It’s on the tip of my brain
I fall prey to ticklers often. Here are some that have infested my mind over the years. Any help in resolving active ticklers would be greatly appreciated. Help!
None at the moment
The origin of the phrase “pull(sh?)up hellup yiz are nin[e]ty”. Used in a conversation where someone’s explaining how a computer can’t understand language? Krazy Kat? Pogo? Associated with the phrase “a peck of porterpease”. (source: James Blish’s 1958 SF novel The Triumph of Time, chapter 4, p. 73, where children are speaking an unfamiliar language: “He never did quite make up his mind whether his imperfect knowledge of Hevian made this polite speech come out as ‘Pullup hellup yiz are ninety’ or ‘Why do I am alook alike a poss of porterpease?’, but...”) Infected 2004-05, cured 2005-07-27.
Side note: the “poss of porterpease” question comes from Finnegan’s Wake; is “pullup hellup yiz are ninety” a quotation as well? It sure sounds like ’40s or ’50s slang. If it is, its referent is endangered; I found no reference to it on the Internet.
The question “Are you using too much thought?” (source: Phil Foglio’s Buck Godot: The Gallimaufry, issue 7, on the back cover of the issue of Prime Time that fell out of the Prime Mover’s closet.) Infected 2004, cured 2005-07-13.
Someone responds with the phrase “dump him hard, dump him fast, and dump him now”. (probable source: a Life in Hell cartoon in which Binky advises Akbar to dump Jeff. After Binky utters the line “My advice to you is to ...”, Akbar replies “I’m Jeff”, and Binky is embarrassed.) Infected 20004-04-22, cured? 2004-09-22.
Someone declaiming on stage (in a burlesque parody of “Cinderella”) “Goodness me, the clock has struck; alackday, and fuck my luck”; an audience member shrieks with laughter, then continuing to shriek until he’s carted away. (Probable source: Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five). Infected 2004-05-21, cured 2004-05-22.
A man interjects the comment “I’m gay” into a discussion that others nearby are having. (source: Officer Zitelli on the ’70s television show Barney Miller.) Infected 2004-02-05, cured about ten minutes later.
A young woman’s sarcastic comments to a child she’s grudgingly babysitting. Key phrases: “I am so hurt”, “I’m sure you would have pulled through somehow” (the latter in response to child’s complaint that he didn’t try to seek her when playing hide’n’seek: “I could have been injured”). (source: chapter six of Matt Feazell’s Cynicalman epic The Death of Antisocialman, Edie Haskell babysitting Bother, p. 3-5.) Infected 2003-10-21, cured approximately 1 hour later.
A young boy being convinced by an older relative that he (the relative) has “a barking spider who lived in his pants”. (source: Matthew’s 2002-02-14 LiveJournal post about his inability to suspend disbelief for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The relative was his father, and the spider was named Pedro.) Infected 2003-10-16, cured 2003-10-17.
A phrase from a SF story: a doctor/researcher, when confronted with a patient/subject who’s undergone a startling transformation: “I’d like to confirm this with a few tests”. Spoken almost reflexively while he tries to gather his thoughts. (source: Greg Bear’s Queen of Angels, p. 401; it’s Roger Atkins discovering that the artificial mind Jill is conscious. “I’d like to...confirm this. With a few tests and...Excuse me. Let me get my thought in order.”) Infected 2003-07-26, cured 2003-07-27.
An anecdote about a guy saying how he’s looking forward to being a decade older, when he’ll finally have stopped thinking about sex and be able to concentrate on his work. Revealed at end that speaker is in his 60s or 70s. (source: Matthew’s Advice on Coming Out; “I read a quote from someone (I can’t remember his name) who said that he was always thinking that in ten year’s time he would lose interest in sex, and then he would finally be freed of that distraction so he could concentrate on his work. The gentleman was seventy years old when he said this.”) This one took many months to recall.
A line about “how your loved one can decide that she doesn’t want you anymore, and there’s nothing you can do about it”. (source: Ray’s soliloquy from Jaime Hernandez’s Penny Century #4, p. 21; “What tears me up the most is that at any given time a person may choose to no longer “want” their darling companion and it’s perfectly fair and there’s nothing you can do about it.”)
The name Jordan Watrous. (source: Nancy Kress’s Beggars in Spain, p. 95; this is the name Alice borrows for a Sleepless girl rescued from her abusive parents.) Infected 2002-11-14, cured 2002-12-14.
A story in which a scientist, spurred by his wife’s complaints, tries to end female influence on men by restricting female fertility to a few days a month. The writing follows the wife, and is gently humorous with a twist ending. (source: Theodore Sturgeon’s short story “Never Underestimate...”. Found during the 2000 visit to Dan & Matthew, in a Groff Conklin anthology of classic SF.) This one took nearly two decades to resolve.
Last updated 6 July 2006
http://www.rdrop.com/~half/Personal/ticklers.html
All contents ©2005 Mark L. Irons