Each of us has said something and immediately realized it was a boneheaded thing to say, but it was too late to take it back! Do you have any examples?
Share why if you wish.
Asking — and answering — life's interesting questions
Each of us has said something and immediately realized it was a boneheaded thing to say, but it was too late to take it back! Do you have any examples?
Share why if you wish.
Hoo boy.
I’m a big fan of the word “penultimate” (meaning: next-to-last). I learned it from reading comic books when I was just a young kid, and knowing it has always made me feel just a little smarter than I was before. It is one of those words that, once you know it, you can find lots of uses for it it everywhere.
One day, I was traveling with a friend via the subway in Boston. As we entered the station, I suggested that we should get in the penultimate subway car, as I knew that, at our destination, the last car would not let us out right at the exit to the station, while the next-to-last one would.
As I was thinking about it, I said casually to my friend, “You know, the word ‘penultimate’ is such a handy word, and I use it all the time. In fact, I think it would be just as handy to make up a word that meant, ‘next-to-the-front’. I bet I would use that word all the time!”
My friend replied, “You mean, ‘second’?”
I fell into stunned silence. What a bonehead I am!