Comment on Great Explanations

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:19:49 GMT

Suppose I said a particular hockey goal was a "fluke" (a stroke of luck). Then, you pointed me to a post that implied that hockey goals are not good examples of flukes (the fish). This would be a confusion caused by the fact that word "fluke" (a stroke of luck) has the same spelling and pronunciation as the word "fluke" (a type of flatfish).

I cannot find it online, but there is an essay called "Rural literalisms" or something to that effect written by a guy who moves to the countryside and is constantly being thrown by the way his neighbors use expressions literally. Among others occasions, he's very proud of himself when he catches his first fish, only to be told by his neighbor, "It's just a fluke." These aren't homonyms; it's one word being used metaphorically in other situations.

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