I is for Idioms

or Interesting bits of Information

I find Idioms Intriguing and an Interesting part of a language. For your Illumination today, here are Intriguing Idioms and Insights onto their Inceptions.

In the limelight: means the center of attention. This comes from the 1840's when they heated lime to produce bright lights to illuminate acts on stage.

It takes to two tango: means it takes two people to accomplish something. Apparently, this expression became popular in the 1920's when the tango was popular in the U.S.

Ignorance is bliss: means you're a lot happier if you don't know the bad stuff going on. Sophocles wrote about it around 400 B. C., so it doesn't just apply to avoiding the news coverage of today.

In the bag: means a sure success.  This came from the 1600's when hunters put their small game into a bag after they shot it. So if they had a successful hunting trip, it was all in the bag.

That's only a few I idioms, but I think I'll stop there because the rest I'm considering using deal with death and mayhem.  I think In the bag was enough on that topic.

So instead of more interesting idioms, I'll leave with a few more words in honor of National Poetry Month that is be observed this April.

Big I

little i

i i i

Icabod is itchy.

So am I.

Dr. Seuss

H is for Hip, Hip Hooray!

Hip, Hip Hooray!

I Had a victory today!

It didn't start out as a battle. It all started as a bit of bureaucracy to work through. I needed a Social Security statement to do my mother's taxes and I couldn't find it. I tried online to get one but couldn't, of course, because her account closed when she died. I ran around in circles, for a while, (actually walked in circles while I was on hold several times for an hour), before I finally figured out that I had to go to a SSA office to do what needed to be done. My sister kindly went to the SSA office for me and got the necessary paperwork. A few more confusing times while I completed her taxes, but I finally waded through the bureaucracy to completion.

Completion, that is, for my mother, but not for me. Soon after my difficulties with my mother's SSA documents, I had some problems of my own. Ward and I were doing another look at our finances and looking into the best time to retire. This included examination of our SS benefits, but when I tried to log into my online account to get a statement, I got locked out--multiple times on multiple days. This included doing what was advised by two different phone calls to SSA for help. Finally, they said there was nothing to do except visit an office. Which I did. I waited about an hour in the crowded room for my turn during which the clerk at the office gave me a paper with instructions to fix things when I got home. And guess what? They didn't work.

Well, today was the day that I finally had a couple of hours to be on hold, so I called SSA again. And it was so simple. Eric, my helper, just canceled my old account and I set up a new one. And it worked!! I am one Happy person.

Hip, hip hooray!
I had a victory today!

G is for a Glorious Spring Afternoon

 or G is for Get out of the house

or G is for a Great way to procrastinate

I mentioned in my E post that I was working on a long, difficult document that disappeared never to be seen again. In an avoidance move to delay the start of working on it again, I decided that we needed to get out of the house to enjoy a glorious spring afternoon. The sun was shining with a light breeze and the temperatures were in the 60's. So off Ward and I went to check out a new trail we had recently heard about. 

The trail went through nice open woods.

And next to a small stream.

The woods were pretty much still in their winter colors with occasional pops of green.

That was in contrast to our own yard just a few miles away. In the past week, spring colors emerged everywhere around our house.

The ornamental plum is blooming.

As are the daffodils.

And soon we should see some nest building in our bird boxes.

Yes, we had a Great, Glorious, Get Away.

F is for French Fries

Ahh, those delicious, deep fried potato pieces. Food of the gods.

But I didn't always feel that way. For most of my life, I could take or leave French fries-that is until I was pregnant with Wally and had a taste change. They became wonderful. I remember the exact time I discovered their appeal. Ward and I were eating at a hamburger grill in New Orleans.  I'm not sure what I ordered, but Ward ordered his eternal favorite of a burger and fries. I tried a few fries from his plate and they were GOOD. And I then had a few more. After that, I was trying fries everywhere we went and they were no longer, blah.* They were delicious.

Here I am decades later and I'm still loving the fries I'm eating off of Ward's plate. When you think about it, what's not to like? A delicious dose of starch, fat, and salt that is good for dipping in all matter of things. Of course, nothing can beat the classic dip of ketchup which adds a little tang and sweetness to the flavor mix. In my opinion, the best fries are extra crunchy on the outside, soft in the inside and well drained without too much oil. For commercial fries, McDonald's wins not only in my rankings but in many other public polls. However, don't make the mistake I did of reading their ingredients. McDonald's used to fry them in beef tallow, but to make them truly vegetarian, they now use a combination of spices and chemicals to give them that taste. News that took away my innocence which believed that fries really were just made from potatoes, oil, and salt. While I find that discouraging, I still manage to eat a few McDonald's fries then and again. :)

But here's the burning question in all of this. Do you capitalize the word French in the phrase, french fries? According to Grammar Girl, french stays lower case because it relates to a kind of cut, not necessarily where they came from. However, she sites several sources and there is not total agreement among them. So, I will continue to do what I do now. Be unsure and capitalize randomly. What do you do?

*This was after my 5 month run of only popcicles, saltines, and boiled chicken breasts.

E is for ??

E is for ??

Here we go again. My brain is Empty of any good ideas for an E post. The reason for this is an Empty word file. I was working on a many page questionnaire, with hard questions, that is Expected on Monday for work. And it is no longer in Existence.  It was just about done when the document Evaporated.  The file was Empty.  I looked in Every place I could think of, but it was Evading me. It was time to Exit that project and come back to it tomorrow.

Next up--my blog post for E. That's when I Encountered my Empty of any good ideas brain. Oh, I had ideas, but they would rattle around in my brain and leave as quickly as they came before Establishing themselves. All of my mental Energy had been used up on the Easier-said-than-done work Escapade.

So below is my official E post. E is for Exposures.

E is for Eye Doctor

E is for Christmas Eve.

E is for Elephant.

E is for Easter Basket

E is for Evening Star (Venus). See the little dot to the left of the moon?

See you tomorrow for a Fantastic post. I hope.