Hurricanes and cliches

[upandown]

Let's begin with words such as 'wrath'. Hurricanes do not have 'wrath'.
They have destructive power, certainly, but emotions?

No.

Ban 'wrath'.

[Brick]

batten down the hatches, upandown! I'm going to hunker down...

[Stack It]

Mother Nature's fury. Use that in your next package UD and I'll send you to Eureka or Chico.

[s'news]

Hatches? Battened!

[s'news]

By the way, what does battened mean?

[Sultanosurf]

All good, but then you have to go back and take away names. Or beef 'em up. Camille, Andrew, Hugo, and Katrina sound more like mixed doubles at the Danish tennis club than killer storms.

There's been hyperbole, but also some pretty good TV. Altho how can you hear 'wrath' and not think Ricardo Montalban?

BTW, U&D, the true test is finding different ways of saying "earthquake" without wearing out the word. Shaker, jolt, rip, and the best of all, temblor. After that, it's slim pickins...

[adam & doctor drew]

Originally posted by Sultanosurf:
Altho how can you hear 'wrath' and not think Ricardo Montalban?
Rich Corinthian Leather

[Sultanosurf]

Even the gray lady can't keep away: "Houston, You Have a Problem"

[Mighty Dyckerson]

How come nobody ever hunkers up?

[rootboyslim]

Is there always a "calm before the storm?"

[SEPhotog]

Not a cliche, but a factual point...IT'S NOT A HER...IT IS AN IT! Stop it with the masculine and femenine pronouns for God's sake.

[Sir Dropham Pants]

The worst of the storm cliches in my opinion: "Boats/cars tossed about like so many matchbox toys." I promise you will hear this one on the news, but never in a coverstation. And I promise you will groan when you do.
Then there's always the "sounded like a freight train" reference.

[Duh]

Originally posted by Sultanosurf:
All good, but then you have to go back and take away names. Or beef 'em up. Camille, Andrew, Hugo, and Katrina sound more like mixed doubles at the Danish tennis club than killer storms.I know. How come one isn't named Bubba or Helga?

[Jane Craig]

or Brunhilde or Guido?

[Bubucutti]

Mother Nature's menstrual cycle gone hideously awry

[Groucho]

Originally posted by upandown:
Let's begin with words such as 'wrath'. Hurricanes do not have 'wrath'.
They have destructive power, certainly, but emotions?

No.

Ban 'wrath'.I really don't have a problem with personification. Makes some descriptions less clinical, more descriptive -- if used effectively. But I agree "wrath" is way overused.

[Retired from the Biz]

Coast is clear.

[rootboyslim]

Peeled away shingles like a banana (or an orange).

[Scarlet Termite]

Originally posted by Bubucutti:
Mother Nature's menstrual cycle gone hideously awrygraemlins/icon_pray.gif That cracked me up!

[TV's Frank]

Originally posted by Cadal Evershield:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Bubucutti:
Mother Nature's menstrual cycle gone hideously awrygraemlins/icon_pray.gif That cracked me up!</font>[/QUOTE]Cadal ... just curious ... to what extent, if any, do the posts here influence your strip? Does ML ever provide you with ideas, perspective, one-liners? Do tell ...

[s'news]

Originally posted by RootboySlim:
Is there always a "calm before the storm?"Yes. It is a requirement of international law.

[s'news]

Oh, and mother nature will soon start shakin' the Gulf like a bucket o' beer.

[Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh]

Originally posted by s'news:
By the way, what does battened mean?Main Entry: 1bat·ten
Pronunciation: 'ba-t&n
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): bat·tened; bat·ten·ing /'bat-ni[ng], 'ba-t&n-i[ng]/
Etymology: probably from Old Norse batna to improve; akin to Old English betera better
intransitive senses
1 a : to grow fat b : to feed gluttonously
2 : to grow prosperous especially at the expense of another -- usually used with on
transitive senses : FATTEN

[s'news]

Fatten up the hatches?

By the way, when doing a live shot, always pan over to a palm tree.

[Fake Post]

Grapes have wrath. So does love.

http://www.londonstimes.us/toons/cartoons/Simeon_GrapesWrath_N_Love.jpg

[overthehill]

I thought batten was what the PA announcer said at the ballpark: "Now batten, Manny Mota"

Since Rita's going to hit Texas, how bout some Dan Ratherisms for the storm?

