Alex's comments
(member since Jul 26, 2007)
Alex's comments from the Books I Loathed group.
(showing 1-20 of 64)
Well, the term "I could care less" is grammatically wrong anyway. That's what drives me nuts. If you said, "I couldn't care less" it actually makes sense.
Yes, Kay, I believe there was. Wasn't it on Dukes of Hazzard (or some show set in the South).
XY - you're right. Cooties is slang for lice. I think it may actually be a Southern US colloquialism.
It's like a traffic accident death - you know you're going to have nightmares but you're compelled to look.
I haven't chimed in to this thread much - primarily because (as I've been told many times) I've never met a movie I didn't like. Which, by the way, isn't entirely true. However, I've always considered them such different forms that I can usually separate the two and find good (or bad) in both.
But, after giving it some thought, I'll say this:
A Handmaid's Tale was a woeful adaptation of the book and, considering the cast, a pretty bad movie overall. Not unwatchable (by my standards anyway) but pretty underwhelming.
Breakfast at Tiffany's. I'm a Capote fan and read the book years before I saw the movie. I adore the book and was completely appalled at what they did to my lovely story when making the movie. That said, if you watch the movie having never read the book, it's delightful.
So, there's my 2 cents.
See, now, Mr Frisky is cute and funny - for one adult to name another adult's privates. I can get behind that (or in front of it, as it were). But giving baby names to genitalia in order to make adults more comfortable talking about them to children is just wrong. So now you've got a kid who, at 17, is still using hoo-hoo or twinkie or some other stupid euphemism. Ick.
Oh dear lord. The infantilization of genitalia is just ridiculous. I'd much rather hear the C-word than "hoo-hoo".
She's very "Oprah Book Club" - woman-centric stories; tug on the heartstrings; blah, blah, blah. I'll give her this...she did her research on the Amish for Plain Truth. That part was cool.
You know that Anne Rice originally (when she first wrote the book) wanted Rutger Hauer to play Lestat - which I think would have been brilliant casting. Tom Cruise was ridiculous in the part. And, did anyone else think that Louis should have been more fey? Or, at least, less buff than Brad Pitt?
Great list, Xy. Thanks.
The Screwtape Letters is brilliant. If you're an audiobook person, there's an audio version that's read by John Cleese which adds a whole different level of humor to the "story".
Sherri, I simply can't believe you've never read Capote. I think I've read everything he's ever written. As "Southern" writers go, Capote's atypical (imo) because he writes in a fairly concise style - not too overburdened with words or metaphor. I recommend A Christmas Memory to start.
I love Steve.
Agreed. Well chosen, Kate. :)
OMG. David, you've run your nails over the chalkboard. I despise (is that stronger than "loathe"?) backformed words. One sees them often in corporate-speak - the vilest form of language butchering, imho. I attribute those words to idiots trying to sound smart.
Oh...here's one: "versed" as the past-tense of the the word "versus" used as a verb. So many things wrong with this, I don't even know where to start.
I think that the only way indies can make any money is to serve a tight niche. I mean, I buy my comic books at a comic book store - not a big box.
defenestration
1620, "the action of throwing out of a window," from L. fenestra "window." A word invented for one incident: the "Defenestration of Prague," May 21, 1618, when two Catholic deputies to the Bohemian national assembly and a secretary were tossed out the window (into a moat) of the castle of Hradshin by Protestant radicals. It marked the start of the Thirty Years War. Some linguists link fenestra with Gk. verb phainein "to show;" others see in it an Etruscan borrowing, based on the suffix -(s)tra, as in L. loan-words aplustre "the carved stern of a ship with its ornaments," genista "the plant broom," lanista "trainer of gladiators."
So, in answer to your question, the word originated with the incident in Prague but can now be applied to anything being thrown out a window.
I understand the appeal of the big box store. Sometimes one just wants cheap prices and a big selection. I love my independantly-owned stores (book, hardware, pharmacy, etc) but I'll go to the big box if I just want to run in and know that they'll have what I need and I don't have to compromise. I save my trips to the store in the neighborhood for those times when I have time to shop, don't need/want something super-specific, and don't mind paying 10-20% more.
Mad-skills.
Gainsay... wow. I don't think I've ever heard/read that word. I just looked it up and one would think that I would have come across it at some point in my life. Weird.
Is it particular to a time period or anything?
