"It's like Groundhog Day!" said Lucy, this morning on the way to work.
I couldn't work out why. I suppose we have walked that way before, but not recently. I couldn't notice anything else that was overly familiar.
"In what way?" I asked.
"It's really cold."
She was right.
We watched the documentary on the Groundhog Day DVD yesterday. It's pretty good (even though Andie MacDowell was in it). Apparently the weather was freezing, and the actors and crew had to keep moving to stay warm.
It was cold on that shoot. It was also cold this morning, on the way to work. Lucy was right.
But I wondered if you were allowed to appropriate a phrase for an entirely new meaning. Most people would think the statement "it's like Groundhog Day" to refer to repetition. You probably wouldn't think it referred to the cold.
But language is a flexible beast. I don't see why we can't screw around with it as much as we like!
So from now on, if I compare something to Groundhog Day, it means it's cold.
I'm trying to think of others.
A related one is déjà vu. From now on déjà vu doesn't mean feeling like you've experienced something before. To compare something to déjà vu now just means that it's French.
Eg:
"The other day, I was biting into this croissant, and it was like... I don't know... like déjà vu."
"Maybe it's from a childhood memory?"
"What? I just meant that, like the phrase 'déjà vu', the croissant is also a product of France. You idiot."
Yes, I think that's a good idea.
Another one is 'like watching paint dry'. Traditionally, this refers to any boring activity.
But if I have my way, from now on it will refer to the act of observing a decorative liquid converting to an opaque solid film. Unless (like Richard Herring) I have misunderstood the art of simile. Which seems impossible.
I think I've run out of ideas. This didn't quite have the mileage I was hoping for.
Hmm. Suddenly, for no reason, I'm reminded of that bitter winter I spent in Paris. It was like Groundhog Day déjà vu all over again.
Weird.
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