Trivial (or not so trivial) stuff that makes you happy.

[Jens]

Mmmm, I dunno. That itchy bump I scratch is called a mosquito bite, not a mosquito suck.

Whatever.

[Noclevername]

As for the ‘petting’ bunny, he would bite when you hand fed him. I think he just got over zealous.

We had a cat like that when I was a kid. Used to lay on the basement stairs and chew exposed electrical wiring. I kept cringing every time the lights flickered, like a death row convict in an old prison movie.

[Gillianren]

Perseverance has landed!

I watched that with the kids. Irene was less impressed; she didn't fully understand what was going on. Then I was asking if anyone I knew had a resource to make it clear to a seven-year-old what distances are involved, and I was pointed to "If the Moon Were One Pixel" online and told that a good friend of mine has a book coming out at some point on that very subject, so there's that. It was interesting seeing the cross-section of which of my friends were posting on Facebook. I knew the one who works at JPL would, but I was a little more surprised at some of the others.

My firstborn called me mom for the first time last night. It's not as great as it could have been; she did so because she was in some distress and needed a loving parent--her adoptive dad died last year, and she doesn't get along with her adoptive mom--but it's still the first time she ever called me that, and she didn't have to, because she was messaging me and didn't have to greet me at all.

[Gillianren]

I may have woken up at seven AM on a Saturday for no good reason, but not only did I finish my entire weekend's scheduled articles last night, I wrote a bonus article and have already posted it for my Patreon subscribers!

[Trebuchet]

We were notified that we are eligible for Covid-19 vaccination and have signed up for Friday!

[Extravoice]

We were notified that we are eligible for Covid-19 vaccination and have signed up for Friday!

Nice. Meanwhile, our county health department screwed up again. They sent out a link to a group of people to sign up for second vaccination appointments. Someone shared it, and the system let anyone sign up.. because of course it did.

This is a repeat from several weeks ago. They claimed to have solved the issue ...apparently by asking people not to share the link. I’m pretty sure there are technological ways of preventing this sort of thing.

[schlaugh]

We were notified that we are eligible for Covid-19 vaccination and have signed up for Friday!

Yay! Based on the experience of Mrs. Schlaugh and myself, we found that acetaminophen and/or aspirin helps to mitigate side effects, if any.

[KaiYeves]

I went for a nice walk with my brother at a beach I had not been to before. It was at the edge of a golf course with a lot of hills, so the views of the landscape in the snow were very dramatic. We found a lot of sea glass, saw several hawks hunting for movement in the snow, and took 9000 steps according to my pedometer.

[The Backroad Astronomer]

I went for a nice walk with my brother at a beach I had not been to before. It was at the edge of a golf course with a lot of hills, so the views of the landscape in the snow were very dramatic. We found a lot of sea glass, saw several hawks hunting for movement in the snow, and took 9000 steps according to my pedometer.

Nice.

I lived thru another auction and got a pair of binocular. (a certain letter won't work.)

[Trebuchet]

Nice.

I lived thru another auction and got a pair of binocular. (a certain letter won't work.)

Here's a supply, you can copy and paste!
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

ETA:
Stuff that bugs me: Things that are singular but are referred to as plural or pairs. Scissors. Trousers. Binoculars. Underpants. Eyeglasses.
Ok, I'll give you the last one, it's two lenses in a single frame. But "binocular" already indicates two lenses, shouldn't a pair of them have four?

[grant hutchison]

Stuff that bugs me: Things that are singular but are referred to as plural or pairs. Scissors. Trousers. Binoculars. Underpants. Eyeglasses.
Ok, I'll give you the last one, it's two lenses in a single frame. But "binocular" already indicates two lenses, shouldn't a pair of them have four?

It's called plurale tantum (more than one example being pluralia tantum). What they have in common is that the unit is made up of symmetrical halves. (Binocular is actually " relating to two eyes", and binoculars are a symmetrically paired object you use on two eyes.)
So that all seems fine to me. It gets a bit flaky when you use a plurale tantum as a noun modifier, though. In British English, it's a "trouser leg" or "trouser pocket", the leg and pocket being part of only half the structure. But in American English it seems to be "pants leg" and "pants pocket", presumably because you think of the leg and pocket as being more of a feature of the whole thing than the half thing.

Grant Hutchison

[KaiYeves]

Stuff that bugs me: Things that are singular but are referred to as plural or pairs. Scissors. Trousers. Binoculars. Underpants. Eyeglasses.
Ok, I'll give you the last one, it's two lenses in a single frame. But "binocular" already indicates two lenses, shouldn't a pair of them have four?

It also bugs me when people say things like “an ice” to mean “a piece of ice” or “a bread” for “a slice of bread”.

[The Backroad Astronomer]

Here's a supply, you can copy and paste!
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

ETA:
Stuff that bugs me: Things that are singular but are referred to as plural or pairs. Scissors. Trousers. Binoculars. Underpants. Eyeglasses.
Ok, I'll give you the last one, it's two lenses in a single frame. But "binocular" already indicates two lenses, shouldn't a pair of them have four?

Thanks.

[Noclevername]

It also bugs me when people say things like “an ice” to mean “a piece of ice” or “a bread” for “a slice of bread”.

Odd! I'd never heard of that usage before. Is it a generational thing?

