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I'm sometimes amused how often people say things like, "I can't believe it's almost spring" or "Can you believe Christmas is next week already?" Just the other day, someone said on the radio, "I can't believe it's February 23rd already." I'm starting to feel like this is one of those things people say just to have something to say, and not because it's a legitimate sentiment. I mean, time goes by all the time, it's not that amazing. I know sometimes time passes so quickly that it seems like we just got through Christmas and it's here again, and yet in between we were marveling over how amazing it was that it was already summer!
That type of statement falls loosely under "transitional phrases" in rhetoric. It allows the reader/listener to quickly reflect on seasons and the passage of time, while the writer/speaker forms a follow-up sentence or phrase that is somewhat related.
In NLP, such a statement can be used as a mild hypnotic induction. It can create a state of reverie where some defenses are less. Oddly, it can also be a sign of a writer/speaker coming OUT of a state of reverie.
Such structures are so engrained in the language that few people give them any thought.
I don't know. I say that all the time, and it's because it's true. I go about my small life (retired housewife with few responsibilities) and future events always seem distant -- until they are not. My life has only the structure I give it, so I don't attend to calendars, or time very closely. I'm the quintessential person in la-la land.
I'm sometimes amused how often people say things like, "I can't believe it's almost spring" or "Can you believe Christmas is next week already?" Just the other day, someone said on the radio, "I can't believe it's February 23rd already." I'm starting to feel like this is one of those things people say just to have something to say, and not because it's a legitimate sentiment. I mean, time goes by all the time, it's not that amazing. I know sometimes time passes so quickly that it seems like we just got through Christmas and it's here again, and yet in between we were marveling over how amazing it was that it was already summer!
Hmmmm - how old are you? The older you get the fast time appears to pass and so yeah, I say stuff like that all the time. So what?
Also, I think the perception of time has changed for many during Covid with some of that lingering, especially if people's lifestyle has remained changed from that (like working from home or doing home schooling).
I think it's a legit thing to say because yes, time does zip by fast & seems to keep going faster & faster. If people want to say that (as long as they don't say it every week or something), what's the harm?
I think of the line from Kurt Vonnegut's book, "The Slaughterhouse Five." Its protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, says he has "come unstuck in time."
That's how I feel in my senior years - as though time has become elastic, able to both stretch on endlessly and speed through days in seconds.
It's really made me aware of what an imaginary, mundane construct time is. It's good for keeping appointments and totally useless for measuring a life.
I don't recall where I read it, but it seems that time doesn't fly by if you're engaged in doing something offbeat or novel every day, getting out of your rut. Of course we can't slow down time itself but if you do more and interesting things with friends or relatives, taking art classes, going on hikes, learning new culinary skills -- the list is endless -- you get more out of life.
OK, now I'm going to brace for the inevitable complaining.
I'm sometimes amused how often people say things like, "I can't believe it's almost spring" or "Can you believe Christmas is next week already?" Just the other day, someone said on the radio, "I can't believe it's February 23rd already." I'm starting to feel like this is one of those things people say just to have something to say, and not because it's a legitimate sentiment. I mean, time goes by all the time, it's not that amazing. I know sometimes time passes so quickly that it seems like we just got through Christmas and it's here again, and yet in between we were marveling over how amazing it was that it was already summer!
I think it's mostly said by procrastinators who realize they have run out of time. As in, I can't believe Christmas is next week, and I haven't yet put up any decorations, sent out any cards, or bought any gifts. Events don't sneak up on and surprise people who prepared for them.
It's something my old manager would have said. This is the woman who stuck a sticky note on my counter requesting that everyone be at work on July 3rd. She did this the day before the three day weekend. At 5pm as she was leaving.
Didn't matter to her that employees who were scheduled off those days already had plans. No sir. Didn't matter that the Fourth came around the same time every year. Nope. She was too ignorant to look at a calendar ahead of time. Fourth comes along - duh, gee, can you believe it? The Fourth is here already.
It goes without saying that on the third, we all sat around with our thumbs up our bums because - surprise! - all the customers were on their three day holiday.
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