Maxwell 46: Relegating the Kids' Table to the Vestibule

[HoneyBunny]

On 3/11/2021 at 9:42 AM, kpmom said:

But wasn't it nice of THE LORD to gift Anna with nice curly hair??? ?

THE LORD gifted me with it, too, admittedly not as pretty as Anna Marie’s (thinner and curlier than hers), and, frankly, if I could re-gift it, I certainly would have especially in the 70s when I was a teenager. It was awful. 

[Tatar-tot]

48 minutes ago, HoneyBunny said:

THE LORD gifted me with it, too, admittedly not as pretty as Anna Marie’s (thinner and curlier than hers), and, frankly, if I could re-gift it, I certainly would have especially in the 70s when I was a teenager. It was awful. 

Her curls are Chemo curls.  Once the meds totally clear her system her hair will revert to its previous condition probably with a a few more grey hairs. 

[0 kids n not countin]

Short, curly hair, t-shirt, long skirt, boots, and denim jacket is a nice look on Anna IMO.  I think she should ditch the frumpers and long, braided hair for this look.

[JordynDarby5]

9 hours ago, catlady said:

 

Can I add to the list?  Since when did “handful” become the universal replacement for “few”?  I get inexplicably annoyed seeing handful when quantifying something that can’t be held in one’s hand.  So while handfuls of jellybeans or business cards are fine, what exactly is a handful of people, or places, or times?  “Few” is a perfectly good word.

My dad used to use that logic when getting snacks. My mom or I would ask him how many he got and he'd always say a "few" which to my mom and me is three. To Dad a few was ten. A couple was six. We'd always try and point out that those weren't a "few" or a "couple" but a handful or just say you got a bunch. Nope he continued to insist they were a few or couple. And he wonders why my brother and I started hiding snacks in our rooms. It was the only way to insure we'd actually be able to eat a "couple" of cookies. Mom didn't but she usually raided my stash. 

[PennySycamore]

@JordynDarby5, your post reminds me of this family that lived across the street from us about 60 years ago.  The kids would count One, Couple, Three, Four....

[Black Aliss]

On 3/11/2021 at 3:25 PM, GreenBeans said:

Overuse? Overutilization you mean!

My pet peeve is “waiting for” vs. “waiting on”. It’s not the same thing.

We are waiting for this pandemic to be over.

In Texas, servers in restaurants are waiting on maskless patrons.

Okay, as long as we are airing our linguistic grievances, WTF is up with people writing "obviates the need for"? "Eliminates [or does away with] the need for" or if you want to spice up your writing, "obviates", which means the former.

And now that I'm on a bit of a roll, I also do not ever want to read "a myriad of". It's "myriad" or "a metric fuckton of". And if it's going to be myriad there had damn well better be more than just a handful.

<deep breath>

On 3/11/2021 at 4:38 PM, Caroline said:

I live in New England. I've heard of head lice, but luckily have had no experience with them.  I asked my husband who has six sisters, and he said they were not a problem in his family either.  He grew up in western NY state.  Our families were super lucky evidently.  I'm ok with that

They've become much more common in, I guess, the last 25 or so years. Common and SEVERELY resistant to common antiparasitics. WIWAK I never heard of anyone having head lice, although I suppose it was a taboo topic. There certainly weren't classroom-wide outbreaks. Only one of our kids ever had them and a South Asian mom of one of her classmates shared the trick of an overnight treatment of coconut oil as a surefire way to get rid of them safely.

[HoneyBunny]

Linguistic grievances...haha. Love that, and thought I was only one on whom certain common terms grate. For me it’s “try and” instead of “try to”, and that’s so frequently misused. 

[courtlylove]

For me it's 'compared to', which should be 'compared with'. 

 

Oh, and 'lead' used instead of 'led'. 

[GreenBeans]

55 minutes ago, courtlylove said:

For me it's 'compared to', which should be 'compared with'. 

 

Oh, and 'lead' used instead of 'led'. 

Thanks, I learned something today. I hadn’t realized there was a difference between compare “with” and “to” (not a native speaker though). Actually, both are right. I’m loving the example from this website: https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/definitions/compare-to-vs-compare-with/

“In the writer’s guide Simple and Direct, Jacques Barzun issues this caveat: “Any writer can compare himself with Shakespeare and discover how far he falls short; if he compares himself to Shakespeare (i.e., puts himself on the same level), then he had better think again.”

