conuly

It might be. I never really thought about it, and it certainly seems common enough over here now. Still, that little tidbit reminded me of an anecdote about my sister when she was little. My mother had been watching the news, and the big news was a missing person case. My sister caught some of it and said, in shock and amusement, that it was all very silly! People don't just DISAPPEAR! You can just imagine what she thought it meant, that somebody stepped out of their home and vanished into thin air!

So, of course, with the women recently found in Cleveland the phrase "went missing" got used to describe the situation. You can imagine MY astonishment at a comment to one article on these women that goes on for five or six sentences how "wrong" and "illogical" the phrase is, how really "reputable and educated" people would NEVER say that. Five lines about the atrocity that is English, nary a word about the kidnapping and rescue.

The commenter never said what usage he preferred, which is probably just as well, because as every five year old knows, "disappeared" isn't a very logical term. (But really, what sort of uneducated person tries to justify language choices with logic?)

On that note, here's an article on the spread of logical punctuation:

http://slate.me/QljFSH

Some of the comments are a riot! Hold on, I may excerpt a few.

Afraid of Your Child's Math Textbook? You Should Be.

http://bit.ly/yoy4t5

When an Army of Artists Fooled Hitler
A new documentary shares the story of the 23rd unit’s daring work

http://bit.ly/1a1C3um

3-D printing of airway tube helps save U.S. baby

http://bit.ly/Z3yKkB

Wells Dry, Fertile Plains Turn to Dust

http://nyti.ms/18OrdKk

( Read more... )

Why No Safe Room to Run To? Cost and Plains Culture

http://nyti.ms/10NPJIh

( You know where to donate, don't you? )

http://chicshorties.tumblr.com/post/50649439331/anna-age-10-wears-wigs-as-often-as-she-can-get

Enjoy! She really does wear wigs all the time. (It's just a pity the wig covers up her new short hairstyle.)

Sometimes it's nice to do that, re-read a classic you haven't read in ages. Especially when it's Nesbit. Reading about what she apparently considered perfectly normal behavior for kids is incredibly reassuring. More authors, past and present, could stand to copy her ideas here!

Apparently, it is possible now to rent a chicken.

http://www.landssake.org/farm/rent-a-chicken

Of all the silly things....

Meet the Family That Never Learned to Walk on Two Legs

You can see the cited video on YouTube.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/the-michael-moore-of-the-grade-school-lunchroom

They're very... brown.

The comments are full of people complaining that lawyers are all rich and thus ever entitled to free lunch. I would think that a career that takes three years off of your working life and costs an additional $100,000 on top of college before you even get started doesn't actually guarantee instant wealth (and we don't even know what kind of lawer the kid's dad is), but apparently it is supposed to. At any rate, to save money the city made all school lunches free after the hurricane, so whatever.

Kidney beans in chili. White beans with greens and sausage. Split pea soup. Black beans with cilantro or sweet potato or both. Chickpeas for hummus. Nothing wrong with any of those, but isn't there more to life? And nobody is such a fan of soup here anyway.

I could crack open my Indian cookbook, which has a plethora of bean recipes, and lentils, but much though I adore it I don't want to eat from it every day.