Your Face Could Stop a Clock
Story★★A shy young man fell in love, but he was utterly tongue-tied whenever he was with the girl. A friend offered some advice: “Just memorize some great lines, expressing your total admiration. Something like, ‘When I see your face, time stands still.’”
It made sense, so for weeks the young man practiced: “When I see your face, time stands still.” Finally he was ready. He took her to a romantic restaurant. The lights were low. His eyes met hers and he said, “When I see your face, I, time, uh…” He couldn’t remember the words. Again he tried, “Mary, When I see your face, I, er, I mean …” Now he was totally flustered, so in desperation he blurted out, “Mary, your face could stop a clock.”
Source Dennis R. Clark, (The Church of the Nativity, 1999) page 90
The point
A tongue-tied suitor rehearses a romantic line for weeks, then blurts out the clumsy opposite of what he meant when the moment finally comes.