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reading and eating
Dec. 6th, 2025 08:11 pmOur Mythie book-discussion group held its annual Reading and Eating meeting in the back room of the same Irish pub we've used the past two years. Three people showed up who hadn't been to the pub before, and one regular wasn't there (we saddled him with one of next year's discussion meetings anyway), so we had nine people instead of the previous seven. Hurrah.
Looking for something easily edible for lunch, I had the fish and chips. So did several others.
One of my readings came from a collection of letters to the Times of London. I was heartened to read that in 1949 a reader wrote in to protest a figurative use of "literally," and that this was followed over the next couple of weeks by nearly a dozen other letters recounting favorite examples of this, of which "Clemenceau literally exploded" (during an argument) and "for five years Mr Gladstone was literally glued to the Treasury Bench" were the funniest. You can use "literally" this way if you want to - it's a free language - but you have to expect that people will laugh at you and mock your clumsiness at writing.
As usual for a Saturday, the radio on the way up was emitting the weekly Met opera. This time B. recognized it right off. It was La Bohème.
Looking for something easily edible for lunch, I had the fish and chips. So did several others.
One of my readings came from a collection of letters to the Times of London. I was heartened to read that in 1949 a reader wrote in to protest a figurative use of "literally," and that this was followed over the next couple of weeks by nearly a dozen other letters recounting favorite examples of this, of which "Clemenceau literally exploded" (during an argument) and "for five years Mr Gladstone was literally glued to the Treasury Bench" were the funniest. You can use "literally" this way if you want to - it's a free language - but you have to expect that people will laugh at you and mock your clumsiness at writing.
As usual for a Saturday, the radio on the way up was emitting the weekly Met opera. This time B. recognized it right off. It was La Bohème.
