The other day as I was browsing The Common Room, I came across a post by Pipsqueak, about the books she had read in March. Among them was a new book by Lemony Snicket, titled “Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid”. It sounded interesting, so I went to the library and read it myself. For the most part, the tidbits in it are funny, and this is one that I found particularly amusing:
“Of all the ridiculous expressions people use – and people use a great many ridiculous expressions – one of the most ridiculous is “No news is good news.” “No news is good news” simply means that if you don’t hear from someone, everything is probably fine, and you can see at once why that expression makes such little sense, because everything being fine is only one of the many, many reasons why someone may not contact you. Perhaps they are tied up. Maybe they are surrounded by fierce weasels, or perhaps they are wedged tightly between two refrigerators and cannot get themselves out. The expression might well be changed to “No news is bad news,” except that people may not be able to contact you because they have just been crowned king or are competing in a gymnastics tournament. The point is that there is no way to know why someone has not contacted you, until thy contact you and explain themselves. For this reason, they sensible expression would be “No news is no news,” except that it is so obvious it is hardly an expression at all.”
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Now go to your local library, and read the book for yourself. There’s a whole lot more interesting things in there, some maybe even funnier. If your library doesn’t have it, shame on them!
What a wise old sage Mr. Snicket must be. First he makes up the catchiest pen name in the world, then he writes 13 very popular books of gloom and doom, and now he writes proverbs! What will he think of next?