I like the in-universe swears from some of Brandon Sanderson’s fantasy novels: Rust (rusting, rusted) and storms (storming) come to mind.

A québecoise roommate of mine got her whole office yelling “chicken FRITE” (fried chicken in franglais).

“What the shoes” is kind a fun one. I’ll also yell “fudge knuckles!” which doesn’t really mean anything but is pretty satisfying to say.

My uncle dropped out of law school right before the bar exam because he wanted to work with his hands. He was a happy car mechanic until he retired. Not having a degree doesn’t say anything about your intelligence or the value of your work.

The Arthurian legends come to mind.

I’m a big rereader in general, but occasionally a book will grab me so hard that I finish it & begin again right away. I’ve had two of those in the past year:

• Moonbound by Robin Sloan
• Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford

I don’t think it means that silence will necessarily benefit you materially – rather that silence is something precious or valuable. Maybe consider the proverb’s relation to these similar ones:

Still waters run deep.

Better to close one’s mouth and be thought a fool, than open one’s mouth and prove it.

The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.

The prudent keep their knowledge to themselves, but a fool’s heart blurts out folly.

A wise old owl sat in an oak:
The more he heard, the less he spoke.
The less he spoke, the more he heard;
Why aren’t we all like that wise old bird?

To me, “breakfast” food is just whatever you eat that breaks your fast after sleeping. I eat a lot of dinner leftovers for breakfast, otherwise something filling like oatmeal with nuts and fruit in it. (Provided I don’t just drink my tea and then forget to eat, which is also something that happens.)

Some books I buy to read now. Some books I buy to read at an undefined “later.” Browsing my shelves is exciting when I know there are books there that I’ve yet to really encounter.

That’s an incredible post. Thank you for sharing it!

1. Canada (I live here)
2. USA (many many family/friend visits since I was a child; also lived there for ~6 years as an adult)
3. England (one week in London, one week in the South Downs)
4. Denmark (three weeks for a family visit)
5. France (a weekend in Paris)
6. Belgium (about 2-3 days in Bruges)
7. The Netherlands (about 2-3 days in Delft)
8. Germany (roughly 6 hours, driving from Belgium to Denmark)

Oh! I had one just like that when I was a kid!

Who exactly is examining your purchase orders for childfree ideological purity? You’re a grownup. If you want the comfy pillow, you can buy the comfy pillow.

Someone recast Elf as a thriller: https://youtube.com/watch?v=EkwdYSn3Uws

Not quite what you’re asking, but similar energy I think!

Give me a Star Trek-style replicator and I’m never cooking dinner again.

Oh hey, we had one of those disasters in Canada! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_pay_system

Aren’t those kinds of decisions made in the writers’ room, though?

I use Boost and the topic keyword blocker works really well. I’ve got a lot of political words blacklisted and it’s made browsing All much more pleasant.

I remember when our family would go bowling, my parents made us all change our clothes as soon as we got home because of the cigarette reek. I’m so glad those days are gone.

“-music” should mostly do the trick… unless you’re looking for music.