Meaning of "taking things literally"

Post Reply New Topic

After enough years hearing the same idioms, they no longer bother me, unless Im under stress and a proper meaning (ie the details for which the idiom was used) would have been a better choice of words.

My problem is when people want you to believe the literal meaning, yet you should know better than believe them. Eg: when we were little children and mother used to drill into our heads that you have to be caring of others, I understood it literally. My siblings, though, understood the real meaning behind her words: "You have to pretend to care for others, while you seek only your own interests". My siblings, with this approach, are extremely successful socially, while I with my genuine caring of others live a life of isolation and pain.

I can definitely relate. I ran into lots of these problems as a kid in church ("Yes, but I don't think Jesus intended us to care about those people...") and with honesty in particular. I learned pretty quickly to keep my mouth shut around people if I didn't believe they could handle literal truths without a peppering of "white" lies. I'm chatty by nature but still find it hard to say anything around anyone I don't know well.

I think people continue to pass these things on because they know there is inherent value in them, even if they are unable to understand them completely or put them into practice. The actors are easy to spot, they play endless games of self-validation with each other ranging from "look how much better I am than you" to "everyone, please tell me I'm a good person!". I've found that truly caring people are free of these games, relaxed, and confident. I'd be willing to bet that your siblings aren't as happy as they'd like you to believe.

I can think of a perfect example that happened a few years ago on another forum board...

I started a thread about how I got another toothache in a span of 2 months, and one of the moderators responded with "Oh, I didn't know this was the dentistry board. *wanders off befuddled*"

I took that....so seriously. I responded to that response with "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to confuse you " I even contemplated quitting the board, until she came forward that is was just dry humor.

God, I'm an idiot...

What do the following mean?

A stitch in time takes nine.

A rolling stone gathers no moss.

A baker's dozen.

My special interest in childhood and adolescence was writing, so I could understand metaphors and idioms just fine. I made a point of creating my own too.

I don't think I took things literally- except that when I read new words I always pronounced them like they looked. For example the name Sean would be read as SCENE. When I was 15 I thought the liquidation of the Jews meant they all had been drowned. Just little stuff like that,

But I still to this day have trouble figuring out if people are being serious with me or joking. Sometimes I don't get their jokes and need them explained. Then I say "Well, that wasn't very funny."

I would have thought "Bring a plate" meant to bring a plate! How do you know there's supposed to be food on the plate?

I've always taken things literal. I don't take everything literal because I know some idioms and phrases and I know sarcasm. I have gotten better at picking it up.

I thought it was "a stitch in time saves nine". I think it means acting sooner rather than later will save you from extra work in the long run.

The other two I have no idea.

Idioms are stupid anyways. "you can't have your cake and eat it too" Yes I can! Just hand me my damned cake and I'll eat it! Or is it "you can't halve your cake and eat it too" as there is some strange archaic custom that whoever cuttith the cake in half cannot eat it.

It certainly could and is.

I have written and performed stand-up comedy and I usually have no idea if someone is 'joking' or not (EVEN if I have just made a joke) unless:

- I know the person really well
- We are in the middle of an exchange of (a very large number of) jokes

Taking things literally is probably the reason why I am also predisposed to answering 'rhetorical' questions.

After all a question requires and answer (except when it doesn't )

I have been making a conscious effort NOT to answer rhetorical questions (which I am finding marginally easier than advanced differential calculus)




Rhetorical

I know that a Baker's Dozen is 13.



That's how I understand it, too.

"A rolling stone gathers no moss" - I envision this as having something to do with being active and/or outgoing, rather than sedentary to the point you're sprouting vegetation.

I hear the literal meaning of the words first. With age, I caught on, but there's still a pause. Certain situations, some described well here, still confuse me.

In situations where I know the figurative, I'll often make a joke based (usually dry) on it's literal meaning.

Example....

FB Friend's status: it's darker than you think
Me: pffft
Friend: well it is
Me: nothing is darker than I think
Me: Not complaining tho

My main problem is I have a hard time detecting voice tone. I generally have to know someone for a long time before I can begin to distinguish changes in pitch, intonation, and stress on certain words. I call it "tuning in" to another person. If I don't know a person well, especially in cases where I'm not looking directly at them, I can miss changes in voice that usually signal sarcasm or joking. On the positive side, having defective ears has forced me to pay much closer attention to body language, and, as of today, I can read non-verbal signals better than verbal ones.

Also, I have the same problem with "precision." I tend to take people at their word.......at their exact word. If you don't specifically tell me something, don't expect me to know what you want. In addition, it makes me vulnerable to "practical jokes." Does anyone else always fall for "practical jokes?"

People...ggrrrr....

Agh, the humour conundrum. I have problems with this especially with superiors. It'd be insubordinate to assume they are joking when they're not, and just "weird" to assume they're serious when they're joking. Maybe it's just safer to assume everyone's dead serious and get a reputation for being a bit slow on the uptake, rather than appearing disrespectful? I can never tell, either way.

I cannot tell whether someone is being funny, sarcastic, or serious. People need to tell me, like I can't tell really if my parents are actually mad at me or joking?? My dad likes to joke around more about being mad, and my mom doesn't. It's confusing.

When I was 18 I was lucky enough to work for a man who had a very dry sense of humour. He used to take great delight in the way I initially took everything he said at face value. The time I spent working with him helped me learn how to cut down my reaction time from confusion to understanding when confronted with the dry delivery of sarcasm or irony.

Idioms still occasionally conjure an image in my head. When I lived in America I regularly encountered the phrase 'I have to pick up the house'. I suspect I had more difficulty with that one because it isn't normally used here in the UK.

Interesting. I generally describe my humor as very dry. I've learned to say things with an inflection that gets successfully interpreted as humor.

I guess I've found it fairly easy to just say the first thing that comes to mind (with some filtering at least), but to say it in a way where it's obvious I'm not taking myself seriously.