04.30.09 – Thursday

Word: cacophony [kuh–kof–uh-nee] n. 1. harsh discordance of sound; dissonance: a cacophony of hoots, crackles and wails 2. a discordant and meaningless mixture of sounds: the cacophony produced by city traffic at midday 3. Music. frequent use of discords of a harshness and relationship difficult to understand

Birthday: Alice B. Toklas (1877), Eve Arden (1908), Robert Shaw (1916), Percy Heath (1923), Cloris Leachman (1926), Willie Nelson (1933), Burt Young (1940), Jane Campion (1954), Isaiah Thomas (1961), Akon (1973), Johnny Galecki (1975), Kirsten Dunst (1982)

Occurence: 1993 – The World Wide Web is born at CERN.

Standpoint: It’s Thursday. That must mean time another installment of Annoying Sayings & Misused Words. Let’s have at it.

“This might be a stupid question, but…” – This one was a popular favorite in your suggestions for this post. People usually say this when they are asking a question to which they already know the answer. Really, they should be saying something like, “Just to be clear…” Starting off a statement with, “This might be a stupid question, but…” tends to give the impression to another person that you are, in fact, stupid, and you feel the need to ask because of that stupidity. [Note: I used to work with a guy who started of about 50% of his sentences with, “Stupid question.” Due to the fact that he’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, I never had the heart to tell him that he shouldn’t have said it so much. Don’t be like me, people. Tell your friends when they overuse annoying phrases such as this. They may be put-off at first, but they’ll thank you one day. Hopefully.]

“Honestly?” – Often times you’ll ask a friend a question such as, “Where did I put my keys?” A likely response, “Honestly? I have no idea.” Other times, it could be something a little more touchy like, “Dude, did I make a jackass out of myself at that party last night?” Response, “Honestly? Yeah, you did.” The issue here is that there’s no need for, “Honestly?” No one is going to come back and say, “No. I don’t want the truth. If you know where my keys are, please lie to me so it takes me longer to find them. I really enjoy searching around the house,” or “I’d like you to lie to me about last night. That way, I don’t have to feel bad for getting drunk and knocking that cake off the table and into the lap of the woman sitting on the couch behind it.” The rule here is that if someone is asking you a question, assume they want the honest answer. However, if you feel you are being asked a question where the person is hoping you lie, as might be the case of the drunken partygoer, and you want to spare their feelings or sidestep a potentially stressful conversation, feel free to lie in that instance. Otherwise, just answer the question. Honestly.

“There is nothing worse than…” – OK. I’m guity of this one. At times, I can be a bit dramatic. It’s my nature. Be kind and try to move past some of my many flaws. But, even though I’ve started countless sentences with, “There is nothing worse than…,” it still bothers me when people overuse it. For instance, I was listening to a friend of mine talk about a bad traffic jam she was in and, at one point, she offered, “You know, there’s nothing worse than being stuck in traffic.” I replied, “What if, while you were stuck in that traffic jam, a gigantic tree fell onto the hood of your car? Wouldn’t that be worse?” She sighed, “You know what I mean.” I went on, “What if right after the tree fell on your car, someone threw your door open and robbed you? Would that make it worse?” She then told me that I’m often, “a pain-in-the-ass to talk to.” I was satisfied I’d made my point clear.

What about you? Do you constantly hear the same Annoying Sayings & Misused Words? Post a comment and share them with the group.

Quotation: It’s a damn poor mind that can think of only one way to spell a word. – Andrew Jackson

Tune: After I first listened to “Carry Around,” I immediately wanted to hang out with the folks in Annuals.

Gallimaufry: Up until a few days ago, I lived right down the street from PA Senator Arlen Spector. Surprisingly, my neighbor didn’t let me know that he was leaving the GOP for the other side. It’s weird because he and I usually talk about everything…Due to my life-long addiction to comic books, many close to me were surprised that I didn’t download X-Men Origins: Wolverine when it was leaked on the internet a few weeks back. Instead, I opted to watch it in the movie theater when it comes out this Friday simply because I don’t really pirate music or movies. Not condemning it. Just ain’t my thing. It looks like the people behind the movie are now doing something to entice those who have already seen it into the theaters…Hey, Billy Corgan, this is getting embarrassing. Please. Cease. And. Desist.

Incoming: Tomorrow: It’ll be Friday and, as always, I’ll give you my 3 Things To Do In Philly When You’re Dead. Also, 7 Songs I’m Having Trouble Admitting Are On My iPod.