I’m briefly out of town and without my Little Book of Horrors, so I will use one of my own Horrors to follow up on several recent posts about mis-hearing.
It’s a Cousins’ Reunion I’m on. Last night my cousin Betsy announced that we would be having dinner at Pizza Lune. I imagined a fairly traditional pizza joint, maybe an upscale pizza joint, with a moon in its logo. A sort of upscale FRENCH pizza joint, I theorized. Or on second thought maybe very Italian, “Pizza Luna” but pronounced like a paisan–Pizza Lun’.
“That’s fine,” I said, “as long as they have a bar and I can get a Bloody Mary.” (I had had a long, traffic-jammy drive…)
The motel shuttle pulled up at Pete’s Saloon.
If I had texted a friend about our destination, I would have had no doubt that we were going to Pizza Lune. (Well, I might have admitted the possibility of Pizza Lun’.) It wouldn’t have been a spelling mistake; it would have been a conceptual mistake. Not considering a proprietary Peter, and not an habitual user of the term “saloon,” I processed what I heard into what fit my familiarity zone.
No wonder my cousin looked at me oddly when I tried to make sure I could get a drink… at a saloon.
You Knew What I Meant 
October 27th, 2012 at 12:49 pm
I hope you got a pizza too!
October 28th, 2012 at 8:50 am
There were pizza-like options, but I went with the grilled portobello mushroom sandwich–which went VERY well with the Bloody Mary!
October 28th, 2012 at 8:51 am
So nice to meet you!
October 27th, 2012 at 1:39 pm
But were the Bloody Marys good ones? And the bar food? I shouldn’t read this while I’m hungry. Or anxiously awaiting a storm. I still have to go OUT; so no Bloody Marys for me. Yet.
October 28th, 2012 at 8:53 am
Yes, and yes!