Portents. They just keep getting funnier.

[featherynscale]

Somehow, the commentary on my post about visiting the Church of Math and Science morphed into an offer to bring adammaker and jackjob a portent when next we visited. And somehow, again, we were in the grocery store last night trying to work out what a portent looked like, so that we would recognize one if we saw it...

Me: "So we're bringing them a portent. What does a portent look like?"
triadruid: "Um. I'm not sure. I don't think I've ever seen one."
Me: "So why did you tell them we'd bring them one, if you didn't know what it was?"
T: "Actually, I think you said that."
kittenpants: "See. You started it."
Me: "Oh."
*beat*
Me: "Well, from the etymology, it must logically have something to do with a door, right?"
K: **boggle**
Me: "Port-tent. It must have something to do with a door. Or left. The left of the door."
K: "Or boats. As in, 'He looked up Moor in the dictionary and learned that it was a place where they tied up boats'."
T: "Or wine."
Me: "So, it's a boat-shaped object full of wine, at the left of the door."
K: "But you have to carry it over land."
Me: "No, that's portage. It's different. I think we're good on the port part. Now I'm moving on to the 'ent' part."
K: "Well, that's a large angry tree that talks to you."
Me: "So if we put it in a large tree to the left of the do-- Wait. They don't have a large tree to the left of their door."
T: "Dammit."

So this morning, I thought, well, if I hit Google Image Search, surely that will be enlightening on the subject of what a portent might look like. And it might have, too, had I not typo'ed and left out the R. *headdesk*

Comments

Something like that...

[niveus-tigris.livejournal.com]

But I really think they meant Poor Tent in that case.