Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Enigmatic Fines

This week's Poetry bus poem (see 2 posts ago) was a little enigmatic, as mentioned in some of the comments. Enigmatic was at one stage an enigmatic word to myself and my parents when the English teacher used it to describe me at a parent teacher meeting. It was his nice way of saying I was so quiet he didn't have a clue what I was like for good or bad - we were all delighted by the word (once we had looked it up).

Anyway - enigma's well and good when you mean it, but the poem for this week has an unintended enigma in my use of the word Fine. I've just realised - with a bit of thinking, and looking at the comments that my use for the word is a relatively little known use, so I thought I'd explain it here - hopefully spreading my way of using it and therefore eventually maybe resulting in my poem making sense to someone, anyone at all.

Fines is the term (picked up from working with sliced cooked meats) used to describe the tiny little bits of something that result when something fairly natural in texture is cut and these extra tiny bits of the object being sliced stick to the knife or get spread on the surface of what you're cutting or fall free of the object seperate to the slice or chunk that you have cut, as well as being cut from the original piece. (if they're still stuck to the original that's called feathering)
So in the poem - a fine of you - is a tiny piece fallen off a paper thin slice of a person's life.
most poetic - I think you'll agree
Not a lot of people know that. I would have got Michael Caine to say that for you, but he's busy, and I'm busy (too busy to upload a video), and you're busy, so twill have to suffice as is.


Titus said...

(Bouncing on seat at front of class with hand up) I knew!
I also do a very fine Michael Caine impersonation. But then, who doesn't.
Leaving now before I get too annoying.

Karen said...

Amazing what difference knowing one little word can make. I didn't know, I'm ashamed to say.

the watercats said...

I think I knew.. without actively knowing.. I knew on an instinctual level maybe.. I got it anyway :-)
and we might be soon eligible for your bursary :-D I know we've made it when we do!

Niamh B said...

Arrah Titus, you're never TOO annoying! :-) Amn't one bit surprised you knew it anyway - gold star going on your copybook.
Hey Karen, thanks, would be interested in whether your own original interpretation made it better or worse overall?! It's a lesson to me to be careful on clarity of chosen words in future.
Hi Watercats, that's interesting too, I think context and sound of the word can tell a bit about intended meaning too, but I guess it's always up to the listener/ reader. And yes, you're deffo famous enough for the bursary!