The "The Weather Changes More Often than the Thread Title" Complaint Thread

DanaTA · August 12

The (United States) English language is full of odditties. I like when comedians bring them to our attention. Gallagher once mused: "Why are there a pair of pants, but only on bra? And why do we park on the driveway, but drive on the parkway?"

LeatherGryphon · August 12

Or in a train car things are "shipped", but on a boat it goes as "cargo". And don't get me started on when to tell if something is "up", or something is going "down".

I'm sure some academician or equivalent comedian has labeled that phenomenon somewhere.

Non-complaint: Yay! Tomorrow is laundry day. Wheee..., breakfast at Burger King, laundry, drugstore, grocery, home. Weather's going to be beautiful in the mid 70sF, clear, non-humid.

Google AI to the rescue: Yes! The up/down and shipment/cargo things are called "contronyms".

Query: What's one half of a pair of scissors called? Ans: broken.

CORRECTION: I tried GoogleAI again and this time it said the previous explanation was incorrect, below is what it said this time.

richardandtracy · August 12

I have always been baffled by 'First cut a tree down, then cut it up'. Instead of having a tree, you have logs. Mad. Regards, Richard

zombietaggerung · August 12

DanaTA said:

The (United States) English language is full of odditties. I like when comedians bring them to our attention. Gallagher once mused: "Why are there a pair of pants, but only on bra? And why do we park on the driveway, but drive on the parkway?"

The "pair of pants" thing is because when what could be called pants (pantaloons) were first invented, the legs were not connected to each other, thus A Pair of Pants.

NylonGirl · August 12

I do wonder what is the difference between uptown and downtown. Or up the road and down the road.

Charlie Judge · August 12

To our friends in Europe: Is it getting dark where you are? I'm watching the eclipse on TV.

Nath · August 12

Charlie Judge said:

To our friends in Europe: Is it getting dark where you are? I'm watching the eclipse on TV.

Still about twenty minutes from the maximum (about 90% here), yes it's getting noticeably darker (and the cat is a bit agitated).

garrett_3d · August 12

I didn't notice any difference in outdoor light. I reckon it was fake news

richardandtracy · August 12

We had supper in the garden. It got quite dim and all the birds settled down to roost for a few minutes. The dragonflies carried out some wild manoeuvres for the five minutes on either side of maximum (about 95% for us). Regards, Richard

Richard Haseltine · August 12

Got darkish here, but the sun had gone behind trees so we couldn't see it (without climbing onto the roof or the like).

TJohn · August 12

On up/down:

I can remember being told to "sit diwn and shut up" for the first time. I had heard each separately before, but together I got confused about the opposite directions and froze for a few seconds.

My parents would never have been rude enough to say it like that, but a harried first grade teacher with a bunch of wild 6-year-old boys to wrangle was a different story around 67 years ago.

P.S. I saw the eclipse on TV. Still the safest way to observe, and I enjoyed it just as much as the last solar eclipse that I could see from my front yard..

LeatherGryphon · August 13

I've seen a couple of partial eclipses here in NY State over my lifetime, and I was here for the total eclipse last year, but it was somewhat disappointing because despite being total, it was behind heavy clouds. Yeah, that one did get so dark that the wild critters quieted down, the street lights came on, and it was dark, really dark for a few minutes. But unless I win the lottery and can afford to go meet one in the next few years, that was the last one I'll ever get to experience. I did watch this one today, on TV. Not the same though.

LeatherGryphon · August 13

Ah, finally, a suitable complaint: Owwwie! I got home from laundry & grocery today and while making lunch I tried to snip a reasonable sized group of grapes from the huge stem and clipped a nibblet of skin from my finger tip. And being on blood thinners I bled like a stuck pig for an hour and have gone through several Band-Aids. I blame the brand new high-quality sharp, titanium scissors. It moved on its own and did this out of malicious spite. Later, I had to wash my sink full of dirty dishes from yesterday, and it started bleeding again despite trying to keep the finger dry. More Band-Aids. Typing this has been an experience.

Torquinox · August 13

Please try not to bleed to death, @LeatherGryphon

I've accidentally saved myself from various cuts because the knife blades were not exactly razor sharp or maybe I was lucky. Either way, no bloodshed and I'm grateful.

Gordig · August 13

Because I live my life like an absolute maniac with little to no regard for my personal safety, a couple days ago an open boxcutter fell off my desk and sliced through the side of my foot.

butterflyfish · August 13

I only get sliced up by my cat. Be careful out there, guys.

