UNDERSTANDING, n. A cerebral secretion that enables one having it to know a house from a horse by the roof on the house. Its nature and laws have been exhaustively expounded by Locke, who rode a house, and Kant, who lived in a horse.
His understanding was so keen
That all things which he'd felt, heard, seen,
He could interpret without fail
If he was in or out of jail.
He wrote at Inspiration's call
Deep disquisitions on them all,
Then, pent at last in an asylum,
Performed the service to compile 'em.
So great a writer, all men swore,
They never had not read before.
—Jorrock Wormley
2007 Update: adj. Able and available to empathize with oneself in the company of others. This differs from SENSITIVE, the ability to sympathize, in a manner neither the empathetic nor the sympathic, nor those who use such words in conversation would understand or honor in any case. Tender hearted muttonheads!
HellO You're kidding, right?
ReplyDeleteMinka, I swear, I have no understanding of how this could have happened.
ReplyDeleteWhat?
ReplyDeleteUnderstanding: The prize (not always the solace) that can come with knowledge.
ReplyDeleteUnderstanding: Neighbor of acceptance, former babysitter of hatred.
ReplyDeleteReally can't say where that came from - but there it is.
Understanding: sitting?
ReplyDeleteConfucious say: "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."
ReplyDeletei may not have a firm understanding of all things "Confucious", but somehow, this makes sense to me...
I was here. Your post wasn't
ReplyDeleteI do things, and later come back to seven comments before me
I am un-understanding of this
This is also your strangest definition yet
But I might not have a clear understanding of it
"One half of the world cannot understand the pleasure of the other." Jane Austen
ReplyDeleteQuilly, you don't have to know where you're going to get there.
ReplyDeleteMinka, I think you know very well.
Mutha, glory without comfort. That describes so many things including comfort.
Interesting quote, Neva. One of these days I should try doing.
Pia, a rushed morning is no time for thought.
Ariel, one half of the world cannot understand that the other is faking it.
Doug, some of the other cannot even fake it!
ReplyDeleteUNDERSTANDING, n.
ReplyDelete"Look, up in the sky!"
"It's a bird!"
"It's a plane!"
[splat]
"It's a bird."
See also good ol' Noah, standin' underneath the elephant ...
"A blind man knows he cannot see, and is glad to be led, though it be by a dog; but he that is blind in his understanding, which is the worst blindness of all, believes he sees as the best, and scorns a guide." -Samuel Butler
ReplyDeleteI am like the blind man waiting to be led, though it be by Doug. Will I arrive to an understanding of this post?
"let me in, let me in!" she cried,
ReplyDeleteunderstanding that words could be used as anything from impressive verbal weaponry to warm welcoming soothing comfort...
i dont always have the key to the giant locked word door...
wouldnt it be sweet if someone just left the door open a touch?
for that is the language i understand more than any.
"It was my understanding there would be no math."
ReplyDeleteI'm such an understanding blog-mom that I'm commenting on your post from the UNC Charlotte library. See what a good girl I am? UNDERSTAND dawg????
esiumbdh: that I don't understand at all.
Theresa, actually, this is the other way around. Doug gives the definition, and we try to explain him what he is talking about.
ReplyDeletethe Samuel Butler quote is hilarious in more ways than one!
Ariel, those are called aristocrats.
ReplyDeleteAmoeba, there's nothing better than a birdpoop joke. I just hope the penguin and the crow don't catch you.
That's a great quote, Theresa. The secret to understanding my definitions is to drop by when I had a better morning.
JJ, (psst-empty room) But we'll leave the light on for you.
Ariel, thank you. I'm glad the veterans of this site are so honest.
I don't understand. I don't over stand either.
ReplyDeleteI have a good understanding of College Algebra.
ReplyDeleteI don't mean to brag - well, maybe I do - but I got a perfect score on my final. My suffering is over.
Praise God from whom all blessing flow!
Can I get an Amen from a muttonhead??
Icy, it's a delicate balance.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Jamie Dawn, from a creature here below.
understanding - The belated realization that everyone else is just as screwed up as you.
ReplyDeleteI shall try to be understanding of the fact that you just glazed right over me today - right over me. What's the matter - do I need a brighter bulb?!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, and by the way - what IS so funny about peace, love and understanding?
I just re-worded tender hearted muttonheads!
ReplyDeleteI hope nobody else will understand...
Ooops, TLP, you're the best blogmama ever. I'll never forget it.
ReplyDeletePoobah, there's nothing like a sewertime epiphany.
Right, Actonbell! That's the ticket!
Sorry, G. Um. The hat?
No problem here, Minka.
Sometimes understanding is too hard for the overwhelmed.
ReplyDelete"Look, up in the sky!"
ReplyDelete"It's a bird!"
"It's a plane!"
[splat]
"It's a bird."
Now that is understanding in more ways then one.
Thank you, Ariel, my limited understanding reaches far enough to see the point of this game, but I just had to stick that quote in somehow.
ReplyDelete"It is by universal misunderstanding that all agree. For if, by ill luck, people understood each other, they would never agree." -Pierre Charles Baudelaire
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid our understanding is too deep to agree on what Doug's definition really means.
Understanding could also be the ability to see others' faults, and the wisdom not to point them out. In that case, I'm afraid I often don't understand.
Understanding: Brain cell alignment, often achieved by the shaking of one's head and/or someone else's shoulders.
ReplyDelete*shakes own head* is it me, or should Wednesday's post be up by now?? ah well, it's my understanding that teh Penguin has a fine and fabulous post up in TEH SNARK today... guess i'll go read that, instead. ; )
puppy, does that mean I am sorta a stand-in, for when the WA dude doesn´t deliver? I am not sure how I feel about Bierce´s rejects reading my stuff :)
ReplyDeleteI have no understanding of tardiness. I am here on time!
ReplyDeletePenguin: are you calling me a "reject" missy? heh heh. come to think of it, wouldn't be the first time. ; )
ReplyDeleteQuilly: hear hear! or should that be here, here? whatever... i'm with ya, friend.
Maybe he choked on his own sarcasm?
ReplyDeleteGod, I´ll be real sorry if that turns out to be true!
*prays for the first time in ages*
oh Doug, I'm so sorry! I've forgotten to email you today's fables!
ReplyDeleteNow look what you've done, Doug! Minka is praying! I say we all pitch in and buy this Dawg an alarm clock!
ReplyDeleteUnderstanding: Listening and nodding.
ReplyDeleteLogo, sometimes lifting a finger is.
ReplyDeleteCooper, sometimes wisdom just falls from the sky and sometimes you find it under foot.
Another great quote, Theresa. I guess I understand, too, then.
Neva, I actually posted on the wrong blog this morning. (still late, though.)
Minka, Owie!
Ariel, get with the program. No one wants what will happen if I start writing this blog. The blogosphere is liable to become a great globe-spanning Hungary.
Quilly, atheists may be rare in foxholes and at sea, but the blogosphere has plenty.
Uh-huh, Elbot. You bet.