by Kevin Burton Residents of one Alaska neighborhood in my newspaper’s coverage area sought to correct a flooding problem by putting rocks in a river. Riprap, they called it, which is, as I would learn, “a foundation or sustaining wall of stones or chunks of concrete thrown together without order.” From that …
Category Archives: humor
Penny For Your Thoughts, Feline Daughters
by Kevin Burton They have ways of expressing themselves, but my cats don’t speak any English or Spanish, so I don’t always know what they are thinking. Do I really want to know what they are thinking? Well, we can’t know, which is probably for the best. But I did stumble upon …
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Quibbles And Bits: Cats, Beatles, Fantasy
by Kevin Burton Our younger cat Lakin is a great leaper, has a good set of lungs and is eager to communicate. And she’s wild about exercise. I should be so wild about exercise. You share your living space with two cats, you find out a few things. Like on a …
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Turns Out My Wife Was Right All Along
by Kevin Burton In yesterday’s food-safety post we learned that poultry that is green or has secretions should be thrown away immediately. This is the sort of cutting-edge consumer lightning bolt that makes me proud and happy that I started a blog some years ago. And today we’re still on the job …
Are Your Leftovers Making You Sick
by Kevin Burton I hate wasting food, and I’ve been known to stretch the plausible life of leftovers into a danger zone. I famously told my then girlfriend Jeannette that there was middle-aged food in my fridge that I would eat, but not serve to her. That was the place where chivalry …
Why, Exactly, Is A Goose Called Silly?
by Dictionary Scoop Sure, sheep are obedient, and geese are loud. But when did we decide to start calling each other by animal names? Since Biblical times, we’ve been dragging innocent animals into our human drama to describe each other’s worst behavior. Is that fair? Read on to see some of the animal …
Bolster Your Vocabulary With Creative Insults!
by Kevin Burton I know I shouldn’t be doing this. But here’s my excuse up front: The dictionary made me do it! There is more than enough bad blood, ill manners, insincerity and name calling to go around these days. Nevertheless, Merriam-Webster dictionary provides you today with entirely new and creative ways to …
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Weird Traditions From Around The World
by Dictionary Scoop Traditions come in all shapes and sizes, from a small family tradition involving a special breakfast treat to an annual activity shared by an entire community. In that sense, some traditions around the world may seem downright strange to a keen observer. That’s why we’ve decided to highlight some of …
Regional Speech Patterns Travel With You
by Kevin Burton One fine morning in a restaurant we don’t often go to, in a small town where you better not speed or they’ll fine you for sure (Derby, Kansas), a waitress referred to my wife and I as “yins.” That is a contraction of “you ones” and it’s a regionalism from …
Another Helping Of Fun From Food Network
by Kevin Burton Yesterday we rode the wayback machine and looked at one of my earliest Page 7 blog posts, one that made fun of the weird meals they make on Food Network. We also established that since that time I have developed an appetite for Food Network and have stopped dialing up …
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