Wednesday, August 30, 2006

What did he say?

I was watching the Fox News the other morning and one of the anchors said something that caught my attention. I know what you are thinking.... it is sort of funny.... wasn't I paying attention in the first place? Yes, but the story wasn't what stuck out to me at the time... it was just the usual talk about Iraq and what we are doing and why we are doing over there.

BUT.... the anchor said: "......in a thumbnail...". Instead of "in a nutshell" he said "in a thumbnail". The interviewee didn't skip a beat, he knew exactly what was meant and answered appropriately. When did that little phrase come into being? Has it been around for awhile and I've been oblivious, or did the guy make it up?

It works... a thumbnail can substitute for a nutshell in that particular phrase....but why? What's wrong with saying "in a nutshell"?

I don't know why this intrigues me so much...I guess I just think it's very interesting how computer lingo creeps into our every day vocabulary. More and more it is used in ways not related to computers.

Another phrase I thought about this past week is "still pause". As in: "I need to go to the bathroom, still pause the movie til I get back."

Yes, I used to say that. Now I have cut it down to just "pause". Why did people say still pause before though? It was rather redundant. I don't know why I thought about it...but it cracks me up thinking about it. I'm weird I know...

No comments: