"The adjective is the banana peel of the parts of speech."
— Clifton Fadiman
Eureka
November 13, 2018, 1:26 pm
I had objective instead of adjective. Banana is hard to get with o's.
Altoid701
February 2, 2019, 8:43 am
Two quotes in a row about parts of speech. Hmm...
montyb
February 20, 2019, 9:18 am
You know, this makes sense in the light of the preponderance of adjectives Trump uses.
pickleball
March 28, 2020, 10:20 am
should of learn that in school, but makes it easier to remember
LLapp
April 7, 2020, 2:09 am
Argh. Should have, not should of. I'm sorry, really. I should just go to bed.
hrossa
August 10, 2020, 9:18 pm
Smooth yellow slippy fruity spotted...no, on't like spotted. Let it get that first spot and it's no longer perfectly appetizing..
abra
April 19, 2021, 8:32 pm
Oh, look bunnies.
abra
October 13, 2021, 9:59 pm
I think there's times when most of us folks speak colloquially. Not worth makin' summin feel bad about.
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"The older I grow, the less important the comma becomes. Let the reader catch his own breath."
— Elizabeth Clarkson Zwart
Queethebean
April 30, 2012, 7:40 pm
No! Long live the comma!
wvwoman
October 8, 2012, 3:42 am
oh goodness.
Hash
January 24, 2013, 7:37 pm
Oh, goodness.
kb83
April 22, 2014, 5:35 am
Does she need the comma after "grow"?
fishbum
April 23, 2014, 11:47 am
Yes, unless she wants to "grow the less important...".
wvwoman
August 28, 2014, 8:10 pm
this quote just cracks me up, so i had to look her up this time! Des Moines, Iowa, August 20, 1904 - July 1, 1983 In December 1931, Zwart began writing "The Front Row" for the Des Moines Tribune. The column was popular among its readers for its humorous and insightful observations of the everyday lives of Iowans. Zwart continued to write this column for fifty years. Later, the column also appeared in the Sunday Des Moines Register. From 1935 to 1949, Zwart was book editor for the Sunday Register. During the 1960s, she also wrote a monthly column for Better Homes and Gardens which offered cooking tips.
LLapp
May 2, 2015, 8:55 pm
I love this quote.
montyb
May 31, 2015, 2:18 am
What, is, wrong, with, commas,?
LLapp
July 11, 2015, 7:24 pm
I still love this quote.
LLapp
March 29, 2016, 9:11 am
That's it. I'm painting this one on the wall.
maradnu
July 3, 2016, 3:13 pm
Some commas add meaning. Others are just pauses. I think she was referring to the latter.
darkyr
January 10, 2017, 2:57 am
Breathe, montyb, breathe, that's it, nobody is trying, however it seems, to take away, for however long, your commas. Keep a few in your pocket, just in case.
JLA
January 11, 2017, 6:43 am
There's a good book, called Eats, Shoots and Leaves; about the importance of punctuation.
letfreedomring
February 11, 2017, 5:08 am
I thought it was about Pandas.
Lurker
July 17, 2017, 8:13 am
I've noticed lately that print, including the newspaper, omits the last comma in a series. Is this a new grammatical trend or an editorial decision?
marnita
August 29, 2017, 9:01 am
Whatever would abra do if someone took away her commas?
phthelen
September 7, 2017, 10:09 am
Letfreedomring is very funny.
Barnabas
September 8, 2017, 1:28 pm
There should be a comma after breath, followed by dammit!
maradnu
January 29, 2018, 2:09 pm
A comma is the difference between "Let's eat Grandma" and "Let's eat, Grandma."
