The Wordsmith Thread

Here's a useful illustration showing the difference between proper and improper comma usage.

I may read up a bit more on proper comma usage before I'm invited to another bachelor party

JFK would have made a fantastic stripper.

If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do. If some one maintains that two and two are five, or that Iceland is on the equator, you feel pity rather than anger, unless you know so little of arithmetic or geography that his opinion shakes your own contrary conviction. The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. Persecution is used in theology, not in arithmetic, because in arithmetic there is knowledge, but in theology there is only opinion. So whenever you find yourself getting angry about a difference of opinion, be on your guard; you will probably find, on examination, that your belief is going beyond what the evidence warrants.

– Bertrand Russell, “An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish,” 1943

Quote:

Originally posted by EricLindros

If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do. If some one maintains that two and two are five, or that Iceland is on the equator, you feel pity rather than anger, unless you know so little of arithmetic or geography that his opinion shakes your own contrary conviction. The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. Persecution is used in theology, not in arithmetic, because in arithmetic there is knowledge, but in theology there is only opinion. So whenever you find yourself getting angry about a difference of opinion, be on your guard; you will probably find, on examination, that your belief is going beyond what the evidence warrants.

� Bertrand Russell, �An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish,� 1943

This pisses me off!

If Jesus had been killed twenty years ago, Catholic school children would be wearing little electric chairs around their necks instead of crosses.
Lenny Bruce

"Ah, women. They make the highs higher and the lows more frequent." - Friedrich Nietzsche

YM

"Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom." -George S. Patton

YM

Why do people say "Grow some balls"? Balls are weak and sensitive. If you really wanna get tough, grow a vagina! Those things take a pounding! - Betty White

"America" - Freedom.

Of course it is conceivable that a perfectly maintained airplane, perfectly trimmed and flying in smooth air, might continue to fly straight ahead indefinitely simply because it would never be disturbed, would never get that first slight deflection from straight flight which starts the spiraling. But it is also conceivable that a pencil, stood on its point, might be so perfectly balanced and so completely shielded from all disturbance that it would stand on it's point indefinitely. Both things are philosophically possible; both are so highly improbable as to be practically impossible. And anyway, the stability of a thing, just like that of a man, does not consist in its being shielded from all disturbances and thus preserving a precarious balance; it consists in the ability to recover from disturbances that inevitably will occur, and to regain lost balance.

Wolfgang Langewiesche - "Stick & Rudder, An Explanation of the Art of Flying"

Oh dear:

Quote:

On Thursday afternoon a large party of friends, who had been enjoying themselves at a picnic in the picturesque neighbourhood of Boscastle, Devonshire, were about to return home, when the hat of Mr. Dennis, a solicitor, who was assisting two ladies to the carriage, was blown off, and, in running hastily to recover it, the unfortunate gentleman fell over the cliffs, and was instantly dashed to pieces. The deceased gentleman was much respected.

– The Times, Sept. 1, 1853

“I read once that the ancient Egyptians had fifty words for sand & the Eskimos had a hundred words for snow. I wish I had a thousand words for love, but all that comes to mind is the way you move against me while you sleep & there are no words for that.” ― Brian Andreas, Story People: Selected Stories & Drawings of Brian Andreas

I re-read a little of John Dies at the End.

Just to prepare for the sequel, This Book Is Full Of Spiders.

Oops..wrong thread.

Floccinaucinihilipilification - The act or habit of describing or regarding something as unimportant, having no value, or being worthless.

Ex: "There is a systemic floccinaucinihilipilification of all other aspects of existence that angers me"

Here's a fun anecdote that a lot of the members here might enjoy:

Quote:

In the aftermath of World War II, the socialists in Great Britain are ascendant, promising everything to everyone.

One day Winston Churchill walks into the men's room outside the House of Commons. At the first stall he sees the leader of the Labour Party. So he saunters his way all the way down to the last one at the far end of the room.

"Feeling standoffish, are we Winston?"

"That's right," Churchill says. "Because every time you see something big you want to nationalize it!"

Good one.

From here: http://mentalfloss.com/article/52603/5-fiercest-one-liners-history

Quote:

In 346 B.C, Philip of Macedon sent a message to intimidate the Spartans. "You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army on your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people and raze your city." The term "Laconic wit," comes from the Spartan region Laconia. The Spartans employed it to great effect with their one word response to Philip: "If." Philip never attempted to conquer Sparta.

"I run as fast as I ever did; xi just don't get there as soon." -- Russell Neyman

"I run as fast as I ever did, but I don't get there as soon." -- Russell Neyman