Parapraxis in action

So, the got a whole bunch of brightly-coloured plastic toys for his birthday and for Christmas, and most of them a) make electronic noises when you press buttons and b) have no off switch. Given that he’s attracted to buttons like a wasp to jam (a case in point: I’ve taped cardboard over the power switch for the television, because he was trying to power cycle it a couple of times a second), we’re pretty inured to said noises by now. I’ve ‘fixed’ the really objectionable ones with the help of Mr. Screwdriver; he’ll get the batteries back in a few years time.

One of the toys is a cement truck (from ELC, I believe) which makes noises when you press the head of the not-Bob-the-Builder-honest figure. It says the following, in order:

  • “Where do you want it?”
  • “Let’s get mixing!”
  • “It won’t take long to set.”
  • “Four parts sand, one part cement.”

However, I’ve realised that I’ve been mentally translating the last phrase as “four parts gin, one part vermouth”. My brain is clearly trying to tell me something…

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