philadendron

I have a new plan for learning this language. I recently aquired a list of some of the most common phrases used here. I'm going to choose a phrase off the list and keep it in the forefront of my mind and use it in a real-life situation that day. I'll have a "phrase of the day." Some of the phrases on the list include: "Is that your lowest price?" "How much is that all together?" "I am uncomfortable." "Are your parents living?" (and if the answer is no I respond with "May your life be spared"). So if I'm serious about this, and really want to use it in a real-life situation (which will help cement it in my brain), I thought that it may sometimes feel forced.

This reminded me of the John Candy movie Who's Harry Crumb? that was constantly rerun on TNT. There was a really funny scene that Mike and I still talk about. John Candy is a detective, and there's a lady in his office. After she explains her problem, John Candy wants to appear intelligent and competent, so he wants to use a big word. He has a word-of-the-day flip calendar on his desk, and that day's word was philadendron. So he says to the lady, "Your husband...he's quite the uh, philadendron."

So having my phrase-of-the-day reminded me of that scene. I wonder if I'll be thinking about my phrase and use it totally out of context. I'll let you know.