Expressions of Speech

Post Reply New Topic

I know people with AS (myself included) often have problems with expressions of speech. I was wondering if anybody wanted to share comments/stories about this. Here's mine:

Not too long ago (about a month ago), one of my classmates in English said I had a brown spot on my nose. I went into the bathroom and examined my nose, but didn't find any spot. It wasn't until I asked my resource teacher the next day that she explained they meant I was sucking up to the teacher. (I knew what brownnoser meant, but having a brown spot on my nose for some reason didn't match that criteria in my mind)

When I first started my work at the grocrey store in June 1999, one of the employees there was tempted to do stuff like that to me, by paging me and having me try to fetch non-existant items, or paging me to locations in the store that don't exist.

The first nickname I had working there was Clark W. Griswold since I was slow, klutzy, and always breaking stuff.

I was in the offices of Autism West Midlands being interviewed by a Disability Employment Advisor so I could be allocated an Employment Supporter.

The Advisor's first question was 'How did you come to be here?' (meaning ~ 'What circumstances lead to you approaching Autism West Midlands?')

I replied: 'I came by car ~ I drove across town!'

I don't often make too many mistakes like this though ~ I read about some autistic children getting frightened when they hear that someone 'laughed their head off' ~ I've never been like that although statements like 'If the wind changes your face will stick ilke that' did give me a little cause for concern when I was very young.

I've never had problems in that area - I used take things literally just to be a smart alec, but I knew what they meant.

When you say "have trouble with" do you mean that we have a hard time understanding the ones we already know, or that we get confused by ones we don't know?

I thought most people would not understand figures of speech, if they are not familiar with them. Is this incorrect?

That sounds about right, If people haven't heard of it before, theres no reason why they should understand it, or be expected to understand it.

Yes, it's just I frequently don't remember the 'defintion' unless it's *exactly* the way I was taught to decipher it. Oftentimes, people fail to explain well what these mean. (I still don't know "Apple of my eye")

Neither did I 5 minutes ago. Click, click... http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=3576&dict=CALD
Now I know.

By the way, if someone would mention a brown spot on my nose, I would surely go to the bathroom to clean it. Your explanation is also not very clear if taken literally. Click, click... http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=79592&dict=CALD
Phrasal verbs are no easier than expressions.

Thanks! And oops, I didn't realize I was defining it with another expression of speech, lol. Does that website have a lot of defintions like that?

I use this particular online dictionary quite often, because it contains a lot of expressions, as well as informal and rarely used words, and even some proverbs. Explanations are written in a simple style and usually accompanied by examples. The only drawback is that it is not always easy to find the definition. Taking "apple of sb's eye" as an example, the best way is to query for "apple" and then use Edit/Find to search the page for "eye" (or the other way around).
http://dictionary.cambridge.org

When I was in sixth grade my teacher told me to sit on my cheeks so I tried to sit on my face.

there is a dictionary, recently published, for exactly these reasons - why are so many metaphors defined by using another metaphor? this dictionary is written by Professor Ian Stuart Hamilton, whose son was diagnosed with Asperger's six years ago.

An Asperger Dictionary of Everyday Expressions, published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers,
ISBN: 1-84310-152-1

haven't read it, but Hamilton was on Radio 4 (BBC) and sounded like a sensible chap - the examples he gave from the dictionary were clear and useful.

also useful might be the following, which is a dictionary of nonverbal communication.

http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/diction1.htm

I have difficulties with figures of speech, but sometimes I understand them.
They are in French so they would be hard to explain them.

I never mistake sayings for their literal meanings, but sayings usually cause me to visualize their literal meanings.
So I find erm... scatological sayings, like "brown nose" really distasteful.

I have had trouble over the years with figures of speech. However, I have gotten better. A lot of the time I come across as taking things literal, when I may easily be understanding most, if not all of the subject being discussed.

It's my way of discussing a subject which makes those I am talking to (usually my parents; the only ones I have the opportunity and most comfortable talking with) and the sometimes difficult interaction message boards.

yeah, I do that, too. for example: "as brown as a berry" and "have your cake and eat it, too".