Things that baffle you? (1 Viewer)

[Jeffrey D]

Amen. That's why I can't for the life of me understand why professional sports is doing that very thing. Why piss off half your market?

Sports has sure pissed me off with this stuff. I don’t watch or listen to games any longer- I don’t care to have politics force-fed to me (there are other reasons I have lost interest, but this issue is one of the main reasons).

 

[Dick]

1. People who consistently mispronounce nuclear as "nucular." Bush did it. Politicans and entertainers do it. Even the Michael Douglas character in THE CHINA SYNDROME did it, in a movie about nuclear power.

2. Ditto for "Feb-u-ary" rather than Feb-ru-ary. I mean, seriously, those consonants are there to be pronounced. Many other such examples of mispronunciation, misspellings and crumby grammar clog our airwaves and printed materials.

3. Grammar and spelling in general have gone down the civil discourse tubes for the past twenty or thirty years. What used to be formal and intelligent (and therefore more trustworthy) news reporting, for example, has become nothing but a bunch of sloppy, improvised chats and gossip between a pair of news anchors, most of them riddled with "like," and "I mean," as though they've all become Valley Girls. The subtitles and information bands across the bottoms of screens are pock-marked with spelling errors. Why do we have rules about such things if people have become so willing to replace them with their own perverted vernacular? I get the culture and melting pot thing, but this sort of verbal abuse has simply ravaged our language. News anchor Edwin Newman wrote two delightful books back in the 70's, Strictly Speaking and A Civil Tongue, that point out the rapid decline of our written and spoken language. I recommend both books as sources of huge laughs and provocative sociological insight.

4. Political campaigns should be limited to the final four or five months before an election. I can't speak for everyone, but I'm exhausted (because I actually do follow this stuff). It baffles me that we are so willing to throw away a full two years out of a four-year term with nasty, accusation-lidden chaos rather than trying to actually accomplish something useful.

5. We need more ice cream outlets that serve frozen custard. And we need more ice cream companies to offer licorice-flavor (in fact...are there any now?). True, eating it makes your tongue look like you've been licking ash trays, but boy, that was a great taste (if you like Callard and Bowser and Twizzlers)! Frozen Custard is (in my opinion) tastier and creamier than ice cream, so it baffles me it hasn't overtaken the latter.

Lots more, but I don't wish to bore anyone.

 

[Jeffrey D]

1. People who consistently mispronounce nuclear as "nucular." Bush did it. Politicans and entertainers do it. Even the Michael Douglas character in THE CHINA SYNDROME did it, in a movie about nuclear power.

2. Ditto for "Feb-u-ary" rather than Feb-ru-ary. I mean, seriously, those consonants are there to be pronounced. Many other such examples of mispronunciation, misspellings and crumby grammar clog our airwaves and printed materials.

3. Grammar and spelling in general have gone down the civil discourse tubes for the past twenty or thirty years. What used to be formal and intelligent (and therefore more trustworthy) news reporting, for example, has become nothing but a bunch of sloppy, improvised chats and gossip between a pair of news anchors, most of them riddled with "like," and "I mean," as though they've all become Valley Girls. The subtitles and information bands across the bottoms of screens are pock-marked with spelling errors. Why do we have rules about such things if people have become so willing to replace them with their own perverted vernacular? I get the culture and melting pot thing, but this sort of verbal abuse has simply ravaged our language. News anchor Edwin Newman wrote two delightful books back in the 70's, Strictly Speaking and A Civil Tongue, that point out the rapid decline of our written and spoken language. I recommend both books as sources of huge laughs and provocative sociological insight.

4. Political campaigns should be limited to the final four or five months before an election. I can't speak for everyone, but I'm exhausted (because I actually do follow this stuff). It baffles me that we are so willing to throw away a full two years out of a four-year term with nasty, accusation-lidden chaos rather than trying to actually accomplish something useful.

5. We need more ice cream outlets that serve frozen custard. And we need more ice cream companies to offer licorice-flavor (in fact...are there any now?). True, eating it makes your tongue look like you've been licking ash trays, but boy, that was a great taste (if you like Callard and Bowser and Twizzlers)! Frozen Custard is (in my opinion) tastier and creamier than ice cream, so it baffles me it hasn't overtaken the latter.

Lots more, but I don't wish to bore anyone.

