Well, first off, I don't capitalize the s in satan because he is evil and doesn't deserve it. This is called the middle finger of grammar, and I first heard about it from a blogger named Jon Acuff over at his blog, here, and loved the idea. Anyhoo, satan isn't even the devil's real name! When he tried to dethrone God and became fallen, his name changed from Lucifer Morningstar or Light-bearer, or something like that. And really, who is surprised? satan, prince of darkness, father of lies, the wicked one, just sounds more intimidating, doesn't it?
I think changing names when a person goes all evil (and trust me, satan is real and real evil, ya'll) is probably in the villain how-to book. Even good guys change their names when they switch sides, so maybe it's just something we all do when we want to be identified as different from who we were. I think I just made a thought-provoking statement...ooooooo, scary! ^_^
2. Is it rude for deaf people to sign (speak) with their mouth full?
Hmm...I would have to say no as long as the signer's mouth is closed while signing and chewing simultaneously. I think open-mouthed mastication would draw attention away from the conversation. And it is unbelievably difficult to type "signing" when your fingers want to type "singing."
3. In the song "Yankee Doodle," is he calling the horse or the feather "macaroni?"
I think he was calling his cap "macaroni" because his kids used it as their macaroni art canvas and his wife forced him to wear it so his kids' feelings wouldn't be hurt. I think him riding a pony (as opposed to a horse) and wearing the feather was just Yankee's way of saying, "Hey, I'm a gutsy guy, and I'm not afraid to wear artful clothing while on a pony." His shirt was probably made of spaghetti.
4. When does it stop being partly cloudy and start being partly sunny?
This one really can be confusing, but that's exactly what the Conspiracy for Correct Weather Forecasters (CCWF) wants. See, if we don't know when partly cloudy becomes partly sunny and vice versa, then when our weather people use one of those phrases to predict the weather, we can't say they were wrong because we'll have no idea if they were wrong or not! So, the answer to the question is: partly cloudy becomes partly sunny whenever our weather people tell us it does. I personally use "mostly sunny" and "mostly cloudy" to avoid betting trapped by the CCWF's double lingo and don't use the television to find out about the weather. Instead, I look it up on the internet - it's so much more reliable.
5. If money doesn't grow on trees, why do banks have branches?
Easy. We have the wrong idea about money trees. Money doesn't grow on trees, it grows them.
See, money is not the leaf of the tree. It is the seed, the soil, the sunshine, and the water. Money makes the bank grow. The more money, the bigger the bank, the more branches (ha) the bank can support. Leaves are usually credit lines, complicated investment opportunities, customer incentives, ad campaigns, etc. But no matter the similarity between banks and trees, I think that I shall never see a bank as lovely as a tree. (That's a little rewording of the first line of the poem "Trees" by Sgt. Joyce Kilmer. One of the few things from high school I will never forget.)
Thank you Melissa for some awesomely random questions! I had fun answering them. I just want to formally introduce myself and my blog to your readers. My name is Shalena (shuh-lee-nuh) and my blog is called Writer Quirk (I'm pretty sure ya'll know how to pronounce that). I'm also a tad southern, if the ya'll didn't give that away.
I'm an aspiring YA writer, and my blog is about my writing journey as well as my recent plunge into reading more YA literature, so writing memes, book memes, and book/book cover reviews are a major part of Writer Quirk.
I also do features. My weekly one is Faturday, where I share a photo of my cat, Fatty, every Saturday because he's a whole sea of awesome. My other main ones are MUSeIC, where I share songs, artists, albums, that inspires my writing, and From Where I'm Standing, where I post a photo (usually one I took) and talk a bit about it.
I also am currently running a contest through August 14th to give away a couple of my favorite things to my followers, new and old. Up for grabs is a copy of The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer and the album Memento Mori by the band Flyleaf. The more followers, the more favorite things I give away, which will definitely include my ARC of Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel, you know, just in case anybody wants it. ^_^ You can go here to fill out the form and enter!
I welcome any and all readers of i swim for oceans over at Writer Quirk any time! Thanks again Melissa for welcoming me to your lovely blog!