Such as: "Rita's spinning fast and furious...worse than an armadillo at a Fort Worth rodeo."
OR
"Galveston is as empty as the last outhouse at the Texas State Fair."

[ September 23, 2005, 11:16 AM: Message edited by: overthehill ]

[Stormin Norman]

From the "Nautical Know-how" Boat safe guide:

"BATTEN DOWN - Secure hatches and loose objects both within the hull and on deck"

from our sports anchor:

"...that hurricane blew like my ex, honey, blow is just an expression..."

He no longer works in the biz.

[neodeity]

I could do without "churning"

[upandown]

Nor do hurricanes, "Unleash their fury," as if they were angry dogs being walked.

I heard one today on CNN...

"No crying wolf. This IS the big bad wolf."

[ September 23, 2005, 02:57 PM: Message edited by: upandown ]

[MyracleMan]

Originally posted by SEPhotog:
Not a cliche, but a factual point...IT'S NOT A HER...IT IS AN IT! Stop it with the masculine and femenine pronouns for God's sake.But hurricanes are just like wives... when they first come, they're all hot, steamy, and wet... when they leave, they take the house.

[Brick]

Originally posted by SEPhotog:
Not a cliche, but a factual point...IT'S NOT A HER...IT IS AN IT! Stop it with the masculine and femenine pronouns for God's sake.No...no...I'm pretty sure I saw a vagina.

[Junk Junk]

The hurricane is closing in on the Gulf coast...

[buckpasser]

"Hunker Down" is the new, "Get R Done"

[John M.]

Originally posted by upandown:
Let's begin with words such as 'wrath'. Hurricanes do not have 'wrath'.
They have destructive power, certainly, but emotions?

No.

Ban 'wrath'.Used too often and inartfully, I can see where this would grate on you but the description fits.

Putting aside that we personify hurricanes by naming them, as an earlier poster pointed out, for most of human existence people believed that natural disasters literally resulted from incurring a supernatural power's wrath.

Even here in the 21st century I see the weather maps and the radar and the satellite images and I know that these things are no more than geological and atmospheric forces working without regard to the beings below.

But when I live through one (and the lengthy existence sans electricity that follows) it's hard not to think after a while that someone very powerful somewhere just doesn't like me and is, dare I say, letting me feel his wrath.

[ September 25, 2005, 05:34 PM: Message edited by: John M. ]

[Pregnant Reporter]

Please, let's look ahead to "recovering."

Isn't it time for the "healing process to begin?"

I understand "healing will take time."

But once people begin picking through "the rubble that was once their homes," they will get a true sense of the "catostrophic loss," and of course, "Katrina or Rita's legacy."

[icarus112277]

Originally posted by overthehill:
I thought batten was what the PA announcer said at the ballpark: "Now batten, Manny Mota"

Manny Mota? Mr. Pinch Hit? Damn you are over the hill!

[ September 25, 2005, 05:53 PM: Message edited by: icarus112277 ]

[Michigan J. Frog]

I hate when people start attributing emotions to weather..."She's angry..." and the like.

[The Sleeper]

Originally posted by Sultanosurf:
Altho how can you hear 'wrath' and not think Ricardo Montalban?
KHAAN! (http://wildbill.nulldevice.net/archives/000059.html)

[Kelvin Hemholtz]

Bugs Bunny: Batten down those hatches!

(another character...forget who): We did Captain!

Bugs Bunny: Well, batten them down again...we'll SHOW those hatches!
------------------------------------
Other well-used phrases

"the storm is churning..." (guilty here...pass the butter please)

"Wind whipped waves"

"worst case scenario."

"...is on standby"

"storm will be onshore..." - (you mean the CENTER will be onshore. The storm itself is already there when you're beating beaten up by flying debris.)

"flying debris" LOL!!!

If I take all of those out of my own material, I would end up with something like this script:

"It's one big azz storm and it ain't gonna be good."
:D

[s'news]

It could have been worse.

[Pregnant Reporter]

Dodged a bullet

On the ground here

With Hurricane Katrina/Rita just a distant memory....