SpoolyGoo's Views
If you enjoy nonsense, random facts, and/or stories about trauma, this is the website for you.
Monday, August 19, 2024
Sunday, August 18, 2024
Personal Things
PERSONAL THINGS
Attitude With A Side Of Grr
Showing gratitude without completely being grateful.
Bravery
The story of an ill-advised road trip.
Capitol Buildings
My journey to visit each one.
It Is What It Is
Journal-like writings during my father's fatal illness.
Memorial For Someone I Should Have Met
The unconventional way I went to a wake and felt weird about doing so.
My Tattoos
A rated-PG guide to the ink that's permanently on my body.
My Theory
What happened surrounding my mother's suicide.
Reflections On Vagabonding
Wishing I had done more during my 20+ months of aimlessness.
The Greaving Mother
An insane woman accused 12-year-old me of something awful.
The Most Meat-Heady Thing I've Ever Experienced
Unnecessary testosterone almost ruined a good time.
Turn The Paige
The unbearable obligation of talking to strangers.
Opinions & Rants
OPINIONS & RANTS
Factual Articles
FACTUAL ARTICLES
I strive for accuracy and always use at least 2-3 sources before adding something. If you spot an error, please comment at the bottom of the appropriate page.
VIDEOS
BONUS
2020 Mock Mock Draft
Poetry
Poetry
(Not to worry- I won't ever update this.)
Enjoy!
Sorrow & Things You Never Knew
Saturday, August 17, 2024
What Does That Mean?
A penny for your thoughts
Meaning: This phrase is stated instead of asking what someone is thinking.
Origin: It is believed that Englishman Thomas More first used the phrase in a 1500s book. At that time, a penny was a significant amount of money, so offering it was an important gesture.
Asinine
Meaning: Very stupid.
Origin: This comes from a Latin word meaning ‘like a donkey or ass’.
Back to the drawing board
Meaning: The current plan has failed so a new one must be developed.
Origin: The first use of this phrase was in this 1941 cartoon by Peter Arno. It has been popularly used since World War Two.
Jay-walking
Meaning: Illegally crossing a street away from an intersection, though the act of doing it responsibly has been de-criminalized in some places, like California.
Origin: In the early 1900s, the slang word ‘jay’ was used for someone who was pretty much clueless. In this sense, the person could not figure out where to cross a road shortly after traffic lights became popular.
Put one’s two cents in
Meaning: Humbly give one’s opinion even though it wasn’t asked for.
Origin: As far back as the 1500s, declaring something was worth two pieces of any currency was insulting, meaning the thing did not have much value. One popular hypothesis as to how the phrase came into use dates to when postage stamps cost two cents, rendering that the price to give one’s opinion. The true root of the saying is unknown.
Safety net
Meaning: Something reliable to fall back on in case everything else goes wrong.
Origin: The somewhat obvious root of this phrase comes from the circus, specifically trapeze artists who had nets below them if a fall happened. The saying become popular (and non-circusy) with the 1944 creation of the Bretton Woods system, when delegates from 44 countries met in New Hampshire to make a new world-wide economic structure. To read about that, go here.
There’s more than one way to skin a cat
Meaning: Many paths can lead to the same outcome.
Origin: Hypotheses abound as to this violent phrase’s origin. One suggests ‘cat’ is a Southern American shortening of the word ‘catfish’. Another points to British writer Charles Kingsley, who wrote in the 1800s that ‘there are more ways of killing a cat than choking it with cream’. Several sources claim American humorist Seba Smith first used it slightly earlier than Kingsley, though the reason why (if it exists) is unknown.
Author’s opinion: Killing a cat by any means is always acceptable.
Wall-flower
Meaning: A person at a social gathering who tends to observe the events rather than participating in them.
Origin: Curiously, the slang definition of this word comes from its actual meaning- A plant that grows best when away from others.
SOURCES
Google, The Phrase Finder, Mental Floss,
Etymonline, idiomorigins.org, Grammarist, Wikipedia.org, wordhistories.net, spellingbee.com,
Reader’s Digest, Take Our Word For It,
The Conversation,
Collins Dictionary, Inverse.com, HistoryNewsNetwork.org, VeryWellMind.com, Grammarphobia.com, Urban Dictionary, Say Why Do I, Greek Boston, GreekMythology.com, Insider.com, Snopes.com,
Almanac.com, US Dairy, WritingExplained.com, Bored Panda, The Hindu, U.S. Department Of Defense, Social Security Administration, MirandaRights.org,
USCourts.gov, Calemon Law