DRAMA dots . . .

Creating engaging, effective communications!

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If I said, “soup to nuts,” would you know what I meant?

I stumbled upon a Threads post where a woman shared this idiom and said she didn’t know what it meant. She asked people to share other idioms that they frequently hear. The first comment said, “Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.” A number of Threads users did not know what this phrase meant.

How many of these do you know?

Soup to nuts – Everything from beginning to end.

Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic – Completing meaningless tasks while a major disaster or crisis is happening.

The juice is not worth the squeeze – The gain is not worth the effort.

Measure twice, cut once – Verify and be precise before taking irreversible action.

That’s above my pay grade – The decision is beyond your authority.

All hat and no cattle – Refers to someone who is all talk and no action.

Barking up the wrong tree – To pursue a misguided course of action or accuse the wrong person.

Although idioms can be a silly way to make a point, they aren't always good for communication. Idioms can be a source of confusion for younger generations or non-native speakers. They aren’t necessarily helpful, and in many cases, they are lazy.

If you are excluding part of your audience by using a phrase they may or may NOT know, you risk a communication breakdown. If the whole point of writing and speaking is to share information, why would we risk it by using a phrase that’s easy to say but not necessarily understandable?

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Couldn't care less...or I could care less?

I couldn’t care less… or I could care less?

Val exclaimed, “I couldn’t care less about the football game!”

OR

Val exclaimed, “I could care less about the football game!”

If you guessed the first one, you are correct. At some point, the contraction got eliminated, and people started saying, “I could care less.”

However, the original statement is, “I couldn’t care less.” I could not care less about…

Several people commented that this phrase is often misused (and it drives them crazy). So, I thought it warranted a post.

I know… you couldn’t care less about this blurb. 😂

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A MUCH-NEEDED LAUGH!

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INSPIRATION

Jamey Klassen was on the beach of Georgian Bay, Ontario, when she heard a kayaker calling for help; his kayak had capsized. The man, Christopher Robertson, was holding onto the kayak, but it was taking on water and sinking.

Jamey jumped into the water and swam 600 feet to the kayak. By the time she reached his kayak, Christopher had sunk into the water. Without hesitating, 16-year-old Jamey dove down 12 feet to the bottom of the lake and grabbed Christopher. When she pulled him up, he was unconscious and not breathing.

She propped him up on her shoulder and held on to him. She used her other arm to swim to shore. Jamey was exhausted and began to shout for help. A man on a paddleboard heard her and came over to help. They made it to shore, and Christopher was revived and taken to the hospital.

He was treated at the hospital and made a full recovery!

Jamey was among 18 people who received a Carnegie Medal in 2021. She received it for risking her life to save another.

💛 💛 💛

How wonderful that we live in a world with amazing, 16-year-old heroes like Jamey. Her story reminds me of all the good, selfless people in this great big world!

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