Monday, February 13, 2006

Polyphiloprogenitive

Yet ... I have only two children.

Dennis Mangan has linked here in a recent blog entry and called me a "polymathic professor," for which, I thank him -- though I don't really know much polymathematics.

For instance, I know next to nothing about the Szilassi Polyhedron even though it appears to be important.

I'm more of a sapient sutler of the Lord drifting across monohedral windowpanes -- a controversial master of the subtle schools, perhaps, but no polymath.

Speaking of Sunday morning services, we attended our own yesterday morning and were returning by subway when, along that subterranean route, one of the two successful results of my polyphiloprogenitive proclivities -- specifically, En-Uk, my son -- interrupted my light reading of Bill Vallicella's Paradigm Theory of Existence by proclaiming very loudly in Korean some important thing that set off laughter among our fellow passengers.

I wondered, briefly, what he had said, but not wanting to interrupt everyone's fun, I returned to my reading and forgot about the incident.

Until today.

Over coffee after lunch, I suddenly remembered the laughter and asked my wife what En-Uk had said.

She smiled and told me:

"An old lady asked En-Uk if he has any sisters. He pointed to Sa-Rah and said, 'That there is my sister. Even though she has short hair and looks like a boy, she doesn't have a gochu.'"
I'll let you guess what "gochu" means, but here's a hint: It's used for spicing up both kimchee and life itself.

And it's polyphiloprogenitive.

2 Comments:

At 10:19 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Your son really has a knack for pulling funny phrases out, doesn't he?

 
At 3:32 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Well, kids say what they're thinking ... as you'll eventually find out.

I just hope that as he learns what's acceptable, he doesn't get his wires crossed. Apparently, what he said in Korean is not especially embarrassing ... but in English, well...

Jeffery Hodges

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