“I just love the word ‘asymptote’. I mean, how many words have ‘m-p-t’ in them?”
– John, after just having used “asymptotically” in a sentence at lunch with Dave

“Um… ’empty’?”
– Dave, John’s best-work-friend (or work-best-friend, or… whetever), after about five seconds of thought

“Okay, other than that one…”
– John, somewhat embarrassed

“Scrumptious?”
– Dave, again after about five seconds of thought

“Okay, okay…”
– John, giving in

“My name is Humpty, pronounced with a Umpty…”
– Dave, singing, refusing to accept my surrender

“Okay, so anyway, as we were saying…”
– John, dragging the conversation back on track

Dave nods to acknowledge that we can continue the conversation and abandon the hunt for “m-p-t” words

“You’re still thinking, aren’t you…”
– John, after another five second pause, exasperated but laughing

“Verklempt?”
– Dave, now laughing as well, secure in his total verbal domination of the moment

(The following items were heard back in February 2009, written on our wipe-off board, photographed from there with my camera-phone, then quickly forgotten about. I just found them again and now present them here for your enjoyment.)

Apparently, Olympics >> American team-sports

“Is the USA in yellow?”
– One of the girls, while watching Super Bowl 43 (Being a Pittsburgh fan, I told her “Yes”.)

And if it’s the Super Bowl, where are the pins?

“Is this football?”
– One of the girls, again, while watching the Super Bowl

“Is what football?”
– John, wondering what they could possibly be missing

“What we’re watching.”
– Same girl

“Yes, this is football.”
– John, thinking “I’ve shown them this before, haven’t I?”

“Then why are they throwing it with their hands?”
– Same girl, apparently having been exposed to the term “football” more often in another, more international context.

Well, she’s got a point…

“It’s snowing and we bought ice cream! What kind of weirdos are we?”
– John, pointing out the irony of the situation

“We’re Straffins!”
– Amanda, pointing out a thorough understanding of her weirdo heritage

“Should I bake? I should sew, though. No! No. I’m not going to sew right now… I’m too tired. I’ll bake…”
– Venus (aka “Shannon”)

(In a stereotypical American Indian “How!” sort of voice) “I am too tired to use sharp things, therefore I will use fire!”
– Mars (aka “John”)

(Tired giggles… for the next two minutes…)
– Venus

“One-Minnesota, Two-Minnesota, Three-Minnesota…”
– Amanda (shortly followed by Emily saying the same thing), showing preference for the mid-western state over the traditionally-used and southern “Mississippi”…

“Well… color me crazy then…”
– John

“Sorry sweetie, I used up that crayon a loooong time ago.”
– Shannon

“Mama, what is ‘alidocious’?”
– Amanda, practicing at the piano

“What do you mean?”
– Mama, who has never heard of “alidocious”

“Well, in the song it says ‘super-cali-fra-gi-list-ic-MAKES-ME-alidocious’, and I just wondered what that makes me.”
– Amanda, succumbing to her penchant for reading the first part of a word and guessing at the rest when faced with “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”.

“If it’s already fixed, don’t baroque it!”
– Amanda, further warping the already warped quote from Beauty and the Beast’s Cogsworth: “If it’s not baroque, don’t fix it!”

“We should be putting something on your scar every time you turn around”
— Mama, dabbing ointment on Emily’s keloid scar to try to soften it

“Good grief! I need to walk in straight lines!”
— Emily, very amused at her own joke

In the middle of a discussion between Daddy and the girls on how whining only works when parents give in…

“So… why do children continue to whine at the park or the museum… ?”
– Daddy, trying to prompt the girls to arrive at the answer “Because their parents give them what they want when they do”

“Because they never want to come back there again!”
– Amanda, showing that she understands that lesson, anyway 🙂

“I have an idea what, Daddy!”
– Emily, indicating that she may have the answer to a now forgotten question

“What?! What?! What?! What?! What?!”
– Amanda, indicating that she can be rather annoying when she wants to be

“What’re you, a duck?”
– Daddy, indicating to Amanda that she is indeed being annoying

“AMANDUCK!”
– Emily, indicating that she’s developing quite a sense of humor

“No, she’s a girl duck!”
– Mama, indicating that Emily probably got that sense of humor from her