Gruntspeak

I came across this cartoon on Friday, illustrating the grammatical gymnastics involved in carrying on an entire conversation with one word. Go ahead and check it out. I'll wait for you.

(BTW, it just took me five tries and the help of the spell checker to find a form of "grammar" that A) fits my usage and B) is already a word.)

It reminds me of a conversation I had with my best friend when we were teenagers. I don't remember who grunted what, but here's the gist of it:

"I'm full."

"Me, too. That was a good meal."

"Totally. The pork chops were very tender and savory. Slightly smokey, and just a hint of lime."

"I agree. And the mashed potatoes were well-seasond and had just the right amount of lumps."

"They were very good. Excellent meal, Mom."

"Yes, Mom. Thank you."

"So what shall we do now?"

"Well, we could play some more hackey sack."

"Nah, I'm too full for that level of physical activity. As much as I enjoyed dinner, I'd prefer to only enjoy it once."

"Good call. We could play video games."

"We spent most of the afternoon playing video games. My thumbs are still sore. Go to the mall?"

"We could... I don't have any money, though. I couldn't buy anything."

"Oh! There was that movie you wanted to see. The one with ... whatsherface."

"That's right! I'd forgotten about that. And I'd just been talking about it while we were playing video games. Let's do that."

"Who's driving?"

"We're here. I'll drive. Do you have a card?"

"...Not on me."

"Not a problem. We can grab my mom's. Watch it at your place or mine?"

"Yours. My sister's probably still watching TV."

"Alright! Let's go."

At which point, we pushed back our chairs and got up to leave. My mother, who had been looking back and forth at us during the whole exchange, burst out laughing. "What was that?"

"We were figuring out what to do now. We're going to go rent a movie and watch it here. I'm driving, we'll need to borrow your Blockbuster card, and excellent job on the marinade. Very tasty."

Tim Allen would be proud.