French like the Reverend Knifton – but that’s another story). Absolutely my favourite French word – and there are a lot to choose from – would have to be something with a lot of ‘r’s – especially know I’ve managed to get them rrrrolling. But thinking about it, I really like the phrase “c’est tout ce que j’aime“. It looks ridiculously clunky when writen, but when spoken (properly), it sounds wonderful. And it fits Justin’s song.
Languages that I don’t like speaking – has to be German, I’m afraid, although there are plenty of really ugly Arabic phrases that we’ve been learning. I love the fact that German can make anything sound harsh – phrases like “meine Meinung nach” and “Umweltfiendlich” are left over from my GCSEs, and just sound ucky…
2. Do you have any hidden skills (ability to dislocate your legs, fart the star spangled banner, etc.) if so, what?
Umm, not really. I’m boring like that. I can eat my glasses, but that’s more thanks to the glasses than to me. Ooh, I can fit a whole bag of Maltesers (one of the medium size bags) in my mouth in one go (without the bag, obviously). There’s a funny story involving that and Chris Parker, which I may recount in future.
3. When you’ve answered these you have to interview five people. If you had the choice of interviewing 1 person from any point in history who would it be?
Ooh, tricky. There are loads of people I’d like to meet and interview. In true Blackadder stylee, I’d love to meet good ol’ Bill Shakespeare. And hit him. “Hours spent at school desks trying to find one joke in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Pah. On the other hand – I would genuinely like to ask him whether he truly intended his plays to be studied and analysed 400 years later, or whether (as I am fairly convinced is the case) he was just the Elizabethan equivalent of Eastenders.
4. I don’t know if you do already but if you could choose to play any instrument which would it be?
I don’t, but I wish I could. I did play the recorder in primary school for about a term. I was always stunned by this guy at school who played the drums – he was really quiet and fairly shy to talk to, but then when he got behind his drum kit, he was like Animal from Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. I would love to have the skill and confidence to do something like that.
5. Spit or Swallow?
What’s the point of spitting? Unless, of course, you’ve eaten something particularly unpallatable. Generally, though, swallowing is best. As long as you’ve chewed it for long enough. Otherwise you might choke. And that’s not good.
So, now I need five people to interview. Form an orderly queue here, please. I can think of two people who have been neglecting their blogs of late, so maybe they should have a go…? There are rules, by the way. – I’ve dumped them in the extended entry.
1. Leave me a comment saying “interview me”. The first five commenters will be the participants.
I will respond by asking you five questions.
You will update your blog/site with the answers to the questions.
You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions. (Write your own questions or borrow some.)
Capiche?
Interview me
Should be fun!