Skip to main content

Have you ever wondered ???

Have you ever wondered where certain phrases come from?

Like, "Cold hands warm heart"?
Often when shaking someone's hand, I hear how cold my hands are. And they are (so are my feet). I don't know why my hands are cold. But I usually responds with the 'cold hands warm heart' phrase. I want people to know that my cold hands should in no way reflect on my overall disposition. I might give you a cold stare if you say something wildly inappropriate, but that's a rarity. Those are the only things cold about me. I have a big heart and a warm personality.

Or "It's the least I can do"?
This is a favorite pet peeve of my friend Laurie. It's usually said after someone says thank you for a kind gesture. And the giver then says, 'it's the least I can do'. Really? You're basically responding with "I could have done a lot more but instead chose the option that required the least amount of effort/time/resources because that's how thoughtful I'm not."

Or this "No problem"?
You tell someone thank you, and they respond with 'no problem'. This makes John cringe, and he'll often remark - 'the correct response to thank you is you're welcome'. Might be a generational thing!

What are some of phrases that have you wondering? Add them here!

Comments

It's not a popularity contest, but ...

Lefties and Other Exceptional People

I have had the opportunity to do a lot of driving lately - back-and-forth to Wabash College and to-and-from Holland, Grand Rapids and East Lansing. It's given me lots of time to think and ponder the greater mysteries of the world; like the purpose of life, why my thumbnails always break first, the speed at which a state police officer will actually pull you over for and the theory of relativity. Oh, not THE theory of Relativity - with a capital 'R", created by Mr. Genius Einstein. No, my own theory of relativity - with a lower case 'r'. Created by this less-than-genius mother of three and wife of one! My theory is that the absolute worst drivers are those that drive exclusively in the left lane (I call them lefties) and the ones that believe the rules of the road apply to everyone except them (I call them exceptional people). I call it my own theory of relativity because these drivers are relatively unaware of how to drive. You know the ones that are going the spe...

Sick in St. Louis and Earthquakes in Michigan. What?

A 4.2 magnitude earthquake rattled our home a few weeks ago. Now if we lived in California (or even Oklahoma!) that would be almost commonplace but we live in Michigan where an earthquake is earth shattering, not because of the resulting damage (aside from a few funny Facebook pictures of toppled lawn furniture, I didn't witness any damage) but because earthquakes in Michigan almost never happen. Or at least ones that are felt by the average person. Or even me!  That earthquake was just the beginning of strange events, for this not-so-average person.  The day after Michigan shook, John and I went to St. Louis to see Delaney's end of freshman year performance.  One of the last times John had been to St. Louis together, was in August when he'd had his heart attack. We had dropped our daughter and a van full of belongings in sweltering heat and humidity. It was the first day of a planned two-day orientation and and the following day was the official good bye. John hadn...

It's not my first summer wearing a ski boot

A summer gathering on Drummond Island. Post-cocktail hour. After the most recent episode of grace in action, I scoured my memory for the details of my previous broken foot. For the life of me, I couldn't remember if I'd broken the right or the left or the year it happened. Having also sprained an ankle, two things are fairly obvious right now (more obvious than the black cast adorning my right foot). One, I need to write more so that I have written proof on which to rely since my memory is clearly not what it should be. (More on that later!) And second, I am a first-class, gold-medal earning (if there were such a thing), klutz. Klutzy Kathleen. Even before MS was part of my daily life, I couldn't walk and chew gum without a potential disaster. After unearthing the picture above, I discovered it was my left foot. An adorable nearly two-year-old Delaney is partially camouflaging the evidence of the black cast/boot. And it was July or August because we would spend a w...