Words one can get confused

See also post #260.

viscose: more or less synonymous with rayon, a semi-synthetic cellulosic fiber spun from, e.g., dissolved wood pulp.

Sid Viscous is a little slower than his cousin.

Ha! Must have played with Vanilla Fudge, whose music was notably sludgy and slow-paced.

And rather sugary.

How can you tell?

dog’s bollocks: good
dog’s breakfast: bad
shit: bad
the shit: good

A bomb: bad
The bomb: good

dog’s dinner: smart, dressed up, fancy

(I wonder if “dog’s breakfast” is in the same area as Proverbs 26:11 As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly - or the previous night’s dinner…)

empyreal: made of pure fire; pertaining to the highest heaven
imperial: related to an empire

infarction: tissue death due to inadequate blood supply
infraction: a violation, minor offence

vail: profit, emolument, gratuity
veil: material that covers the face or an object
vale: a valley

liqueur: an alcoholic drink composed of spirits and additional flavourings
liquor: spirits; an alcoholic drink produced by distillation

(never mind)

I remember kids at school swallowing their food whole because they were told masticating was a sin.

Heh.

In college circa 1990, a student group had a table on the street promoting “condom awareness day” — they gave out free rubbers.

Next to it, other students had set up a “condiment awareness day” table, with free packets of ketchup and mustard.

(This was the University of Chicago, so condoms were pretty useless anyway. :slight_smile: BTW, it was ground zero for the original Straight Dope “Weekly Reader” column.)

Don’t know why, but that reminded me of the best thing I ever saw on tv, and I think of it often. A newscaster was covering a herpes outbreak and, trying to be delicate, actually said: “Inadvertent oral genital contact”. Hijack over.

Color me baffled as to what this bit might signify.

I am guessing the students didn’t get busy much.

The Master Speaks:

https://www.straightdope.com/21341193/what-are-silverfish-and-why-are-they-eating-my-books

(The U of C is known for its nerdy, socially awkward student body.)

What concept were they trying to convey?

They were afraid oral sex wasn’t a tasteful topic of conversation.