Category: Expressions

Let your hair down and enjoy

Let your hair down and enjoy
During the heat wave, I’ve spent some time going through notebooks and looking for ideas about staying cool… er, I mean staying inside and writing. I enjoyed finding a draft from Nov. 5, 2020, about the expression “let your hair down.” At that point in the pandemic, I had been growing my hair out since... Read more »
By Margaret H. Laing,
June 17, 2022 at 9:30 am
• 4 comments

Thoughts on a change of scenery (and expression)

Thoughts on a change of scenery (and expression)
I’ve been home a lot lately. Whether it’s writing, keeping up with e-mail and even paper letters, or playing cello, there’s a lot to do — and a bad allergy time for me to do it in. So I’m enjoying moving around my fragile collection (of animal figures, such as Peter Rabbit as mentioned earlier).... Read more »
By Margaret H. Laing,
May 16, 2022 at 10:48 pm
• 8 comments

A reply to The Amused Curmudgeon about arrant language errors

A reply to The Amused Curmudgeon about arrant language errors
If you heard some unexplained cheering on the evening of May 10, that was my voice. I was reading the post by my fellow ChicagoNow blogger, The Amused Curmudgeon, headlined ‘Airing My Gripes About Arrantly-Erring On-Air Language.” I was delighted to see “overturned meanings,” “the unlikeable like” and other pet peeves among my fellow writer’s... Read more »
By Margaret H. Laing,
May 10, 2022 at 7:37 pm
• 12 comments
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This post has no time limit

This post has no time limit
I’ve been reading various online publications lately, whether finding them myself or finding posts shared on Facebook or LinkedIn. More and more stories (commentaries, analyses, or just reports) have a note beside the byline: 2 minute read 4 minute read 5 minute read The presumptuousness of that scares me. How do they know how quickly... Read more »
By Margaret H. Laing,
March 21, 2022 at 4:09 pm
• 4 comments

Was it the last straw that broke the camel's back? (and other questions from expressions)

Was it the last straw that broke the camel's back? (and other questions from expressions)
Do you ever hear the expression “That’s the last straw”? Or do you know someone following a problem who wants to know whether “That’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back”? What if they’re the same straw?I want to collect pairs or sets of expressions like that. I’ve been on the lookout for them since... Read more »
By Margaret H. Laing,
January 5, 2022 at 10:46 am
• 6 comments

Happy vs. Merry Christmas

Happy vs. Merry Christmas
You have probably heard plenty of wishes of “Merry Christmas” long before today, the day they refer to. You may even have had some people wish you “Happy Christmas.” But of course, it takes me to take a look at the difference between the two sayings. Happy, according to my home dictionary (Webster’s New Twentieth... Read more »
By Margaret H. Laing,
December 25, 2021 at 10:09 pm
• 8 comments
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Old habits don't necessarily die hard, but they take time

Old habits don't necessarily die hard, but they take time
I’ve had trouble getting to sleep in recent weeks. I know why — it’s because I don’t have my habit from so many previous winters, going to sleep at the end of a Chicago Blackhawks game. Oh, no, I’m not going back to them — not after the way managers treated a case of alleged... Read more »
By Margaret H. Laing,
December 2, 2021 at 10:23 am
• 10 comments

How to say 2021-2022 for the new seasons

How to say 2021-2022 for the new seasons
It’s a fun night for me when the Chicago Blackhawks start a new season, even an exhibition season. So tonight, Sept. 29, I am savoring the news as I get read for the exhibitions to begin. This will lead to the regular hockey season for 2021-2022. This is the first night I’ve heard that expression... Read more »
By Margaret H. Laing,
September 29, 2021 at 7:34 pm
• 6 comments

Different kinds of hope

Different kinds of hope
For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. — Romans 8:24-25 (New International Version) I’m thinking about hope this week. I read the Bible... Read more »
By Margaret H. Laing,
September 23, 2021 at 9:45 pm
• 4 comments
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Lefties, it's our lucky day! Left-handers' Day is Aug. 13

Lefties, it's our lucky day! Left-handers' Day is Aug. 13
Never mind it being Friday. Today, Aug. 13, is International Left-handers’ Day. That’s, er, correct — a day to celebrate being left-handed and to “raise awareness of the everyday issues that lefties face as we live in a world designed for right-handers,” as the official web site explains. If you say you are left-handed, you... Read more »
By Margaret H. Laing,
August 13, 2021 at 7:00 am
• 6 comments