?

 

[MamaJunebug]

14 hours ago, catlady said:

 

Can I add to the list?  Since when did “handful” become the universal replacement for “few”?  I get inexplicably annoyed seeing handful when quantifying something that can’t be held in one’s hand.  So while handfuls of jellybeans or business cards are fine, what exactly is a handful of people, or places, or times?  “Few” is a perfectly good word.

I’m not prudish but I’m weary of “shit-ton.”

[church_of_dog]

I hate "should OF" instead of "should HAVE"

(also could, would, might, etc)

[mango_fandango]

I’ve seen “defiantly” used in place of “definitely” quite a lot. That’s always an odd one.

[griffin]

I can't stand "a person that...." It's "a person who". A person is a who, not a that.

Also, "it was her". It was SHE.

Now that you've got me started, I hate people misusing I and me. "Here's a photo of John and I". 

 

[church_of_dog]

3 hours ago, GreenBeans said:

Thanks, I learned something today. I hadn’t realized there was a difference between compare “with” and “to” (not a native speaker though). Actually, both are right. I’m loving the example from this website: https://www.grammarbook.com/blog/definitions/compare-to-vs-compare-with/

“In the writer’s guide Simple and Direct, Jacques Barzun issues this caveat: “Any writer can compare himself with Shakespeare and discover how far he falls short; if he compares himself to Shakespeare (i.e., puts himself on the same level), then he had better think again.”

?

 

I border on being a grammar geek but I was entirely unaware of this distinction.  Thank you!

[IsmeWeatherwax]

My preferred tv viewing are murder docs, American ones as ones in the UK freak me out too much as its too close to home lol My absolute pet peeve is the word "drug" constantly used incorrectly. It the river was "dragged" not drug. The body was "dragged" to whatever hiding spot not drug. The only time to use "drug" is when drugs are involved. Its the same with hang and hanged. Maybe a peculiarity to different countries tho, probably best to just ignore me!

[Rosie]

9 hours ago, church_of_dog said:

I hate "should OF" instead of "should HAVE"

(also could, would, might, etc)

Yes, it hurts my ears.

Another one: “ I wish I would have“ or “if I would have known.“ NO.  It’s, “I wish I had,“ and “if I had known.“

1 hour ago, IsmeWeatherwax said:

My preferred tv viewing are murder docs, American ones as ones in the UK freak me out too much as its too close to home lol My absolute pet peeve is the word "drug" constantly used incorrectly. It the river was "dragged" not drug. The body was "dragged" to whatever hiding spot not drug. The only time to use "drug" is when drugs are involved. Its the same with hang and hanged. Maybe a peculiarity to different countries tho, probably best to just ignore me!

That grates on my ears as well. The Duggars use that and I’m pretty sure that it’s a Southern thing, along with using the words “when“ and “whenever“ interchangeably, which makes me crazy.

Edited March 14, 2021 by Rosie
Double posted one line by mistake.

[Bethy]

11 hours ago, church_of_dog said:

I hate "should OF" instead of "should HAVE"

(also could, would, might, etc)

I've seen that in BOOKS! Real, live, published-by-a-publisher (as in, not self-published) and edited-by-a-professional-editor BOOKS!

[fundiefan]

19 hours ago, HoneyBunny said:

Linguistic grievances...haha. Love that, and thought I was only one on whom certain common terms grate. For me it’s “try and” instead of “try to”, and that’s so frequently misused. 

Oh man. This is where I could come off as a snobby b*tch. 

Irregardless

All of the sudden

Less than when it is fewer than (Like all freaking stores that have check outs for 15 items or less). No. Just, no. 

7 hours ago, Rosie said:

Yes, it hurts my ears.

Another one: “ I wish I would have“ or “if I would have known.“ NO.  It’s, “I wish I had,“ and “if I had known.“

That grates on my ears as well. The Duggars use that and I’m pretty sure that it’s a Southern thing, along with using the words “when“ and “whenever“ interchangeably, which makes me crazy.

Would of known / could of done / should of called.