Yes grammar is a lost art. Easy to find words that are misspelled in articles posted on
“news” outlets. This makes people look
unintelligent, in my opinion.

The February issue- I think it’s difficult to pronounce that word correctly, so I understand why people mispronounce it.

 

[John Dirk]

Dan Quinn hasn't been fired yet. Totally baffled.

 

[Jeffrey D]

Dan Quinn hasn't been fired yet. Totally baffled.

Yes your point about the Falcons owner in the other thread- seems he’s too nice a guy to hold someone accountable for 2 horrendous losses in consecutive weeks.

 

[Clinton McClure]

We need more ice cream outlets that serve frozen custard. And we need more ice cream companies to offer licorice-flavor (in fact...are there any now?). True, eating it makes your tongue look like you've been licking ash trays, but boy, that was a great taste (if you like Callard and Bowser and Twizzlers)! Frozen Custard is (in my opinion) tastier and creamier than ice cream, so it baffles me it hasn't overtaken the latter.

In the city where I live (58,000 residents in the 2010 census, pretty sure it’s closer to 70,000 today), we have four ice cream shops, a frozen yogurt shop, and three frozen custard shops. This isn’t counting places like Dairy Queen, Sonic, McDonalds, etc... who also have ice cream or Freddy’s Steakburgers who also has frozen custard. And I agree that custard tastes better than ice cream.

 

[JackieT]

Perfect area to ask this.

How long can we be "in the middle" of a pandemic. I've been hearing people use the phrase since it started.

 

[TJPC]

I sometimes wonder if I am a ghost. I'll go to the men's, and see the person in front of me go to a sink and wash their hands. I'll approach the sink and wave my hands under the faucet, and in front of the sensor, and absolutely no water comes out at all! In my last experience I tried every sink in the place, but no luck. Am I really there? Am I transparent?

 

[Clinton McClure]

Perfect area to ask this.

How long can we be "in the middle" of a pandemic. I've been hearing people use the phrase since it started.

As long as it has begun and hasn’t ended, we are in the middle of it.

 

[JackieT]

"in a pandemic" seems more appropriate in conversation.

 

[Thomas T]

When wearing required masks, I'm baffled by some people who wear the mask below the nose covering the mouth rather than over the nose. Oxygen in and carbon dioxide out from both so why do people think open nose is okay? Just askin'.

 

[JackieT]

I see it daily. Humans weren't built to wear masks all hours of the day so I don't expect everyone to do "proper" coverage. Is having nose put really that dangerous though?

 

[Thomas T]

I see it daily. Humans weren't built to wear masks all hours of the day so I don't expect everyone to do "proper" coverage. Is having nose put really that dangerous though?

It intakes oxygen and outputs carbon dioxide just like your mouth does. If your mouth is capable of giving out covid19 and taking it in, so does your nose.

 

[JackieT]

Sadly nobody will ever be able to enforce "proper" mask wearing, ever.

 

[Malcolm R]

Not in this country. The rest of the world doesn't seem to have as much of a problem with it.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I see it daily. Humans weren't built to wear masks all hours of the day so I don't expect everyone to do "proper" coverage. Is having nose put really that dangerous though?

Yea, it is really that dangerous. Might as well not wear a mask at all then. I wear an N95 mask at work for 8+ hours every day and have no problem with it. It’s uncomfortable, it’s hot, it’s an inconvenience, it makes my glasses fog up, and it might just save someone else’s life. Since the original COVID-19 thread was locked, I’m going to stop my comments here.

 

[Malcolm R]

McDonald's McRib. Everyone practically wets themselves whenever they "bring it back." I tried one once, and it was pretty dry and tasteless.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

McDonald's McRib. Everyone practically wets themselves whenever they "bring it back." I tried one once, and it was pretty dry and tasteless.

Isn't it pretty much those formed pork patties you can pick up frozen slathered in McDonalds BBQ sauce?

 

[Malcolm R]

Isn't it pretty much those formed pork patties you can pick up frozen slathered in McDonalds BBQ sauce?

I think so, though the one I had wasn't slathered, which might have been partly why it was so dry.

 

[BobO'Link]

The McRib is one of the nastiest tasting sandwiches I've ever eaten. I tried it once - never again. Just who thought dill pickles on a "BBQ" wanna-be of a sandwich is a good thing? Calling it "BBQ" is an insult to BBQ everywhere, good and bad.