I HATE talking on the phone

[rogue06]

Munchkin is definitely its own language, So close to ours but oh so alien.

Years ago when one of my cousins was a young'un he wanted a "castrator" for Christmas. Nobody could figure out what he meant but he knew that was what he wanted. Then one day while my aunt and mom were out shopping with him in tow. As they went to pay for their purchases he pointed at the cash register and in that booming voice that a little child says when they say something that embarasses the adults he says "That's it! That's what I want. A castrator."

[Cow Poke]

Yeah, my nephew, Little Ray, couldn't say the "TR" sound --- it always came out as "F" --- It was SO EMBARRASSING when he would see a Fire Truck and scream "Look a ....."

Fortunately he outgrew that fairly soon.

[QuantaFille]

When my brother was little, there were a lot of words he had a hard time with. "Helicopter" was "hotdoctor". "Backwards and forwards" was "bactids and forces". "Young lady" was "young yaddy". "Shower" was "show" (rhymes with cow). "Caboose" was "bookaboose". We still jokingly use a lot of his words.

When I drove a school bus, there were several different pre-K runs I either drove or was the assistant on. I had one kid who called hand sanitizer "hannitizer". One called her water bottle a "wobble botter". I heard things like that all the time, and it always cracked me up.

[Sparko]

When my brother was little, there were a lot of words he had a hard time with. "Helicopter" was "hotdoctor". "Backwards and forwards" was "bactids and forces". "Young lady" was "young yaddy". "Shower" was "show" (rhymes with cow). "Caboose" was "bookaboose". We still jokingly use a lot of his words.

When I drove a school bus, there were several different pre-K runs I either drove or was the assistant on. I had one kid who called hand sanitizer "hannitizer". One called her water bottle a "wobble botter". I heard things like that all the time, and it always cracked me up.

my cousin is nearly 40 and she still can't say "Cucumber"

[Juvenal]

I don't know why it is, other than I much prefer to see facial expression, body language, other general reactions --- I'm good at talking to people face to face, but I HATE talking on the phone. I'm BAD about returning phone calls, but I'll text, email, send smoke signals....

Anybody else like this?

I'm beyond odd about this, and well into eccentric. My only phone is a MagicJack, which forwards directly to the only number I release: a Google Voice account, which sends me voicemail transcripts via email. I'm hugely busy on assorted projects, all the time. People need my permission to interrupt me, and I don't grant that permission casually.

On those rare occasions when I allow others to interrupt those projects, friends and family can reach me via instant messenger or Skype. If I'm not showing up as active, I'm not available, and that's the end of it. I've had girlfriends who couldn't handle that. I assume they had better luck with their next boyfriends.

Sometimes a quick face-to-face talk can clear up issues much better than email exchanges, however.

and there is less likely to be a permanent written record of it.

I use face-to-face on the rare occasions when I have to discuss confidential issues, but email otherwise, mostly because of that "written record" thing. That comes in very handy with students, who can otherwise be counted on to "misremember" to their advantage damn near every time. Bosses, too, occasionally.

On the other hand, I'm obsessive about clearing my email box before going to bed, or at worst when I get up in the morning. I never miss a date with my current girlfriend, so long as it's something that can be arranged at least a day in advance.

Unlike most of my pals here on TWeb, I don't expect to survive my death. My life is arranged to get the things I want to do done before I kick the bucket.

YMMV.

As ever, Jesse

[Zymologist]

When my brother was little, there were a lot of words he had a hard time with. "Helicopter" was "hotdoctor". "Backwards and forwards" was "bactids and forces". "Young lady" was "young yaddy". "Shower" was "show" (rhymes with cow). "Caboose" was "bookaboose". We still jokingly use a lot of his words.

When I drove a school bus, there were several different pre-K runs I either drove or was the assistant on. I had one kid who called hand sanitizer "hannitizer". One called her water bottle a "wobble botter". I heard things like that all the time, and it always cracked me up.

My toddler calls elephants "appleshunts".

[DesertBerean]

Yeah, my nephew, Little Ray, couldn't say the "TR" sound --- it always came out as "F" --- It was SO EMBARRASSING when he would see a Fire Truck and scream "Look a ....."

Fortunately he outgrew that fairly soon.

BWHAHAHAHA. .....my mom said I had THAT problem with that word! And we were in West Germany while I was learning to talk...one day in the city I saw a truck ... and I sang out at the top of my voice.... People turned and looked at me. Not Mom.

[Teallaura]

Taoist! Thanks for the tip about Google Voice!

[Sparko]

google voice message transcripts can be hilarious. I have not gotten one yet that was accurate.

[Cow Poke]

google voice message transcripts can be hilarious. I have not gotten one yet that was accurate.

I also use MagicJack, but I just let the voicemails get sent to my email mailbox. I hear the message in the person's own voice with their own "tone of voice", etc.

[QuantaFille]

google voice message transcripts can be hilarious. I have not gotten one yet that was accurate.

To amuse ourselves, my family will sit around the table and use the voice input feature on our phones to transcribe text messages to one another. And then do it again, reading the previous text. It's hilarious. The technology has a lot of room for improvement.

[Juvenal]

google voice message transcripts can be hilarious. I have not gotten one yet that was accurate.

I just checked the last couple dozen. One was right!

But not this one, from Professor Colon:

"Jesse, This is proposal cologne. [...]"

You can get the gist of them, though, and the email arrives immediately, and the voicemail itself is only a click away.

Besides, if I just listened to the voicemails, Id never have heard from proposal cologne!

As ever, Jesse

[mossrose]

I just checked the last couple dozen. One was right!

But not this one, from Professor Colon:

"Jesse, This is proposal cologne. [...]"

You can get the gist of them, though, and the email arrives immediately, and the voicemail itself is only a click away.

Besides, if I just listened to the voicemails, Id never have heard from proposal cologne!

As ever, Jesse

So, did you say, "Yes!"?



And what does proposal cologne smell of?

[Juvenal]

So, did you say, "Yes!"?



And what does proposal cologne smell of?

A Google Voice account for you, and you, too, will know.

[mossrose]

A Google Voice account for you, and you, too, will know.

Nope. Smellavision might work, though!