[Trebuchet]

It's called plurale tantum (more than one example being pluralia tantum). What they have in common is that the unit is made up of symmetrical halves. (Binocular is actually " relating to two eyes", and binoculars are a symmetrically paired object you use on two eyes.)
So that all seems fine to me. It gets a bit flaky when you use a plurale tantum as a noun modifier, though. In British English, it's a "trouser leg" or "trouser pocket", the leg and pocket being part of only half the structure. But in American English it seems to be "pants leg" and "pants pocket", presumably because you think of the leg and pocket as being more of a feature of the whole thing than the half thing.

Grant Hutchison

Things that amuse me: I knew with absolute certainty that you'd be posting an explanation!

It also bugs me when people say things like “an ice” to mean “a piece of ice” or “a bread” for “a slice of bread”.

Odd! I'd never heard of that usage before. Is it a generational thing?

Nor I. I suspect regional rather than generational, however.

Back on topic, I have a new grand-nephew, born to my nephew and his partner. Pretty sure she did most of the work! Emergency C-section, two months premature, three pounds; but breathing on his own and feeding. He has every prospect of a normal life thanks to modern medicine.

[Gillianren]

We were notified that we are eligible for Covid-19 vaccination and have signed up for Friday!

That makes me happy, too!

Yesterday, I took the kids for a walk, because it wasn't actually raining. I had a bit of a talk with Simon about his feelings. We sat by the lake and watched bald eagles building a nest across the lake from us. And on the way home, we saw a classmate of Simon's, who turns out to live literally around the block from us. Simon hadn't played with another kid his own age in nearly a year. His mom and I agreed that it's close enough for the boys to walk to and from one another's houses alone, that it was something they needed, and that we will open up our bubbles to one another's families. She also agreed with most of what I had to say about their distance learning class!

[grant hutchison]

Things that amuse me: I knew with absolute certainty that you'd be posting an explanation!

More of an expansion than an explanation on this occasion, I guess. It's difficult to actually explain why we use pluralia tantum in English, particular when other languages don't.
But I am a knee-jerk explainer, for sure. (Though I can be relied upon to apologize and stop if people tell me my explanations are unwelcome.)

An old man possessed of relatively trustworthy information cannot be lightly excused from the obligation to teach.

Edgar Pangborn, The Company of Glory (1975)

Grant Hutchison

[Extravoice]

It also bugs me when people say things like “an ice” to mean “a piece of ice” or “a bread” for “a slice of bread”.

Is that usage expanding? My only experience with it is in reference to a can or bottle of beer, such as “Would you grab me a beer?”

[Jens]

Is that usage expanding? My only experience with it is in reference to a can or bottle of beer, such as “Would you grab me a beer?”

I hadn’t ever really thought about that very deeply, but there seem to be times when we make that kind of expansion, especially when ordering food. I think we say “two French fries” and it actually means two orders and not two slivers. Or “two cole slaws”. And we definitely do it for some things, I.e. beer, but not wine...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Solfe]

That's funny. I get caught on certain phrases like a "pant leg" or a "pant pocket". I would always say, "Two orders of french fries" instead of "two fries". Those are some of the "tells" that I didn't learn English first. I also avoid contractions and apostrophes like the plague, "It's" is my most hated one. I tend to construct possession as "the room of my son" vs. "my son's room".

I haven't really thought about "pair of x" as a phrase, but the first thing that popped into my head is how recent the construction of possession is in English via the use of the word "of". I thought it was a heavy distortion of that ownership form, where the pant is of the pair, which is backwards to "a pair of pants".

Funny how my brain malfunctions.

[Gillianren]

Irene's four-year well-child visit was yesterday. It's not just that it was nice talking to their doctor, who I really like. The kids got shots--we'd never gotten around to flu shots in the fall, so we did that, too, and Simon got one--and it reminded me again that, yeah, we keep going. (Apparently they've also combined MMR and chicken pox into one vaccine?) Irene's 44 inches tall, 56 pounds--she's fallen off the top of the chart again. Their doctor and I agreed this was no surprise.

[Torsten]

I'm enjoying the strength of the morning sun. If I wait until the sun has been up an hour before opening the cellular blinds on my windows, the air temperature between them and the glass is actually warmer than the room. That wasn't the case a few weeks ago. I like the "promise" of being able to do outside chores or riding a bicycle in T-shirt and shorts again, though that is probably still a few months away.

[Extravoice]

I was able to schedule a COVID-19 vaccination appointment. . I’m in line before Mrs EV because of my job, but personally consider her more at risk. I’d prefer swapping spots, but will take what I can get.

[grant hutchison]

I was able to schedule a COVID-19 vaccination appointment. . I’m in line before Mrs EV because of my job, but personally consider her more at risk. I’d prefer swapping spots, but will take what I can get.

You could try dressing up as each other. What could go wrong?

Grant Hutchison

[Extravoice]

You could try dressing up as each other. What could go wrong?

Grant Hutchison

Some middle aged women tried dressing as elderly women to get a vaccination. It didn’t end well.

[grant hutchison]

Some middle aged women tried dressing as elderly women to get a vaccination. It didn’t end well.

Yes, that's what I was joking about.

Grant Hutchison

[Gillianren]

Yesterday, Simon spent several hours with the kid around the block. There are vague noises of a sleepover. As I told his mom yesterday, all I have to do is find a four-year-old in the area, and we'll get through this. Numbers are dropping, but not fast enough for me to send them to school. It just gives me hope that there's an end in sight. And at long last--for the first time since March--I am starting to meet a basic emotional need of one of my children that had not been met.

[Trebuchet]

We got vaccinated!

[Extravoice]

We got vaccinated!

Sweet!

[KaiYeves]

I got an appointment for my vaccination on the 2nd.