Thoughts at large

**rb336** · June-04-12, 02:13 PM

they don't have ears?

**theklep** · June-06-12, 05:59 AM

That's no ordinary rabbit, It's a killer rabbit.

**rb336** · February-18-13, 10:20 PM

Nope - snotty kid AND maggie thatcher.

This is the only kid commercial I ever really liked - a classic

**canuck** · February-18-13, 10:56 PM

Originally Posted by rb336

Nope - snotty kid AND maggie thatcher.

This is the only kid commercial I ever really liked - a classic

Excellent, tis a good one indeed.

**rb336** · March-19-13, 03:42 PM

I have no love for Kid Rock, but I don't hear much autotune there

**canuck** · February-18-13, 10:59 PM

Originally Posted by rb336

Nope - snotty kid AND maggie thatcher.

This is the only kid commercial I ever really liked - a classic

Excellent, tis a good one indeed. I can also hear someone fumbling on Youtube to find the Give it to Mikey Life cereal one...

Aw shucks, I cant help it, here it is;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34wJt3pRY0w

**MizMotown** · March-11-13, 10:58 AM

Black squirrels have little evil-lookin' demon faces. One had the audacity to come within about a foot of me and stare. After a couple minutes it straddled a wooden fence and stared at me some more until I finally looked away and went back inside.

**Honky Tonk** · March-11-13, 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by MizMotown

Black squirrels have little evil-lookin' demon faces. One had the audacity to come within about a foot of me and stare. After a couple minutes it straddled a wooden fence and stared at me some more until I finally looked away and went back inside.

Personally, I find them more friendly and more prone to human interaction. Maybe it was waiting for you to offer lunch?

**rb336** · May-08-13, 09:51 PM

If I see that HORRID discover ohio ad one more time, i'm gonna puke

**BRAZZMAN** · June-09-12, 09:35 PM

And please for once and for ever it is not "Pushing the envelope" it is "Pushing the edge of the envelope".

**rb336** · June-10-12, 08:52 PM

Originally Posted by BRAZZMAN

And please for once and for ever it is not "Pushing the envelope" it is "Pushing the edge of the envelope".

that's a relatively minor thing in a language where the word "literally" has literally come to mean its opposite, or where "impact" has become a verb

**Wheels** · June-10-12, 09:17 PM

Originally Posted by BRAZZMAN

And please for once and for ever it is not "Pushing the envelope" it is "Pushing the edge of the envelope".

Push the envelope

Dear Word Detective: I have somehow gotten the impression that “pushing the envelope” means encroaching on forbidden territory in a conversational sense. I would like to know if this is so. If I am correct or not, from where did the expression come? – Rene Guggisberg.
Good question. I think I know what you mean, as when you say something like “Lovely engagement ring, Debbie. Is that the one Dave got on eBay?” Conversations can be tricky. Personally, I have a tendency to answer people’s rhetorical questions literally, and folks who make the mistake of asking “Why me?” in my presence often get five or six good suggestions.
I have actually answered a question about “pushing the envelope” before, but I see by the clock on the wall that it’s been almost exactly ten years, so we’ll take another run at it. To “push the envelope” does include straining the boundaries of polite conversation, but more broadly it means to approach, exceed, or even extend the limits of what is considered possible or permissible in any context. This can be a good thing, as when a race car driver sets a new world’s record time, or a bad thing, as when an office worker sets a new record for calling in sick. In both cases, the attempt itself carries a risk considered too great by most people.
“Pushing the envelope” comes from a field, however, where tremendous risk is the whole point. It’s drawn from the lingo of test pilots, whose job consists of pushing their aircraft right up to and often beyond the technical specifications and theoretical limits of their craft. While “pushing the envelope” [[originally in the form “pushing the edge of the envelope”) has probably been in use among test pilots since World War II, it was propelled into general usage by Tom Wolfe’s 1979 book about test pilots and the early US space program, The Right Stuff. The “envelope” being pushed in “pushing the envelope” is a mathematical construct, what is called the “flight envelope” of a given aircraft: combinations of speed and altitude, range and speed, or speed and stress on the aircraft’s frame, that are considered the limits of the plane’s capabilities. Within the “envelope” formed by these parameters, you’re [[at least theoretically) OK. Push those limits and you’re asking for trouble, which is what test pilots do for a living. In the process, they verify the safety of the aircraft within those limits and pinpoint possible points of failure if the “envelope” is pushed too far.
Given the popularity of Tom Wolfe’s book [[and the movie made from it), it’s not surprising that by the early 1980s “push the envelope” was being used in non-aviation contexts with the diluted meaning of “experiment, innovate, take risks” [[“Steven Bochco is offering a new series this fall on ABC, ‘NYPD Blue,’ that … will ‘push the edge of the envelope’ of profanity, nudity and artistic violence,” 1989).

