There was a time when people, places and things were named, they were granted a kind of permanent residency. They arrived for practical reasons, settled in, gathered familiarity, and over the course of fifty years, they felt less like labels and more like wallpaper. No one interrogated them too closely. They simply were. But over the past few decades, something…
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If Gary Larson Had Chosen a Different Line of Work He'd be a famous advertising executive by now
Everyone wrestles with career choices, even the people who eventually make it look effortless. Before finding his stride as the brilliant mind behind “The Far Side,” cartoonist Gary Larson briefly flirted with the hectic world of Madison Avenue advertising. Like many creative detours, it was earnest, well-intentioned, and completely wrong for him. Below are real examples of 1950s advertising, followed…
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Orange You Honest? A press release
UNIVERSAL PICTURES Publicity Contact: Amanda Greene, VP of Publicity Phone: (310) 555-0199 Email: ag*****@***************es.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Jim Carrey returns in an outrageous political comedy, Orange You Honest? — a hilarious and unfiltered sequel to Carrey’s 1997 smash hit, Liar Liar. “For 24 hours, the truth is a national emergency.” LOS ANGELES, CA — Universal Pictures proudly announces the return…
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Gold Leaf and Gossip How courtly chatter became a breeding ground for iconic idioms
idiom [ˈɪd.i.əm] noun A phrase whose meaning isn’t literal but understood through common use (e.g., kick the bucket). Also refers to a distinctive way of speaking or expressing unique to a group, language, or era. Idioms. Those quirky little nuggets of speech we casually toss into conversations like linguistic seasoning aren’t exactly modern inventions. Believe it or not, they started…
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Misorder in the Court! Four cases where reason took a back seat to absurdity
The Fried and the Furious State Fair Justice Comes for Leonardo DiCaprio This is Harrison Whitmore, reporting live from the Jefferson-Hawthorne Federal Courthouse in downtown Maplewood Falls, where the legal spectacle of the century has just commenced—the United States v. Leonardo DiCaprio. The charge? Improper Use of the State Fair Deep-Fried Food Allowance—a crime that has sent shockwaves through the…
