for we are glorious

[pensnest]

I went shopping today!

Not "have to go to the bank and will dash into Boots for some toothpaste while I'm in town"-style shopping, but actual "I am going into different shops to see what is there" shopping. Quite a different thing, and something I have not really done for a while.

It was such a night, bright, sunny morning (it peed with rain all afternoon). I was in town not many minutes after nine o-clock, and promptly discovered why the car park was so very empty at that point—most of the shops don't open until 0930. Hmph. But I persevered and bought a good sprinkling of Christmas presents, so I did well. Must have a review of what I have got and for whom....

What is it with cotton socks these days? It used to be possible to buy wool-rich socks from M&S, and now the only wooly socks they have are ludicrously expensive thin ones containing merino. I don't object to cotton socks, per se, but my Beast does, and anyway, woolen socks are better! Fortunately there are a couple of old-school places in the city which do stock socks with 60% wool, seems to be about the best one can buy. Hmph again.

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Linda McCartney burgers are pretty good! My menfolk were both surprised to discover that the cheeseburgers they had for lunch today contained no meat!

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A rant. When 'you' say 'to hone in on', what, exactly, do you think you mean? 'Hone' means 'sharpen'. You can use it metaphorically, eg 'his physique was honed to perfection'. But you cannot use it to mean 'to home in on', because it doesn't. It doesn't actually mean anything. And yes, I know what it is you meant to say and what you think you are saying, but bloody well SAY it.

Because I have been watching various Star Wars series now and have seen exactly the same mistake in the subtitles of all three series. No wonder the internet is thigh-deep in semi-literates.

Jfc.

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We had our mini-concert-let (two songs) this evening, at a little ceremony by the charity we were supporting when COVID struck. They invited some people to be thanked for fundraising, volunteering and other stuff. It's the charity for children and young adults for whom we did the soundtrack for (and appeared in) a video back in 2019. Each of us chorus members got a certificate of thanks personalised to us!

After which we trotted round the corner to the nearest pub and had something to eat and quaff. Very nice. Positively normal, in fact!

Comments

[stranger]

When 'you' say 'to hone in on', what, exactly, do you think you mean?

I have mentally ranted this same rant. Anyone able to use metaphors should know the difference between "hone" and "home", and going with the one that's easy to pronounce is just lazy.

It's like using "lathe" for "lave" in a sex scene, which was endemic in slash fandom (a decade or two ago), and produces some very disturbing images. But so does "hone". Are all these sharp edges supposed to be sexy? Interesting use of imagery...

[pensnest]

There are so many casually awful examples around of people simply not knowing what they're saying. "I could of" is probably the one that most makes me want to run amok with an axe, but there are too many others!

[twistedchick]

I generally assume they mean 'home', but once I recall reading 'hone in on' being used for 'sharpen my focus'. Which... not much difference.

[pensnest]

Hmmmm, now, 'hone in on' actually being used for 'sharpen my focus' might just be really clever, but because of all the misuses, it's hard to tell. That annoys me, too! I've given up, for instance, on using 'disinterested' because nobody would understand me, or, if they did, they might not be confident that I meant what I'd said.

[watervole]

And hence, I knit socks :)

[pensnest]

This is, of course, the best thing to do. I'm not very good at socks, unfortunately.

[turlough]

I wonder if it's equally difficult to find anything but cotton socks here in Sweden. I haven't bought socks in years!

That is a very good rant! One of my personal peeves is the use of 'reign' when they mean 'rein'. It's really not the same thing at all, people!

Good to hear your little concert went well! So sweet of them to give you personalised thankyous.

Almost scarily normal :-)

[frausorge]

Kudos to you for being so well ahead on Christmas prep! And how fun to be personally thanked.