LLapp
March 8, 2018, 4:41 pm
Lurker, the Associated Press Style Manual (standard for newspapers and popular online content) dropped the optional series comma years ago. Their rule is now that the series comma is used only when its absence would leave the reader confused by vague meaning. Meanwhile, the Chicago Manual of Style (standard for book-publishing) and all the academic publishing style guides continue to require the series comma in all cases. This is the so-called Oxford Comma over which so much blood has been shed. For the gory details, see this report: (link)
momn8r
July 15, 2018, 11:40 am
Well, first you drop the comma. Then the semicolon gets all uppity too and declares independence from sentence structure. Periods are out next and it's nothing but grammatical anarchy!
marnita
September 15, 2018, 11:07 am
I love your example, maradnu!
montyb
February 25, 2019, 7:55 pm
Great impersonation of William Shatner, Darkyr!
abra
October 6, 2019, 8:51 pm
This really is a cute quote, although I disagre. Maybe I just need to catch my breath more often. I have cut down on my reckless and superfluous use of the comma. Due to criticism, no matter how well deserved ). Now I'm pretty sure I leave out some that are correct, but you know, whatever.
letfreedomring
November 11, 2019, 6:27 pm
Since there will be (are?) entire generations of people who don't write or spell full words, punctuation as we know it will become extinct. The best part is that they'll never be able to read all of these great comments.
Elephino
February 21, 2020, 11:55 pm
comma comma comma comma comma chameleon! (link)
TPITTMAN44
June 27, 2021, 6:57 am
what,a, punctual, statement!.
abra
October 16, 2022, 1:44 am
Long live the comma.
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She was such a kind person:
"Many books require no thought from those who read them, and for a very simple reason - they made no such demand upon those who wrote them."
— Charles Caleb Colton
jason jiujitsu
December 19, 2015, 5:21 am
books, fools same difference
CCCookie
May 6, 2016, 1:31 am
Probably true -- but different situations create different wants and needs where books are concerned, and if one's career requires a lot of intellectual and emotional investment by one (the helping professions, for instance), pleasure reading may exist for the purpose of distraction from the real world and an assurance that, by the end of the book, the good guys will have won and the bad guys will have been either converted or vanquished. For that reason I've enjoyed reading a lot of scifi and fantasy over the years, and even some classic (Georgette Heyer type) romance novels. Absolutely NO contact with reality. LOL
abra
June 12, 2018, 6:39 pm
FOOLS.
abra
September 8, 2018, 1:43 pm
* OMgosh, I was saying that I tried FOOLS. When I look at it now, I'm afraid it looks like I was name calling.
LLapp
November 12, 2022, 5:49 am
But let's face it, we are fools.
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"I love to play hide and seek with my kid, but some days my goal is to find a hiding place where he can't find me until after high school." — Unattributed
LLapp
April 22, 2015, 7:22 am
I can see why that speaker would want to be called Unattributed. You never know which kids may grow up to do cryptograms.
abra
March 3, 2016, 6:48 pm
I have only one son, he is not a cryptogrammer. My grandsons do like to watch and yell out a word when they see one.
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"Want to know the best thing about being a professor? Colored chalk."
— Donald Sadoway
abra
August 14, 2022, 2:41 am
I think white boards in markers (colored) would be much better. I don't like to think about black (green) boards, chalk and the horrible sounds they made.
__________
"Before you put on a frown, make absolutely sure there are no smiles available."
— Jim Beggs
abra
August 25, 2018, 11:59 am
I will forgive Jim for being smarmy, because his name is a complete sentence and I love that.
__________
"Outcomes rarely turn on grand gestures or the art of the deal, but on whether you've sent someone a thank-you note."
— Bernie Brillstein
abra
October 8, 2015, 1:52 pm
We just got Thank You e-mails from our grandsons, thanking us for some money we gave them, and telling us how they spent it. It turns out that we're awesome ) I personally don't mind that they didn't write them out and mail them. I used to make my son do that, as my mom made us do. I'm happy with my e-mails. It's good to be awesome.
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"There is always a lot to be thankful for, if you take the time to look. For example, I'm sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt."
— Unattributed
pootie49
April 27, 2011, 12:50 am
yes me too.
abra
November 10, 2011, 5:30 pm
I'd be in pain if they did.
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"Best way to clear the air is to have it all out in the open."
— Harper Lee
abra
September 23, 2013, 4:11 pm
If she only had one novel to write, I'm glad she wrote the one she did. It's one of my read over and overs.
