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I was wondering what each "miss" means in

I always miss you, so I miss you, so I miss you, so I miss you so much now.

The only two meanings I know for "miss" are: the one as in "miss a chance" and the one as "think about".

However, someone on the internet said that each had a different meaning:

I always avoid you, so I miss you, and finally I lost you, so I miss you so much now.

where the first "miss" meant "don't encounter", and the second "miss" meant "think about".

Is this explanation correct?

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1  
I can't figure out what you're asking. Do you think the word "miss" does have or doesn't have variable meanings in your quote? And are there perhaps missing line breaks in the quote itself? Why is "so I miss you" repeated twice in a row? – Marthaª Mar 28 '11 at 22:39
2  
Possibly if this refers to William Tell talking to his son having left the practice field with the apple ;-) – Alain Pannetier Φ Mar 28 '11 at 22:40
@Martha: I added more to my post. – Tim Mar 28 '11 at 23:22
@Alain: I am not sure about the source. – Tim Mar 28 '11 at 23:24
that was a [probably bad] joke: William Tell is an archer. Your edition of your question makes it clearer anyway. I'll give it a try in an answer below with a little bit more room. – Alain Pannetier Φ Mar 28 '11 at 23:39

4 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

My understanding

I always miss you, so I miss you, so I miss you, so I miss you so much now.

  1. "I always miss you". I'm always late when I date you.

  2. "so I miss you". So you're gone.

  3. "so I miss you". You're my goal and I can't reach that goal.

  4. "so I miss you so much now." The more this happens the more I feel your absence.

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Thanks! Close to that explanation in spirit. – Tim Mar 28 '11 at 23:52
up vote 4 down vote

I think someone is trying way too hard to make a joke. I missed you can indeed have two very different meanings: I regretted your absence ("I missed you yesterday; the party just wasn't the same without you"), or I failed to hit/find you ("I missed you; my arrow landed 5 inches to the left"). However, the second meaning doesn't really work in the present tense. Thus, your quote just comes out nonsensical and repetitive.

The "explanation" you found is a bit forced. I can sort of see their aim, but I'm afraid they've missed the mark.

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Oh, dear, I think I owe myself a THWACK. //ashamed – Marthaª Mar 28 '11 at 23:43
Thanks! What do you mean by "I owe myself a THWACK"? I often see "//...", and wonder what that format mean? – Tim Mar 28 '11 at 23:50
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@Tim: I made a pun. I'm known for thwacking people who make puns. Thus, I owe myself a thwack. The // is used to denote comments in many different programming languages, and it has spread to various non-programming-related online communities as well. – Marthaª Mar 29 '11 at 0:01
Thanks! What pun did you made? Is what follows // a comment on what is before //? – Tim Mar 29 '11 at 0:07
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@Tim: the // precedes the comment. (And I'm pleading the fifth on what pun I made. [The 5th amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right against self-incrimination.]) – Marthaª Mar 29 '11 at 0:10
up vote 2 down vote

All the misses mean the same thing, "to regret the absence of". It sounds like a (very repetitive) line from a song.

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I am not sure where it comes from. – Tim Mar 28 '11 at 23:25
up vote 2 down vote

Updated to reflect the updated question ...

These could all have the same meaning, which is "to feel the absence of," but you can also "miss someone" in the sense that you "miss" a target -- "to fail to hit the mark," which would suggest that you nearly did encounter the person but ultimately did not encounter them. You can also "miss someone" in the same way that you'd "miss" an appointment, by failing to attend. Not sure about the full etymology but you can miss a meeting (or a day of work) by just not getting out of bed. That is to say that you can be said to have missed an event that you made no effort to attend or that you didn't learn about until after the fact.

So "I always miss you" could mean that, like Mister Hooper and Snuffalufagus, you keep turning up just minutes after I've given up waiting for you.

Don't leave before 4:15! I will try to leave by 3 but but my boss keeps me late so I don't get the right bus and I always miss you.

Or it could mean that I never stop longing for you or I'm continually aware of your absence.

Hi honey, I'm home! Did you miss me? / I always miss you!

So this whole line could be saying

"I always arrive just after you've left, so I don't get to see you, so I long for you. I'm longing for you now."

or it could be saying

"I am always longing for you, which causes me to be so distracted that I don't arrive in time to see you, which results in me longing for you more. I very aware of your absence right now."

See also: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wiktionary/en/wiki/miss#Verb

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This would be my original guess. But I added more what I heard to my post. – Tim Mar 28 '11 at 23:25

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