Adianoeta: An expression that, in addition to an obvious meaning, carries a second, subtle meaning (often at variance with the ostensible meaning).
Sometimes taking a figure of speech literally can be a good thing—not a sign of your lack of sophistication or cultural naïveté. It can actually be an opening to do the right thing.
I was at my girlfriend’s apartment. She was in the bedroom. She said “I’m burning for you.” I thought, “woo-wee, here we go!” Then, I smelled smoke. I ran into the bedroom and my girlfriend was literally burning for me. She had on a tiny little nighty, so the fire didn’t burn much. Also, I slapped her with a wet towel and killed the flames. Her burns were minimal—not life-threatening. They took her to the hospital for observation and “observed” that she was “off her rocker.” This diagnosis vexed me. Did it mean she had fallen off a rocking chair? I quickly rejected that interpretation. She did not have a rocking chair in her bedroom or anywhere Les in the apartment. My rhetoric professor told me about “An Etymological Dictionary of Cliches.” It tracks the origins of cliches, much like the OED does with words. it is best employed for the composition of wedding and anniversary speeches as well as eulogies, and even closing arguments courtroom speeches; events where cliches are expected and appreciated..
“Off your rocker,” I found, dates to 17th century England where rocking horses had become tokens of social status among aristocrats. “Rocking” was a culturally valued pastime. Some Princes and Barons would rock all day long, and into the night. They would eat on their rocking horse and there were built-in chamber pots, Servants were assigned to whinny from behind the rocking horses. The rocking horses were called rockers. Due to their construction, the rockers rocked very slowly. If one “fell off” his rocker it was quickly determined there was something wrong with him. If one was “off his rocker” due to his fall he could become agitated and push his rocker over. Eventually the “tantrum” was made the locus of meaning for being off one’s rocker, and eventually, it was universally employed as a cliche to refer to mental difficulties.
Now I understood—my girlfriend was crazy, and it did not matter that she did not have a rocker! If only I had taken “burning for you” literally, I might’ve gotten into her bedroom more quickly. But, I confess, I was trying to unwrap a condom in preparation for my “burning” girlfriend’s activities with me. This is a problem with language. Irony is the biggest offender, when for example you say “great job” when to mean “You bumbling idiot,” it makes me think some times, what if the Bible’s ironic? Yikes! That would turn the world upside down. But, the world is not flat, so it cannot be turned upside down. Ha ha!
I think I’m off my rocker.
Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu)
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