Literal Thinking - Who has it?

[Fino]

There's many a slip between the butter and the fish

These all make so much sense too me! More sense than the actual ones! What does that mean!?

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

These all make so much sense too me! More sense than the actual ones! What does that mean!?

You know what it means.

Just like the broth one. You wrote it out.

 

[Thinx]

It means that they are autistically crafted

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

These all make so much sense too me! More sense than the actual ones! What does that mean!?

In parts of england the farmers fields run almost down to the sea.
In South shields ,renowned for it's diary farms and next to the north sea, many work as fishermen as well as in the butter industry.
One wonders if the taste of the butter is extra salty as the result if the fishermen, working on the butter.
There's many a slip became known locally from everyday life, those guys working hard on two jobs. Making mistakes,not sure which way is up sometimes.
There's many a slip between the butter and the fish.

 

[Suzanne]

Same! It was my husband who pointed it out to me and I laughed and then he gave a few examples and off I went, to do some research and had the: ahha moment.

There is one saying that I have changed, because it distresses me. Save two birds with one net ( stone). I see the poor birds being hurt and worse and so, it hurts when I hear people say it.

I also say: I rather be a butterfly on the wall ( this is when you would love to be invisable in order to hear what is going on).

There was one time, when my hubby was cuddling me in bed, but I needed the toilet and said so and he said: don't go. I thought: oh no, how can I go to the toilet with him cuddling me? I then, sort of shook my head and realised it was just a way of saying: stay for a bit.

I think I have improved, since becoming aware of being a literal thinker.

 

[Fino]

In parts of england the farmers fields run almost down to the sea.
In South shields ,renowned for it's diary farms and next to the north sea, many work as fishermen as well as in the butter industry.
One wonders if the taste of the butter is extra salty as the result if the fishermen, working on the butter.
There's many a slip became known locally from everyday life, those guys working hard on two jobs. Making mistakes,not sure which way is up sometimes.
There's many a slip between the butter and the fish.

So this one is real??

 

[Fino]

You know what it means.

Just like the broth one. You wrote it out.

Whaaa!? Are you saying I originally wrote both?

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

So this one is real??

My rule is :

As soon as I say it it's real.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

Whaaa!? Are you saying I originally wrote both?

You wrote out what you thought it meant .
So it may as well mean that.

I'm guessing you didn't work the butter and the fish back in the day.

 

[Fino]

My rule is :

As soon as I say it it's real.

When I say "real," I'm wondering if I can say it to people and they'll know what I mean or if it'll just affirm what they already think about me.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

When I say "real," I'm wondering if I can say it to people and they'll know what I mean or if it'll just affirm what they already think about me.

Worth a try

 

[SusanLR]

I can't think of a funny incident either, but, I never stop to think something is not literal.
When people say something of ask something that is meant to be funny and not real,
I'll start seriously answering them and get stopped with, " it was meant to be just
kidding with you." Or it was meant to be a joke.

So I'm always left thinking why don't you mean what you say and say what you mean?
I do!

 

[Progster]

On the other hand, I don't think NTs get metaphors as well as they think they do. They don't come naturally to them, either. The difference is that when they learn the meaning, the metaphorical meaning stays in their noggins while the literal meaning seems to fade into the background.

This is true. Students learning foreign languages need to be taught the meanings of idioms and metaphors, or they often won't understand them. And when they hear a new one for the first time, it seems strange or funny to them.

I'm a visual thinker and take longer to process words for meaning, so it is the visual image that 'hits' my brain first, and that is what I react to emotionally.

At school, in the English literature class, we were given poems and ask to provide our own interpretation of them. I was absolutely hopeless at this, I couldn't do it at all. I still struggle with metaphorical or abstract thinking. Humour, particularly banter, and detecting sarcasm can be difficult for me.

I also often misinterpret texts. For example, I ordered something online, and the seller's instructions were that if I wanted a tracking number, I need to ask. So I paid for the item and for shipping. The packet took a long time to arrive, so I asked for the tracking number so I could see where the packet was. Turns out that he actually meant that I need to ask for insured or tracked shipping, but I understood literally the number.

 

[Gracey]

In so much that words create a picture, moving or otherwise in my mind.
Usually dragged up from storage. (Memory)

“Over the moon”

Initially I’m searching my memory with the phrase “over the moon”

In a nursery rhyme a cow jumped ‘Over the moon’

In real life, NASA build equipment to land on planets, including the moon.

To be anywhere near the moon one would need specialist equipment and breathing apparatus.

To listen to someone use the expression
“I’m over the moon”
Initially Conjures up an image of them in astronaut suit floating over the moon.

To me this is highly entertaining because they work on the customer service desk at Asda and really aren’t an astronaut on their days off

So it cannot mean what I think it means.

To watch their expression and body language, listen to tone and other words used would indicate they are delighted, very pleased, joyous, uplifted, high (?) euphoric.

Then to listen to them continue,

“I’m over the moon, absolutely made up”
“Made up” - best frock, full make up, great shade of ‘lippy’ and killer stilettos.

So we have an astronaut wearing her best frock under the suit, tottering along in killer stilettos, carrying her helmet under her arm lest her hairstyle be ruined for the cameras...

At this point I might tell myself to stop being ridiculous but am highly amused non the less.
(I love the way my brain works )

 

[Gracey]

@Anarkitty,

“An arrow to the knee”

For me, Created a scene of injury, man-drama, rolling around on the floor clutching the injury together with the facial expressions of an injured football player,
Olde worlde paramedics running on with their brown, germ riddled stretcher to carry off the patient.

Exclamations of “esquire down! Lord Twilliflip of Aremeth down” proclaimed from a scroll...

I’ll stop there

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

killer stilettos

Don't get too friendly...

man-drama

is this a bit like 'manstruation'?

Which covers all the horrendous problems of just being a man..

usually rolled up into a big man-drama involving the flu or having a valid and entirely valid reason for being drunk.

At the same time as having everything done for you, your whole life, which is dismissed as being insignificant, because 'man.' and the man might have the sniffles.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

At this point I might tell myself to stop being ridiculous but am highly amused non the less

I have highly offended people before by smirking, laughing, they assume it is at them.

It is more likely to be a similar kind of mental situation as yours...

though not quite as impressive

 

[Mia]

I like it, but I didn't find it funny.

Neither do I find it funny, I like it as well. Anarkitty you are not missing the point, it's as I'm sure you know it's a moment in time, an instance of reflection, perception. Some modern poetry is exactly that. My husband finds it funny, because he has certain stolid, fixed ideas of what poetry is, anything that deviates is to be ignored.

 

[Monachopia]

I'm probably somewhat of an anomaly, but I don't have a problem with literal thinking. Maybe growing up in a country where language is used somewhat loosely taught me from an early age that words aren't always meant to be taken at face value. Russian is very colourful in descriptions often relying on metaphors, sarcasm and sayings to get the point across in pretty much every sentence. English is a lot more rigid and sayings and sarcasm are used sparingly.

I still get visual images of phrases like "throw the baby out with the bath water" or as the already mentioned example "tongue in cheek", but I think everyone visualises them to some extent whether they're on the spectrum or not.

Sometimes English can be harder to guess, in terms of someone's intentions, but common sense and a little thinking on my part usually is the way to go.

 

[Mia]

A perfect example: 'She cut off her nose, to spite her face'. Ugh, no matter how many times in my life I've heard this saying (less so in the last ten years, as older people used the term) I visualize her cutting off her nose. Understand the meaning, of what the phrase is meant to convey. Yet each time it's recited, there is a visual of a female cutting off her nose.