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"True love is quiescent, except in the nascent moments of true humility." — Bryant H. McGill
abra
September 5, 2018, 2:19 pm
Born with a silver Thesaurus in his mouth.
jimbo42
November 1, 2018, 10:15 am
this quote should end up solved in very few seconds by a well known solver
CryptoB
February 1, 2019, 11:18 am
Love it, abra
LLapp
March 25, 2019, 12:08 am
Silver Thesaurus - hahaha, I want one!
skeeter
March 30, 2019, 8:29 pm
One of your best, abra.
puffybob
December 18, 2019, 4:39 am
I think McGill stole this from WRQ9
...
skeeter
April 28, 2022, 3:11 am
And still funny, abra.
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Sorry to see abra go ahead of us. I always looked forward to her down to earth comments. I realize now she lived not too far from me. Wouldn't it be great if we could all get together. Some day maybe.
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"Did you ever stop to taste a carrot? Not just eat it, but taste it? You can't taste the beauty and energy of the earth in a Twinkie." — Astrid Alauda
montyb on 2013-06-03 01:06:49
Carrot cake Twinkie?
bansaisequoia on 2013-08-20 00:49:13
Brilliant idea, monty! We'll fill the carrot cake twinkies with cream cheese frosting and make million$!
skoogie2 on 2013-11-15 15:27:59
Oh my gosh! I want a carrot cake twinkie!
abra on 2014-02-26 14:57:20
I'll just eat the frosting. I don't want to taste all that carrot cake, Earth energy.
marnita on 2015-06-09 18:51:04
I don't care for Twinkies, but I could definitely go for Monty and Bansai's carrot cake version!
abra on 2016-03-30 09:24:02
I only eat carrots, if they're cut the right way. Three or four inch cross cut pieces for stew, cut length wise with pot roast, julienned for soup, grated for salad, never, ever diced in anything. There are no exceptions to the rules. Well there's one exception, if I'm a guest, eating someone else's cooking. In that case, I will try to discreetly mash them with my fork.
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"Few of us write great novels; all of us live them." — Mignon McLaughlin
marnita
June 5, 2016, 7:00 pm
Mine doesn't seem to have a very consistent plot.
abra
July 11, 2017, 5:33 pm
Oooh, I had such a hard time with this one. I kind of doubt that anyone is waiting to read Being Abra.
abra
August 6, 2017, 1:25 pm
Maybe more like a Little Golden Book.
phthelen
August 14, 2017, 3:27 pm
I eagerly await seeing it on the shelves, abra.
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"Sir, you have but two topics, yourself and me. I am sick of both. "
— Samuel Johnson
abra
July 28, 2016, 5:46 pm
Imagine, Sam got sick of hearing someone else speak.
LLapp
August 10, 2016, 4:57 pm
Haha!
hrossa
June 15, 2022, 1:13 pm
This is quite the put-down, though! Sometimes I admire something well done, that I wouldn't be able to do myself.
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"Sometimes I think my life would make a great TV movie. It even has the part where they say, 'Stand by. We are experiencing temporary difficulties.'" — Robert Brault
abra
July 24, 2014, 3:19 pm
Remember, when that used to happen frequently? My son was reading by about 3 1/2 one day I saw him standing right in front of the tv, because it said "please stand by".
LLapp
March 11, 2015, 6:56 am
Abra, that's adorable.
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"Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships."
— Ansel Adams
kb83
July 12, 2017, 10:25 am
...Learning something new is one of my favorite parts of this website. I am honored to be among some brilliant folks here-- bansai, Llapp, universalmom, montyb, abra, marnita, maradnu, and many, many, many others. Thanks to all for making this an amazingly fun and interesting website.
abra
November 18, 2019, 6:09 pm
OMgosh, I was included with the smart people. Thank you kb83.
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Originally posted by chriscrojam View Post"You can tell how long a couple has been married by whether they are on their first, second or third bottle of Tabasco."
— Bruce Bye
abra
June 23, 2016, 6:22 pm
LLapp, sometimes I picture you with one of those little bells, (the kind like they used to have on hotel desks) You type out the error, and then ring the bell. Probably too many cryptos today, but do you have one of those little bells? I like the picture.
abra
August 19, 2016, 9:31 am
I hope that didn't sound mean. I didn't mean it to be mean. Just a silly thought that popped into my head.
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