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"It goes without saying."
Well, if it does, you wouldn't be saying it, would you? The phrase automatically cancels itself out. It manages to invalidate both itself and whatever else it gets attached to.
The only way to possibly use it is to say "It should go without saying..."
I read that in an otherwise very amusing book, over breakfast. Conversational use is one thing, but in my opinion, it's a particularly sloppy phrase in writing, because the author creates and controls the entire world, inside that text--writing, the author has every chance to actually design a scenario in which something can "go without saying", and conversely, in which anything can be said.
To say something and negate it in the same line, well, that author needs a better editor.
Well, if it does, you wouldn't be saying it, would you? The phrase automatically cancels itself out. It manages to invalidate both itself and whatever else it gets attached to.
The only way to possibly use it is to say "It should go without saying..."
I read that in an otherwise very amusing book, over breakfast. Conversational use is one thing, but in my opinion, it's a particularly sloppy phrase in writing, because the author creates and controls the entire world, inside that text--writing, the author has every chance to actually design a scenario in which something can "go without saying", and conversely, in which anything can be said.
To say something and negate it in the same line, well, that author needs a better editor.
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But that goes without saying or I wouldn't have asked.
It's written for early tweens, I think, but I didn't read it until I was 19 or 20 and one of Sam's GF's forced it on my entire family.
From wiki..."The book is full of puns, and many events, like Milo's sudden jump to the Island of Conclusions, are the consequences of taking English language idioms literally."
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Watch dog!
So smart, so funny.
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Pet peeve.
"I could care less" instead of "I couldn't care less".
I'm a geek, I understand the urge to abbreviate. Most of my life is acronyms. But could we at least abbreviate in ways that don't completely change the meaning?
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Re: Pet peeve.
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Re: Pet peeve.
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Re: Pet peeve.
"It begs the question" (ask LD about this one if you want to hear a fun rant!)
And one that I can never figure out for myself: Is it "you have another thing coming" or "you have another think coming"? As in, "If you think that this is what happened, you have another ____ coming!"
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Re: Pet peeve.
Hence, in my confusion, I run the other direction.
And the second is "think". In my head, reading it, it's said with a definite redneck drawl: "Ya gotta 'nutter think comin'!"
Yeah. Say it like that. Then it makes PERFECT sense. ;)
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Oh, good. You are lying to me the rest of the time?
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That goes along with overuse of the word 'actually'.
"Is Mr. Smith in?"
"Actually, he's in a meeting right now."
Actually? Really? Get outta town.
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Then why the holy eff you see kay do you need to tell me?!
Oh, and "Don't take this the wrong way." How about you find a way to say it the *right* way? Sullen was fond of that phrase. I always wanted to say, "then stop talking."