You Said It!

Yesterday at work, I guess most of the people went to the Ravens pep rally (note to Pittsburgh residents and fans: these are gatherings of fans whose teams are still in the playoffs after the regular season ends) and it was deathly quiet around the office around lunchtime. I guess that's why George said, "It's quiet as a morgue in here."

And then someone else said, "Actually, I've been to the morgue, and it's not all that quiet in there, especially on a Saturday night downtown."

I have no real desire to get to the morgue before I really have to get to the morgue, if you follow me. But why is everyone throwing the word 'actually' into every sentence now? You hear it all the time!

..."Actually, I'm here looking for an all-wool topcoat" is the reply I heard in the men's department at a fashionable department store (I know I don't belong there; I was cutting through to the parking lot!) to the question, "May I help you, sir?" Notice the clerk did not say, Are you looking for a nylon topcoat? or an all-wool belt?

..."I'm actually working today until 8 PM" is another one I heard somewhere. I doubt that there had been any question concerning staying past 7:45, so why the clarification?

..."This is actually the best way to get to the playoffs" was something I heard on tv, in an apparent attempt to settle a dispute about the many ways of getting into the playoffs (uh, winning enough games, and the other ways would be...?)

It's just one of those figures of speech that have swept the nation. A few years ago it was "basically" and now it's "actually." We figure they will go away, but sometimes, these verbal habits become entrenched. "She's all..." and "then he goes..." had their time in the sun as off ways of saying "She said..." and "then he said..." but the dreaded "So I'm like, I'm not riding with him and I told Hildegarde that and she's like 'But you like have to ride with him or he'll like get lost.'" (Name changed to protect the innocent.)

Actually, I'm like tired of the whole deal, like. And speaking of expressions: "Madder than a wet hen"? Really? I don't know about wet hens. I was pecked on the knee as a boy by a totally dry rooster. I can't imagine how much worse it could have been had the fowl in question been dripping wet. Time to run to KFC. Say, did you ever have chicken for lunch and chicken for dinner and then wonder if the two chickens knew each other?