Richard Haseltine · August 13

LeatherGryphon said:

Ah, finally, a suitable complaint: Owwwie! I got home from laundry & grocery today and while making lunch I tried to snip a reasonable sized group of grapes from the huge stem and clipped a nibblet of skin from my finger tip. And being on blood thinners I bled like a stuck pig for an hour and have gone through several Band-Aids. I blame the brand new high-quality sharp, titanium scissors. It moved on its own and did this out of malicious spite. Later, I had to wash my sink full of dirty dishes from yesterday, and it started bleeding again despite trying to keep the finger dry. More Band-Aids. Typing this has been an experience.

Rubber gloves to wash up?

Richard Haseltine · August 13

Torquinox said:

Please try not to bleed to death, @LeatherGryphon

I've accidentally saved myself from various cuts because the knife blades were not exactly razor sharp or maybe I was lucky. Either way, no bloodshed and I'm grateful.

Un-sharp knives can be a problem as they can be harder to control. Of course there is sharp and sharp.

LeatherGryphon · August 14

Gordig said:

Because I live my life like an absolute maniac with little to no regard for my personal safety, a couple days ago an open boxcutter fell off my desk and sliced through the side of my foot.

Or perhaps it jumped off the table and aimed at your foot. It's like letting a snake out of a bottle. Cooped up inside for long periods getting angry, and when let out, they kinda go crazy and strike.

I think my scissors was angry because I made it sleep in the drawer right next to other dangerously mad implements like my ice pick, corncob stabbers, and can opener.

miladyderyni_173d399f47 · August 14

Complaint: Super hot with super high heat indices until at least Friday 8/21. County has a burn ban & is warning people not to mow, use other powered lawn tools, or park on grass it's so dry.

Non-complaint: Saturday will be Bear the World's Furriest* (& Drool-iest) Lab's 12th birthday! He & Gilly the World's Ditziest Border Collie will celebrate with chicken & doggy "ice cream." We have had Bear since he was about 18 months old, & both he & Gilly are much loved & spoiled (*Bear is part Groenendael Belgian shepherd, which accounts for the fur, no idea where he gets the drooling genes.)

gwalla_2536c3a4a6 · August 14

DanaTA said:

The (United States) English language is full of odditties. I like when comedians bring them to our attention. Gallagher once mused: "Why are there a pair of pants, but only on bra? And why do we park on the driveway, but drive on the parkway?"

"Why is it they call it taking a dump and not leaving a dump? I mean after all, you're not really taking it anywhere." - Beavis

DanaTA · August 14

gwalla_2536c3a4a6 said:

DanaTA said:

The (United States) English language is full of odditties. I like when comedians bring them to our attention. Gallagher once mused: "Why are there a pair of pants, but only on bra? And why do we park on the driveway, but drive on the parkway?"

"Why is it they call it taking a dump and not leaving a dump? I mean after all, you're not really taking it anywhere." - Beavis

Gordig · August 14

miladyderyni_173d399f47 said:

He & Gilly the World's Ditziest Border Collie will celebrate with chicken & doggy "ice cream."

Hopefully it's artificial doggy flavoring.

kyoto kid · August 14

Non complaint:

...a perfectly beautiful summer day here in the northwest on Wednesday with azure blue skies a few puffy white clouds and temperatures in the 70s..

Complaint:

...today the wildfire smoke is back giving us an orange sky again which will be around for the next several days.

TJohn · August 14

Love me some classical music.

"It's a madhouse. I can hardly get next to myself..."

DanaTA · August 14

It's Navajo Code Talkers Day!

memcneil70 · August 14

DanaTA said:

It's Navajo Code Talkers Day!

I believe I heard one of the new dorms at the University of Colorado was named for the Navajo Code Talkers in their honor yesterday. My father, a WWII combat veteran, was always very respectful of their contributions and extremely grateful.

LeatherGryphon · August 14

DanaTA said:

It's Navajo Code Talkers Day!

Shout out to the Navajo Code Talkers.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Non-complaint: Yay, my house neighbor purchased and installed my new streetside mailbox. Just like his, matching pair, and the two of them are now properly labeled 1 & 2. No more confusion. Wheee, no more soggy mail from leaking rusty old mailbox.

Non-complaint: My finger with the missing nibblet of skin is less painful today, and well on the way to healing.

Complaint: It's that time of year when my mailbox starts to get filled with health insurance companies begging me to switch to their plan. Or the current one sending me reams of documents rationalizing why the price is going up, again, next January.

AgitatedRiot · August 14

Ayóó'át'éego Diné Bizaad Bóhólníihii Yázhí

TJohn · August 14

DanaTA said:

It's Navajo Code Talkers Day!

A wonderful day for remembrance.

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