Category Archives: Daily Prompt

“Get lost” Means “Go away.”


Daily Prompt: No, Thank You

If you could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be? Why?

Oh, goody. The Daily Prompt gave me a chance to vent about a word I hate. I hereby ban the verbs Get and Got! 

Why? People use “Get” and “Got” so often it’s ridiculous. Consider the following:

  • I went to the store and got chips, pizza and sodas.
  • She’s getting a new pair of shoes.
  • I got to bed but couldn’t get to sleep.
  • We will get up in the morning and get breakfast.
  • Get me an order of fries.
  • He got a pair of fives.
  • Get lost.

How did you get chips, pizza and sodas? How did she get a pair of shoes? Whether bought, stole, or borrowed answers the question, use the more descriptive verb. Now, see my choices for some other sentences:

  • I went to bed but couldn’t sleep.”
  • When we wake up in the morning, we will go out for breakfast.
  • Bring me an order of fries.

Now, let me tell you something. “He got a pair of fives” was extremely difficult to write without using has. This sentence sets off every grammar alarm I have! I  think “He has a pair of fives” is  just as easy to say and more understandable.

“Get lost” might be my one exception to the ban. I used it for part of a post title not too long ago. However, “Leave me alone” or “Go away” works just as well.

There are probably hundreds, if not thousands of uses for “get” and “got”, but you don’t usually see “gotten.” My guess is the people who use “Get” and “Got”, don’t want to waste the time it takes to say, “She has gotten a pair of shoes that didn’t fit.” Instead they would butcher it by saying, “She got a pair of shoes that didn’t fit.” Ow, my brain is going to explode. 

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Challenge Accepted


The DPChallenge wants us to sharpen our writing by removing needless words. I chose to edit a paragraph from “How to Leave a Comment.”

 

Old Version

First, I will deal with leaving a comment. If you can’t leave your feedback on a blog’s main page (mine or anyone else’s), please click on a particular post. Each post has its own distinct link and you can always write a comment at the bottom. In order for your feedback to be accepted (at least on most blogs), you must supply a link to your website. A person who isn’t a member of WordPress.com must also give an email address on a WordPress blog.

New Version

Let’s discuss leaving a comment first. If you can’t remark on a blog’s main page, click on a title. Each heading has a distinct link and you “Reply” at the bottom. Supply your email address and website with your opinion.

 

My Feelings

There are 85 words in the “Old Version.” I surpassed my goal of halving that number with 40 in the “New Version.” The main question is if the shorter version is still “my style.” Yes, I would choose the shorter version if I were writing actual instructions instead of a blog post.

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Love is acceptance.


{love and happiness}

{love and happiness} (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Daily Prompt: I Want to Know What Love Is

by michelle w. on May 11, 2013

We each have many types of love relationships — parents, children, spouses, friends. And they’re not always with people; you may love an animal, or a place. Is there a single idea or definition that runs through all the varieties of “love”?

In my opinion, love is total acceptance of someone or something.

I’m sure you’ve heard that love is blind. What I think that means is we are blind to the faults of who and/or what we love. You have to accept the good, the bad, the beauty, the ugliness and absolutely everything else.

Granted, we don’t have to love a kitten’s sharp claws to love the kitten, but you need to accept that he or she IS going to climb up your pants leg and probably do it a dozen times a week or more. If you can’t, then you shouldn’t have a kitten. In the same manner, you don’t have to love changing a baby’s diaper to love a baby, but you must accept that responsibility.

bananaage

bananaage (Photo credit: twobobswerver)

Maybe that is why the large majority of us have so much trouble loving ourselves. We know all the bad stuff we’ve done. We know how we secretly make fun of someone. We know when we’re angry, but lie our way out of it. We know when we’re passive-aggressive or at least have an idea that we’re doing it.

But, then again, you have to remember you are no worse than someone else on this planet. You were created in God’s image just like everyone else. Most of all, you must learn to accept your own problems before you can truly accept someone else’s. If God loves everyone — which I believe — then you must be worthy of that love. God accepts you just the way you are, why can’t you?

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“I’m fine” really means “Get lost.”


Daily Prompt: Morphing

by michelle w. on May 10, 2013

Language evolves. The meaning of a word can shift over time as we use it differently — think of “cool,” “heavy,” or even “literally.”

Today, give a word an evolutionary push: give a common word a new meaning, explain it to us, and use it in the title of your post.

Several words and an abbreviation or two went through my mind on this prompt, but most of them were already taken. Finally, I chose one of my made-up abbreviations. Within three sentences, I realized this abbreviation sounded too much like another, more X-rated word. So what to do?

I decided to go with “Lost” because I felt lost with this daily prompt. I looked up “Lost” only to find several pages about the television series. I then typed dictionary in my search box and beheld a few definitions that seemed to boring to mention. But, Urban Dictionary gave me this interesting thought:

I’m fine
1. The more polite way to say “… get lost.” 

It’s funny because “I’m fine” is your automated response to “How are you”? And don’t you agree it’s usually said so that the person asking the question will leave you alone? At the very least, you don’t want them to pry into your life.

Therefore, why not fully morph “I’m fine” into “get lost” or “go away” and put it in the Webster Dictionary as such.

If  we really want people to know how we feel, maybe we should buy stickers of different emoticons (now there’s a modern word) and put one or more of them on our bodies.

Here’s my idea: Put a happy face on your face and another sticker for how you really feel on your arm or anywhere it’s less noticeable. Then, only people that really care about you will look at you long enough to see the second sticker and you wouldn’t have to say, “I’m fine” when you really want a person to “Get lost.”

 

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Daily Prompt from May 7, 2013


Daily Prompt: Key Takeaway

by michelle w. on May 7, 2013

Give your newer sisters and brothers-in-WordPress one piece of advice based on your experiences blogging.

If you’re a new blogger, what’s one question you’d like to ask other bloggers?

(Make sure to visit one another’s posts today, to check ‘em out and respond!)

Yes, I know this is a day late. However, I find it intriguing enough to answer anyway. I am a fairly new blogger and I’m especially new on WordPress.

After roughly seven months on WordPress, I still have a lot of questions. But the two most important are below:

  • How do you use the WordPress download?
  • How can I send “Press This” articles to my main blog instead of the first one I started? (Can I copy the posts off the first one and then delete it?)

Okay, that’s technically three questions, but the last two are related.

Now, for those brand new bloggers out there, I have found answers to a couple of questions.
  • Like a rainbow after a storm, you often find your “Voice” after writing several pieces you think are absolutely terrible. Write often — not necessarily every day, but aim for once a week — and publish your posts despite your fear of being laughed at or worse. Put your work “out there” so that someone else can see how you’ve developed. Most of the people at WordPress are friendly and encouraging — that’s why I stayed.
  • My next bit of advice is to use your “Widgets” which are under “Appearance” in your dashboard. The most important ones are the RSS and Follow Blog options. Put both of these about midway of your sidebar so that others can easily find them and be able to choose which way to “Follow” you. The RSS option already given on your site isn’t always easy to find or to see if you do find it.
Now, I’m off to check out some of the other blogs on this subject. Check them out below.
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