“No, Really: Bring . . the . . Cake!”
Thanks to popular culture, some perfectly innocuous phrases have been ruined.
To pick just one example, son #2 and I were bringing his birthday cake, ice cream, etc. to the party room where we were hosting his friends the other weekend.
My hands were full, so I casually told him, “you take the cake” (I’m sure he had no idea that the phrase has another meaning).
Example #2: good luck telling a vendor who hasn’t received your payment that you already sent it (“the check’s in the mail . . .really!”).
P.S.: One of my favorite Mad Magazine cartoons shows a food stand advertising every kind of burger known to man: “Buffalo burgers,’ “Chicken burgers,’ Turkey burgers,’ “Veggie burgers,’ and on and on.
The caption: “we have some with ham, too, but we don’t know what to call them.’
See also, “Synonyms for “the check’s in the mail“; “Non-Traditional” vs. “Regular” Sales; “What’s the Past Tense of Sight See?”; “Landmark ” or Watermark?”; “Dried vs. MORE Dried Apricots“; “Wild and Crazy” (vs. Conventional) Fruit“; and “What’s the Opposite of “Untold Riches?
