Impromptu, as describing a party.
I just saw a page telling me how to prepare for an impromptu dinner party. :smack:
Peace,
mangeorge
I don’t see anything wrong with preparing for an impromptu dinner party. Hide the porn, throw on some pants, and order some pizzas. Done.
Were they trying to say “informal” when they tripped over their own cleverness?
I can see having a cache of elegant, but easy to prepare foods, and some good wine laid back, so that you are ready to entertain and serve an excellent meal, whenever guests happen to arrive.
Would that not be preparing for impromptu dinner parties?
When one happens, is it not an impromptu dinner party, the guests may have not expected to be fed, let alone wined and dined.
I think perhaps what mangeorge was alluding to was the idea of preparing for that which is by definition spur of the moment. It’s a bit like a column describing how to prepare for your own surprise party.
Or, hide the pants and throw on some porn, depending on what kind of party you’re hoping to have.
That’s what they should have said, but I do hear others use the terms interchangeably.
Here’s the sentence;
Maybe I’m being overly critical? Sure doesn’t qualify for “Spur of the Moment” in my limited social circle.
Preparing for an impromptu dinner party? Is that anything like my well-thought out, carefully crafted spontaneity?
I have been planning some random acts with much deliberation.
I’m practicing an extemporaneous speech for my impromptu dinner party.
Is that like “expect the unexpected”? Or perhaps, “Hope for the best, but plan for the worst”.
What’s wrong with that? Should you plan that party, and then tell yor family, friends, and coworkers that the need to come and bring presents, I’m pretty sure they’ll be surprised.
Come on, you guys, spontaneity has its time and its place . . .
The Sure Thing
1985
Directed by Rob Reiner
Starring John Cusack, Daphne Zuniga, Nicolette, and Anthony Edwards
Awesome movie.
I can’t make your improptu party. I have to rehearse my act for the Impro.
Which, of course, is not worth the paper it’s printed on.
No, that hits my ears (er, eyes) very wrong, too. It makes me want to plan an impromptu smack upside the head for the columnist.
On a marginally related note, I recently had someone ask me a question by phrasing it, “Out of peer curiosity…”
::shudder::
I know. I’ve got some spontaneity planned for next Wednesday evening.
Nothing wrong with that. We used to practice extemporaneous speeches all the time to prepare for forensics competitions.
With the full context clarified, then yeah, they meant informal. There’s no way you can prep for an “impromptu” dinner party days in advance (ok, maybe if it’s an enormous party-- see my point below). But I don’t think impromptu and preparing are completely dissociated. For one thing, the example given above about preparing in the event of an impromptu party that you are yet unaware of. But what I was thinking of was that “spur of the moment” does not equal immediately. I can see hanging out with some friends in the evening, and everyone goes, huh, what if we saw if these other friends are free for dinner tonight. You’d call people up, clean the house (a bit), and throw some food together. It’s still what I would call spur of the moment.
Which leads me to wonder about extending that “spur” timeframe to things that take much longer to plan. Like what if (for whatever crazy reason) you decided on Wednesday to get married on Saturday. Maybe you’re thinking about a small wedding and have a caterer friend who owes you a favor and can cook for 40 people or whatever in a couple days. Does having something like that count as spur of the moment, and therefore impromptu, even though it took a couple days to prep?