What was that?
Obviously, that is a question posed in the past tense. Note the emphasis on the word was. If I pose the same question but emphasize the word that, the implication completely changes.
What was that?
See what I mean?
Emphasizing the what indicates a lack of credibility to the subject matter of the question. As in, do you trust your eyes? Or perhaps you have just seen something that you can not believe actually took place, even though there is physical evidence of the occurrence. For instance, let's say for the sake of argument you are stopped at a red light and a gentleman pulls up next to you, let's say this man is handsome, again for the sake of argument. And highly intelligent. Of course, you wouldn't know for sure that he is highly intelligent, he just looks the part. Then this man looks right at you and gives you a hand jazzing of a lifetime. It would not be unreasonable to say "What was that?"
"What was that", emphasizes the word was, and puts the onus squarely on the time frame. Say it to yourself in your head and note the difference between the two sentences.
What was that? What was that?
The best example I can give you here is time moving so fast that you wonder where the hell it all went. There is the speed of sound which is fairly quick. There is the speed of light, which is pretty darn fast. There is the speed of neutrinos, which is ridiculously, unfathomably and theoretically super-duper fast. Then you have the speed of time, which fluctuates constantly based on the activity taking place within it.
A couple of days in a cabin on a lake in the middle of the woods with your friends and family with nothing to do but fish, kayak, splash around in bubbling natural springs, eat, drink and be irresponsible, speeds up time considerably. It leaves one scratching their head and asking...
What was that?
The point I'm really getting at is the phrase, regardless of the version deployed, emphasizes those things that are behind you. It takes the past and places into a current context. Everything that happened before effects what is happening now and ultimately alters those things that have yet to be. Not getting hung up on the past is all well and good, but do you completely neglect to check your rear view mirror while on the highway? It seems prudent to do so.
The past few days were spent in the perfect hiding place. Today, tomorrow and the day after that will not abandon the place I just came from...and this will assist in my future mental health.
Time well spent is a wise investment. Use it with purpose.
Today's Jazz Hands have eyes in the back of their head. Day one-hundred and fifty-eight complete.
Obviously, that is a question posed in the past tense. Note the emphasis on the word was. If I pose the same question but emphasize the word that, the implication completely changes.
What was that?
See what I mean?
Emphasizing the what indicates a lack of credibility to the subject matter of the question. As in, do you trust your eyes? Or perhaps you have just seen something that you can not believe actually took place, even though there is physical evidence of the occurrence. For instance, let's say for the sake of argument you are stopped at a red light and a gentleman pulls up next to you, let's say this man is handsome, again for the sake of argument. And highly intelligent. Of course, you wouldn't know for sure that he is highly intelligent, he just looks the part. Then this man looks right at you and gives you a hand jazzing of a lifetime. It would not be unreasonable to say "What was that?"
"What was that", emphasizes the word was, and puts the onus squarely on the time frame. Say it to yourself in your head and note the difference between the two sentences.
What was that? What was that?
The best example I can give you here is time moving so fast that you wonder where the hell it all went. There is the speed of sound which is fairly quick. There is the speed of light, which is pretty darn fast. There is the speed of neutrinos, which is ridiculously, unfathomably and theoretically super-duper fast. Then you have the speed of time, which fluctuates constantly based on the activity taking place within it.
A couple of days in a cabin on a lake in the middle of the woods with your friends and family with nothing to do but fish, kayak, splash around in bubbling natural springs, eat, drink and be irresponsible, speeds up time considerably. It leaves one scratching their head and asking...
What was that?
The point I'm really getting at is the phrase, regardless of the version deployed, emphasizes those things that are behind you. It takes the past and places into a current context. Everything that happened before effects what is happening now and ultimately alters those things that have yet to be. Not getting hung up on the past is all well and good, but do you completely neglect to check your rear view mirror while on the highway? It seems prudent to do so.
The past few days were spent in the perfect hiding place. Today, tomorrow and the day after that will not abandon the place I just came from...and this will assist in my future mental health.
Time well spent is a wise investment. Use it with purpose.
Today's Jazz Hands have eyes in the back of their head. Day one-hundred and fifty-eight complete.
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