Kind of a fun blog about usage, etymology, abbreviations, etc. Here’s a post I liked, speculating on the origin of butt as an intensifier (e.g., butt naked, butt cold).
UPDATE AFTER READING SOME MORE: I’m glad I kept reading, because it led me to something funny. This post asks,
What do Garth Brooks’ lines
I’ve got friends in low places,
where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases
my blues away.and the FAA-mandated warning
Please move from the exit rows if you are unwilling or unable to perform the necessary actions without injury.
have in common?
and points to a whole series of posts by Neal Whitman at Literal Minded on a phenomenon he calls FLoPs, or "Friends In Low Places coordinations." Read in order from the bottom up. I liked this one:
As I was getting Doug and myself settled into our seats for the flight back to Ohio a few days ago, I listened to the pre-flight instructions and heard this request for passengers who found themselves sitting next to an emergency exit:
Please move from the exit rows if you are unwilling or unable to perform the necessary actions without injury.
So in order to sit in an exit row, you must be (1) able to perform the necessary actions without injury, and (2) willing to perform the necessary actions without injury. The first condition seems reasonable. As for the second one, I can just picture it now; a passenger sitting in the exit row tells the flight attendant, "Yeah, I’ll do it, but only if you’ll smack me around some first." Or, "I’ll do it, but only if I get to smack some of the other passengers around."
As if you couldn’t already tell I’m a closet language geek, I found that uproariously funny.
UPDATE AGAIN: This post is another one I liked, since I’m working with Oscar on phonics so much. It’s so oversimplified in most curricula.
UPDATE AGAIN: And while we’re at it, I share this man’s fantasy.
bearing blog 