It’s a ‘Slam Dunk’

By Tom Morrow

There words and phrases in our most difficult language that makes one pause to consider their meaning.
Take, for instance, “direction.” Have you ever noticed when going in a direction, there’s only one way to travel: “Back” East, “Up” North, “Down” South, “Out” West. You wouldn’t say “… let’s go down North to town. Or, “… I’m going down East to grandma’s house.”
All of this makes sense because of the points on a compass – North is the top, East is the right side, and South is the bottom, but that explanation falls apart when you “go out West.” Where’s “out” on the compass?
If you’re a small community, you have an “uptown,” but if you’re what is considered a city, it’s “downtown.” Sometime we go “across town” to get where we’re going.
There’s more.
Running can take on several meanings. You can “run like hell,” or “flat out.” But you can’t do better than “all get-out.
Have you ever “slept in?” In what? Aren’t you in the same bed you started with? They say you shouldn’t pay “full retail.” Okay, who’s “they?” And, what does “full retail” mean? If you pay “dealer’s cost,” how is he or she gonna make any money?
One should keep in mind that you’ll always be sitting pretty if you keep in “good standing” with our friends, neighborhood, or community. What if you wanna sit down?
Our English is hard enough to learn correctly without tossing in all of the various colloquialisms. And, speaking of “English,” the various regions of Great Britain and Ireland have their own bevy of sayings apart from ours. Watch a British movie and you’ll hear all sorts of words and phrases unknown to us on “this side of the pond.” We can usually figure ‘em out, but sometimes they can be quite foreign.
GREAT QUOTES: “The four stages of man are: infancy, childhood, adolescence and obsolescence’” – Art Linkletter
SCAG SEZ: “.– Sometimes the best way to get along with people is to get along without them… — Cecil Scaglione, www.maturelifefeatures.com
FIND ‘UM – You can order many of my novels online at Amazon.com. For a list on line go to: www.Amazon.com, “search” for my name.
 
Humorous or human-interest stories or notes for this osidenews.com column can be forwarded via e-mail to me at: quotetaker@msn.com