Mispunching: A Conversation

Oliver: So I was swimming at the community pool yesterday and I happened to see this one kid flailing, lurching, and mispunching in the shallow end.

Gene: Mispunching?

Oliver: Yeah, you know, shadow boxing.

Gene: Shadow boxing isn't the same as mispunching.

Oliver: So, you knew what mispunching was to begin with?

Gene: Yeah, I knew what it is. What I don't know is why a child in the shallow end would be mispunching.

Oliver: Interesting. You got caught up more on "mispunching" than "lurching"?

Gene: Sure. I could see a kid lurching in the pool. But mispunching? Come on. Get real.

Oliver: I don't see why a kid mispunching would be any less believable than a kid lurching. If you told me you saw someone both lurching and mispunching, I would find that believable. It seems to me that if you were lurching, you would almost by necessity have to be mispunching.

Gene: No, no, no. I totally disagree. Lurching does not necessitate mispunching. Not at all. Lurching necessitates....movement. But not mispunching.

Oliver: Lurching totally necessitates mispunching...which is movement, of course. Have you ever mispunched?

Gene: I've mispunched.

Oliver: Did you lurch when you mispunched?

Gene: No.

Oliver: Liar.

Gene: Exactly.