Words! We speak them, write them, sing them. I’ve read a theory that words we say remain in the air forever and could be picked up on the correct frequency by the correct electrical receptors. That sounds a bit far-fetched, but be that as it may, sometimes words lodge in our hearts and mind and […]
Mar 24, 2021
Least Said, Soonest Mended
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“Least said, soonest mended” is an idiom I think of a lot. It’s useful in many situations. Something is more easily forgotten if it’s not mentioned; feelings are less apt to be hurt if thoughts are kept to oneself; words once spoken can’t be taken back; angry words left unspoken don’t have to be forgiven. […]
Sep 2, 2020
Spoken Thoughts
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It’s such an extraordinary thing to hear my own thoughts spoken aloud by someone else! How’d that happen, you may ask? It’s all because of audible books. I love them. My publisher is having the Ned McNeil books put into audible form. All of the four Darcy and Flora books are already available as audibles. […]
Aug 29, 2020
Gardyloo and That Means You!
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Words are like people–they have interesting backgrounds. One such word is gardyloo. It originated in France, but was used in other countries too, as a warning that something unsavory was about to happen. What, you may ask? Suppose that you were walking along the street of a European town in the year 1650. Suddenly, from […]
Aug 19, 2020
The Menace in the Middle
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Do the first lines of a new book tell you whether you want to read the whole thing? First lines are important. So are final lines, but how about the middle? The middle of a mystery is important too. These are middle lines from my seven cozy mysteries. Can you identify the book each is […]
Apr 30, 2020
What Word is in Your Mouth?
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Politicians often get into trouble for their choice of words and try “walking them back.” How do you do that? Many times, I’ve wished I could “walk a word back” but once it’s spoken, I sure don’t know any way to get it unspoken. The best I could do was apologize for what I […]
