Friday, July 13, 2012

Val Selflessly Assists Common Sense

Today, I turn my outrage at improper word usage to the phrase, "Coming down the pipe."

Seriously? You are looking to see what's coming down the pipe next? Where are you? Floating on a brown trout in the septic tank, eagerly awaiting the next item to be flushed? Mounted astride a cast-off alligator in a New York sewer, hoping to snag some illicit drugs flushed in a flurry of apartment-raid activity? Comfortably ensconced in a glob of grease at the bottom of a sink trap, anxiously anticipating a lost engagement ring? Leaning your head over a highway culvert after seasonal monsoons, seeking a subcompact vehicle to add to your fleet?

Wouldn't it be more sensible to stand in the side yard, scattering grain from your apron folds to your poultry flock, and glance up at the sound of hoofbeats to see what's coming down the road? The PIKE?

Don't make me frown and stamp my little foot until you see the error of your ways, people. It's "Coming down the pike."

Not pipe.


THIS:




NOT THIS:


10 comments:

  1. Here in PinterestLand, we say "comin' down the pipe" and it is indeed accurate.

    We, who engage in crafty capers, use pipe cleaners for various projects. When we are sliding beads DOWN along the length of the pipe cleaner, we will excitedly alert our colleagues about what color/type of bead is coming down the pipe (cleaner).

    Before you get that admonishing finger waggin' and your feet get tired being up on that soap box, think outside the box. You battered the psyche of many crafters around the country.

    Shame!

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  2. Your cat is so cute. I hope I'm at the right address for your new blog?
    donna

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  3. Sioux you are so full of Shiout, but I love your comments. Val, this is the funniest you have ever posted.

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  4. I don't recall using the expression coming down the pipe. Coming round the bend is one I've used.

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  5. Well said. Weird how words and phrases get so twisted and fuzzy after much use and abuse. Kinda like pike cleaners.

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  6. Well you set everyone straight on that. Have a great weekend.

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  7. I think you need to crusade for the meaning of pike.

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  8. Sioux,
    I shall continue to finger-shake and foot-stomp on my soapbox until the fat lady sings in frozen-over not-heaven while pigs soar across the sky. You Pinters, in case you're interested, can craft yourselves the world's tiniest violins out of your precious hairy pipes, and play Slip-Slidin' Away until the cow jumps over the moon, the little dog laughs, and the dish runs away with the spoon. And then hie yourselves to a battered psyche shelter.

    It is PIKE!

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    Donna,
    This is the right place. Come on in. Don't mind those PIPE fanatics in the front yard. I saw them coming down the pike from a mile away.

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    knancy,
    I must say, you have an uncanny perception of Sioux's innards. She keeps me on my toes in this comment section. I'm glad you liked my PIPE-hating post, fifty percent of which was about what Sioux is full of. However, I'm not polishing my Pulitzer just yet.

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    Stephen,
    Well, then. You're safe from my ire and sharp fingertips. For now...

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    Leenie,
    Don't make me tell you to make a tiny violin!

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    Charlotte,
    A few people take some extra setting. Sioux, for example.

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    Joanne,
    Yes, we don't want people peering into the exit of a fish's digestive tract, eagerly seeking what is coming down next.

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  9. Perhaps some are confused by the word pike, thinking of fish and not roadways .....

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  10. Kathy,
    Yes. Perhaps. The same people who confuse ICY with ICING. "Whatever's coming down the pipe will just be icy on the cake."

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