[Black Aliss]

8 hours ago, Rosie said:

Another one: “ I wish I would have“ or “if I would have known.“ NO.  It’s, “I wish I had,“ and “if I had known.“

As a decades-long fan of the Sylvia comic strip by Nicole Hollander, I will probably always say, "had I but known", as in

Spoiler

 

[PennySycamore]

@IsmeWeatherwax,  I spent most of last week watching a marathon of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered on Oxygen where the hosts recalled some of the most memorable cases that the show has covered.  I did take a break some afternoons to watch Monk,  Thursday evening when TCM showed the first and last Katharine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy films and Friday evening to watch Schitt's Creek on Comedy Central  and some of Season 13 of DragRace.  The Dateline marathon was over by Friday anyway.  

Bruce Gerencser told the story the other day that after many years of marriage where his wife read nothing secular he was shocked to find that she had a stack of true crime books she was reading.  Way to go, Polly!  

[Tatar-tot]

Anna’s mom looks positively normal.  She dresses in an attractive manner and has a cute haircut & glasses.  How on earth did Anna become obsessed with the frumper as the key fashion choice in her wardrobe?  She is too young and too cute to be dressed like she is on the set of Little House on the Prairie on a day in day out basis. 

[IsmeWeatherwax]

9 hours ago, PennySycamore said:

@IsmeWeatherwax,  I spent most of last week watching a marathon of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered on Oxygen where the hosts recalled some of the most memorable cases that the show has covered.  I did take a break some afternoons to watch Monk,  Thursday evening when TCM showed the first and last Katharine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy films and Friday evening to watch Schitt's Creek on Comedy Central  and some of Season 13 of DragRace.  The Dateline marathon was over by Friday anyway.  

Bruce Gerencser told the story the other day that after many years of marriage where his wife read nothing secular he was shocked to find that she had a stack of true crime books she was reading.  Way to go, Polly!  

Im in a marathon of "I lived with a killer" on youtube. Most excellent, I do recommend! 

[NoseyNellie]

10 hours ago, Tatar-tot said:

Anna’s mom looks positively normal.  She dresses in an attractive manner and has a cute haircut & glasses.  How on earth did Anna become obsessed with the frumper as the key fashion choice in her wardrobe?  She is too young and too cute to be dressed like she is on the set of Little House on the Prairie on a day in day out basis. 

Maybe she got into the frumper style because it was frugal/affordable to have clothing that went between pregnant/non pregnant?  With this treatment regimen/her ongoing health, she should not be getting pregnant anymore.. this could kick off the change from "functional clothing" to a more fitted and flattering style.  I will be very interesting to see how all of it effects her- the cancer, overall changes due to medical treatments, all the alone time with HER family recuperating...What type of butterfly emerges from this?     

[Melissa1977]

1 hour ago, NoseyNellie said:

Maybe she got into the frumper style because it was frugal/affordable to have clothing that went between pregnant/non pregnant? 

I think she was frumper as a single, and her wedding dress was frumpy, too. Her younger sister was also dressed in frumpers back in the day.

Maybe it is her mom who has changed her style, while Anna Marie kept her "prairie" style. I think that Anna's brothers and their families all dress mainstream.

[anachronistic]

I have to confess: I don’t understand it when people are upset about other people’s usage of words in everyday life. If you know what they are saying, why does it matter? I don’t even notice most of the mistakes that you all say annoy you. Am I supposed to notice?
I make a distinction between people who make money off of their writing, like Sarah does, or the numerous Mommy blogs. Or people who brag about how well they home educate their kids. But on a forum like this, or a Facebook page, or in conversations? I just want to know exactly what the person means to say, and so long as they get their point across, it doesn’t matter.

 

I learned written English unconsciously and spoken English by being taught. As a result I still speak a bit oddly sometimes because I’m piecing together memorized phrases from other places. I also have friends who use Alternative/Augmentative Communication (AAC) to communicate and making sentences there is very hard. Heck, everything about language is hard! Pronouns are hard! Titles are hard! Adverbs are impossible! I usually use Dragon, a dictation program, for my writing now and I’ve had to change the entire way I think because typing is sooooo much easier than speaking. Why? I don’t know! It just is. I love words, I love writing, I love reading, but it is hard, and so getting upset when a friend uses a word wrong just never occurs to me.

I did find out this odd grammar rule years ago and LOVE it. It is so much fun to find long lists of adjectives and see if they conform to the rules. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/85863/odd-grammar-rule-most-english-speakers-know-are-rarely-taught