Awkward literary references in conversations.

[Gina]

I'm sure I'm not the only one here who has been reminded of a book in the middle of a conversation. I'm the only one of my friends who actually likes classic literature, so quite often I'll make references that no one understands.

Yesterday- my grandma made a comment about shorter apartments in the city being overshadowed by the taller buildings, and how mad the residents must be that their view is practically gone. I replied with "Bricks and windows, windows and bricks!" from Death of a Salesman, and she just nodded. I asked her if she even knew what I was talking about, and she said yes. I asked her what I was talking about, and she says "Well, I actually don't know. I just humor you whenever this happens."

[Dodger Thirteen]

I usually say "But what about the rabbits?" in conversation.

[onlyaworkingtitle]

Jun 17, 2011 16:37:10 GMT -5 Dodger Thirteen said:

I usually say "But what about the rabbits?" in conversation.

I'm sorry, I saw this and then made the mistake of looking at your userpic, and now all I can think about is "Bunnies! Bunnies, it must be BUNNIES! ...or maybe midgets."
... Does Buffy count as literary?

[KatjevanLoon]

Jun 17, 2011 16:37:10 GMT -5 Dodger Thirteen said:

I usually say "But what about the rabbits?" in conversation.

Lenny!

That's....one of my nicknames for my Fezzik/Hagrid-sized boyfriend. In all affection and love, really.

[Deleted]

I own a t-shirt which references the Rene Magritte painting The Treachery of Images and I've yet to find a single person who gets it without needing an explanation. Not quite the same thing, but I know the feeling all too well.

[Eternal Lobster]

Not me but a friend: She was on break in the breakroom and spilled soup on her shirt. She yelled "Out, damned spot!" and everyone in the breakroom looked at her like she was weird.

As for t-shirts, I have a couple Harry Potter ones and get compliments all the time. I have an official but vague Quidditch shirt from the IQA and people still know what it is for.

OH I used to call the telephone a "fellytone" all the time...

[Dodger Thirteen]

Jun 17, 2011 16:59:01 GMT -5 onlyaworkingtitle said:

Jun 17, 2011 16:37:10 GMT -5 Dodger Thirteen said:

I usually say "But what about the rabbits?" in conversation.

I'm sorry, I saw this and then made the mistake of looking at your userpic, and now all I can think about is "Bunnies! Bunnies, it must be BUNNIES! ...or maybe midgets."
... Does Buffy count as literary?

Does Buffy count as literary...you're kidding, right?

OF COURSE it counts.

[ThatsMyPie]

Jun 17, 2011 16:37:10 GMT -5 Dodger Thirteen said:

I usually say "But what about the rabbits?" in conversation.

My brother, who is just now entering freshmen year of High School and isn't an avid reader, says that all of the time. I was never really fond of Of Mice and Men but he is and it makes me proud. I make mentions of the Crucible whenever my family is blaming one another for doing things, as well as the Aeneid when talking about finding a new place...

[Gina]

I try to reference The Crucible as often as possible.

Whenever anyone mentions a moth, or I see a moth, basically ANYTHING to do with a moth, I quote Virginia Woolf or Annie Dillard.

[Deleted]

I really hate when I make a reference to Hamlet only to be told that I'm wrong because I said "Alas poor Yorick; I knew him, Horatio" instead of "I knew him well". Not at all cool.

[cyanea]

It's not literature, but it's a reference I think some will appreciate.

Between my friend and I (also a diehard Whovian and the guy who got me hooked), "Two minutes to Belgium!" has become a catchphrase for anything wrong, about to go wrong, or problematic. We were driving with a few other friends to dinner with yet another friend and we were running late. "Two minutes to Belgium!" "Shit you're right." "What the hell?" "Uh...umm...long story."

EDIT - Oh! In school, I had a friend named Rachel. I started reading Sherlock Holmes then, and so for months, I called her "Revenge". She hated it.

[Umbvix]

Jun 18, 2011 4:10:16 GMT -5 @sabazius said:

I really hate when I make a reference to Hamlet only to be told that I'm wrong because I said "Alas poor Yorick; I knew him, Horatio" instead of "I knew him well". Not at all cool.

Oh, I know. Ever since I found out how the quote actually goes, I get irritated when people try to correct me.

Also, as far as Crucible references go, I've found it especially effective when in the middle of a debate or discussion with my friend Abby to randomly be like, "BECAUSE IT IS MY NAME! D:"

[Silva]

So I won this award at my school called the Metamorphosis award. The teacher who wrote it wanted to include 'but not like a cockroach' in the title, but figured most people wouldn't get it.

Kafka for the win.

[Dodger Thirteen]

Jun 18, 2011 4:10:16 GMT -5 @sabazius said:

I really hate when I make a reference to Hamlet only to be told that I'm wrong because I said "Alas poor Yorick; I knew him, Horatio" instead of "I knew him well". Not at all cool.

I also quote this. I find it entertaining, though I've been lucky to never be "corrected".

[Fuck Yeah Dion]

Whenever something is confusing, my friends and I always quote Faulkner and say, "My mother is a fish." If someone wimps out on a committment they made to themselves, they "lost their nerve" (as one of our professors constantly tells us that Mark Twain lost his nerve while writing Huck Finn). If someone is proven to be less clever than another person, or if they hook up with someone no one thought they would, it's said they "weren't lonely no more" or that they "humbled themselves to a (insert whatever here)," which is another Huck Finn reference.

We have more but I can't think of them. I call my friends "shrews" or "rash wantons" all the time.