Recently a new friend gave me a gift. A gift I can't return and find difficult to get rid of. You see, this friend has a habit - a mannersim if you will- of making a wafting like movement with his hands when speaking of anything he likes. It seems as if he is savouring some sort of aroma but, alas, this is never the case. The problem is, somehow by my exposure to him he has communicated this habit onto myself to the point that I often find myself doing it. Even though I don't really like the fact that he does it. This is what I call inadvertant idiosyncronization.

My proposal is for advertant idiosyncronization. What I have begun to do, to payback my friend for this unwanted gesture is to intentionally invent mannerisms that I desire him to mimic through the same phenomina, even though I do not possess them myself.

For instance I've decided that when I speak of things of an arousing nature I'll grind my fist into my palm. I've also begun to punctuate my sentences while in his presence with that finger snap that the homies do. However, I suppose the movements and gestures are quite unlimited and varied.

To further aid in this conditioning I reward inadvertant mimickry with increased interest and attention to his dialogue and hightened humour to his jokes when accompanied by the wanted gesture.

"Muahahahahahaah" <puts finger to bottom lip in coy expression> "see how that works?"
-- schmendrick, Sep 14 2005

Don't you find yourself picking up your own invented mannerisms too?
-- moomintroll, Sep 14 2005


nope.
-- schmendrick, Sep 14 2005


[Pa`ve] - I also pick up accents easily. After sitting a course given by a (very) Russian lecturer, it took me weeks to UNlearn how to say 'Minkowski.'

Anyway. I don't know if I can get away with acting like any more of an idiot.
-- Detly, Sep 15 2005


That's really funny. Read up on NLP and you could transfer lots of annoying habits. Maybe that's not such a good idea.
-- wagster, Sep 15 2005


The tendency to mimicry is almost a reflex, one of the last of human phenomena to pass the pale. Enjoy.
-- reensure, Sep 15 2005


didn't even read it. bun for the name.
-- crater, Sep 15 2005


Monkey see, monkey do.
-- Susan, Sep 15 2005


and sheepy sheep
-- chocolateraindrops, Sep 16 2005


There's gotta be a limit. Think about it, the wafting gesture, kinda fluid, one motion, periodic. The same with the fist grinding. I mean, I can't stand on my head every time I see a good looking woman on the street, and expect everyone else to catch on. There's gotta be a limit, is all.
-- daseva, Sep 20 2005


The art would be determining which idiosyncracies your friend would be most likely to adopt, based on his subconscious tendencies [mashes fist into palm].
-- phundug, Jan 02 2009



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