Get over it.

**BRAZZMAN** · June-11-12, 09:57 AM

[QUOTE=Wheels;324535]Push the envelope

While “pushing the envelope” [[originally in the form “pushing the edge of the envelope”) has probably been in use among test pilots since World War II, it was propelled into general usage by Tom Wolfe’s 1979 book about test pilots and the early US space program, The Right Stuff. The “envelope” being pushed in “pushing the envelope” is a mathematical construct, what is called the “flight envelope” of a given aircraft: combinations of speed and altitude, range and speed, or speed and stress on the aircraft’s frame, that are considered the limits of the plane’s capabilities. Within the “envelope” formed by these parameters, you’re [[at least theoretically) OK. Push those limits and you’re asking for trouble, which is what test pilots do for a living. In the process, they verify the safety of the aircraft within those limits and pinpoint possible points of failure if the “envelope” is pushed too far.
Given the popularity of Tom Wolfe’s book [[and the movie made from it), it’s not surprising that by the early 1980s “push the envelope” was being used in non-aviation contexts with the diluted meaning of “experiment, innovate, take risks” .

Thanks Wheels. Well said and exactly what I think of whenever I hear "push the envelope". It just drives me up the wall for some reason. Most users probably do not know the original context and have a vague idea, as you suggest, what they mean when saying it. It may be impossible to explain the phrase in literal terms if never encountered before.
I'll try to get over it. "Get over it" another one!

**Jimaz** · June-11-12, 07:10 PM

I want a T-shirt that says "The only thing I want is to not want. But I already have that."

Wait. What?

**rb336** · June-12-12, 08:38 AM

Is anybody motivated to by crap by obnoxious kids in ads?

**canuck** · February-18-13, 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by rb336

Is anybody motivated to by crap by obnoxious kids in ads?

Howzabout this one rb336?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URjGR...yer_detailpage

**Jimaz** · June-22-12, 11:16 AM

Dearborn Heights public works staff rescue trapped raccoon

**Jimaz** · September-12-12, 04:20 PM

It just occurred to me that onions taste like skunks smell only a bit sweeter.

**rb336** · September-12-12, 04:58 PM

I don't mind the dilute version of skunk smell. kinda like it actually

**Jimaz** · September-19-12, 04:43 PM

If you stay in the tub too long you get prune skin.

So why don't you ever see goldfish with prune skin?

And why is it that when you halve a hole you still have a whole hole?

**Jimaz** · October-08-12, 03:49 PM

Why is "encyclopedia" singular and not plural? Shouldn't the singular be "encyclopedium"?

**Jimaz** · November-24-12, 10:21 PM

Whoever it is who does the laundry for zombies needs to find another line of work.

**Jimaz** · November-26-12, 07:22 PM

Good writers have fun with everyday absurdities that everyone else notices but ignores.

Today's Non Sequitur comic by Wiley Miller is pretty clever.

**rb336** · November-26-12, 10:12 PM

Originally Posted by Jimaz

Good writers have fun with everyday absurdities that everyone else notices but ignores.

Today's Non Sequitur comic by Wiley Miller is pretty clever.

he is the best right now

**rb336** · March-17-13, 09:30 AM

Insipid lyrics have been part of pop music since they started putting grooves in wax.

what would really cut down on the number of "artists" out there is if you really heard their singing without autotune.

Heard Bieber singing without it once. he couldn't stay on key if his life depended on it. you have an American Idol judge telling people they won't get anywhere without autotune, whose own work is very heavily treated. it's a joke