You can cut it with a knife
It's definitely crunch time. Today was the last day of classes, which marks the beginning of the reading/panic period for the 1L's. So after class, most of us came here to the library, while the rest went off to their respective study places. I personally can't get anything done outside of the library. The desk in my room is cluttered with papers and other stuff, and while I'm there, I just lose the working mindset. It's strange, despite all of its shortcomings, the library does bring out a certain work ethic in me.
The biggest problem with the library is the neuroses of the students here. We're all in a very high stress environment, and people are handling it differently. There is definitely a tension here. The atmosphere of this place is so tense you could 'cut it with a knife.' That's the best cliche I could think of that describes the atmosphere in this building.
What the hell does that mean anyway? It was so tense you could cut it with a knife? You could cut anything with a knife, regardless of whether it's tense. It's a completely meaningless metaphor with just a commonly assumed meaning. Another one of those is "have your cake and eat it too." I always hated that phrase. It's also completely nonsensical when you think about it. What the hell is the point in having cake if you can't eat it? When I asked people about this, they said it had a Marie Antoinette reference. That sounds intelligent... except for the fact that it's also completely wrong.
Marie Antoinette said, "Let them eat cake." Her statement was mean spirited because it acknowledged that if you don't have it, you can't eat it. Both phrases use the word 'cake,' but don't say the same thing. Yeah, the peasants didn't have bread (nor cake), and therefore couldn't eat it. That makes sense. But where the hell did this phrase "You can't have your cake and eat it too" comes from? It makes no sense whatsoever. Having it is a prerequisite to eating it. Other people explain it by saying that if you eat your cake, you no longer have it. Well, duhhh. If you have it, you can eat it. If you ate it, logically, you had it first. Enough of the linguistic rant.
As I so readily demonstrated above, to keep sane, between my long periods of studying, I come up with stupid things to think about completely non-related to law school. In exactly two torturous weeks, it'll all be over with for the semester. Then I get to go home, sleep late, drive around with the folks, see my friends, bother my sister, eat left over Halloween candy, and a whole slew of other things.
So to deal with the reduced sleep and the intense studying, I've been having coffee lately. Yesterday, I got the eggnog latte from Starbucks. I have to say, it was absolutly disgusting. It literally tasted like coffee with dirt in it. Yuck. But today I had the ginger bread latte. Now that was good. Now I have the energy to keep me awake and finish my contracts outline.
Wish me luck.
The biggest problem with the library is the neuroses of the students here. We're all in a very high stress environment, and people are handling it differently. There is definitely a tension here. The atmosphere of this place is so tense you could 'cut it with a knife.' That's the best cliche I could think of that describes the atmosphere in this building.
What the hell does that mean anyway? It was so tense you could cut it with a knife? You could cut anything with a knife, regardless of whether it's tense. It's a completely meaningless metaphor with just a commonly assumed meaning. Another one of those is "have your cake and eat it too." I always hated that phrase. It's also completely nonsensical when you think about it. What the hell is the point in having cake if you can't eat it? When I asked people about this, they said it had a Marie Antoinette reference. That sounds intelligent... except for the fact that it's also completely wrong.
Marie Antoinette said, "Let them eat cake." Her statement was mean spirited because it acknowledged that if you don't have it, you can't eat it. Both phrases use the word 'cake,' but don't say the same thing. Yeah, the peasants didn't have bread (nor cake), and therefore couldn't eat it. That makes sense. But where the hell did this phrase "You can't have your cake and eat it too" comes from? It makes no sense whatsoever. Having it is a prerequisite to eating it. Other people explain it by saying that if you eat your cake, you no longer have it. Well, duhhh. If you have it, you can eat it. If you ate it, logically, you had it first. Enough of the linguistic rant.
As I so readily demonstrated above, to keep sane, between my long periods of studying, I come up with stupid things to think about completely non-related to law school. In exactly two torturous weeks, it'll all be over with for the semester. Then I get to go home, sleep late, drive around with the folks, see my friends, bother my sister, eat left over Halloween candy, and a whole slew of other things.
So to deal with the reduced sleep and the intense studying, I've been having coffee lately. Yesterday, I got the eggnog latte from Starbucks. I have to say, it was absolutly disgusting. It literally tasted like coffee with dirt in it. Yuck. But today I had the ginger bread latte. Now that was good. Now I have the energy to keep me awake and finish my contracts outline.
Wish me luck.
1 Comments:
I am all about the Gingerbread Lattes.
And it's "the tension is so THICK you could cut it with a knife." Think Velveeta versus, oh, milk. English idioms and cliches are fun. Just ask Dan Rather.
By
Sachin Agarwal, at 12/03/2004 3:19 PM
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