margaret brown         calamity jane         saws         sailing of the ill-fated steamship titanic   
shakespeare           theatre in st louis       oral communication         anatomy of the theatre
performance workshop I          performance workshop II         world literature          methods of teaching english
writing and performing the 10-minute play
          freshman seminar
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saws

Saws, or sayings, are probably oral in origin.  They are metaphorical, witty, frank, ironic.  They mean what they mean, not what they say.  Why should "She's one of the old blue hen's chicks" mean a good kind of individuality and "He's a real who up a haw tree" mean a bad kind?  Just because they do.

Click on the category headings to read some saws.

achievement age all over anger animals appearance awkward
beauty bet better than bored busy cars caution
cleanliness close competition complain compromise crazy crooked
dark dejection denigration desire determination difficulty dilemma
distance dressed up drunk dull eagerness easy encouragement
experience feast famine feel bad food futility get going good
goodbye gossip greeting handy hate hot hunger
independent ingratitude integrity intend to kids love measure
memory misfortune mistake money need nervous no
obvious poverty size slick smart speed strength
stupidity surprise talk threat time ugliness weather
warning work          

 

margaret brown             calamity jane           saws          sailing of the ill-fated steamship titanic   
shakespeare       theatre in st louis           oral communication          anatomy of the theatre
performance workshop I          performance workshop II           world literature              methods of teaching english
writing and performing the 10-minute play              freshman seminar
home 
       spring 2008          fall 2008      speech exam directives       10-minute play scripts