This morning, in my Victorian Literature class, we were analyzing the significance of names of places and people in Jane Eyre. One girl in particular raised her hand and remarked that Gateshead, the place where Jane’s story begins and the place where Jane is the least happy, is the only place that doesn’t have some sort of nature word in its name: Lowood, Thornfield, Marsh End and Moor House are the other places Jane has interacted with so far, and they all have nature words in their names, and all of them serve Jane to rather better ends than Gateshead did. While this girl was waxing on her splendid point, our professor was walking floatily back and forth in front of the class, swaying forward and backward as she made noises that would not have been out of place in the bedroom. “Oh, yes!” she cried breathily (and very loudly, which was why it was so notable to me) as she paced, listening happily to her student. “Oh, lovely. Just lovely! Yes!” She sounded like some music teacher hearing a brilliant new pupil for the first time and being thoroughly roused by the talent presented - “that is simply wonderful! I love it!”
This is maybe the most visceral reaction to a literary analysis that I have ever heard. 

There’s a pizza place down the road from my apartment called Penguin Pizza. They have really good food and lots of beer, and purposeful typos on their menu. The most hysterical and nonsensical of these, to me, is the substitution of the word “penu” for “menu.” Penguin Pizza…penu…get it? As in, “the Penguin has a new dessert penu.” But humor me for a moment - say “penu” out loud, in just the same way you’d say “menu” but with a “p” at the beginning instead. Is it not a funny-sounding little invented word? “Penu.” Sounds French. I just don’t understand why the Penguin thought it would be kitschy and cute to make up a word such as “penu” to try and tie the menu in with the restaurant theme…that seems like such an insignificant and silly little thing to commit to. When the waiters talk to one another, do they ask “hey, could you grab me two more penus?” When the owners and managers meet to talk business, do they say things like “what kind of dishes should we add to the penu?” Every restaurant has a menu - that’s generally what makes it a restaurant, the presence of some sort of booklet of offered fodder from which patrons might choose. Did the first owner of Penguin Pizza, while sitting drunk at his desk one rainy night with a cigarette turning to ash in his fingers and a radio noising quietly in the corner, run his fingers through his hair in frustration before perking up with bright eyes and realizing - “I know what will set my pizza restaurant apart! We’ll call the menu a penu, because it starts with the same letter as “penguin!” It’s the perfect business model!” 
I just don’t get it, I guess. 

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