Let's stir it up today - Happy Halloween!

I read an article recently about some Texans going to Colorado to campaign for Obama. They were told not to say "you'll" as they didn't want to make it obvious that they were from Texas. Excuse me? Don't they realize that's just not possible? It's like telling me I can never eat Mexican food or bake yummy chocolate stuff anymore. It's a death sentence.

You think I'm kidding. I'm not. It's crazy (I should probably say appalling) the amount of slang or jargon we use in daily conversations. I once tried to go an entire day without using slang. I didn't last 30 minutes. It's obvious this overuse of slang or jargon is a problem when you work with folks from other countries. They weren't born here and did not grow up using the crazy phrases we became accustomed to in our youth.

Here's a few worth some thought or at least a giggle:

• "Intents and Purposes" - Not so much slang but why do we say this?
  
• "Hell in a Hand Basket" - Huh?
• "Death Warmed Over" - Say what?
• "Rode Hard and Hung Up Wet" - I love this one!
  
• "Not Playing With a Full Deck" - Ha! Describes me!
• "Birds of a Feather Flock Together" - At least this one makes some sense.
• "It Ain't Over 'Til the Fat Lady Sings" - Yeah. I get it but would the Indian guy you're working with understand this?

Anyway.....

Not to make this post about slang and jargon as I'm not preparing a dissertation here and I know I'm not an expert. After reading some entries in the Urban Dictionary for research into my last post, I am now absolutely sure that I'm completely clueless about slang. I can say that the research has improved my rank from naive-geek almost up to not-quite-so-naive-geek as to some of the more colorful acronyms being used these days. ;-)

But to prove my point about jargon overuse, I wrote a draft of this post and then I went back and highlighted the "slang" phrases I used. Not that I was planning to remove them but just to give myself a little giggle. I left them in a red font so you can enjoy and/or argue my point.

So the week is about over. Halloween is here. I'm not usually one to toot my own horn but hubby's office has a Halloween party every year and they have a dessert competition. I made this cake. It's a Chocolate Italian Cream Cake. Oh, so very yummy! Hubby's boss loves it although that hasn't helped me win the competition in the past.

Yes those are pecans on top and there are chopped pecans in the cake and in the icing. OK, so I'm not Martha Stewart after all [big sigh] but that's OK. The cake is one of those "from scratch", use-every-bowl-and-tool-you-have cakes that I make once a year but the taste is worth it. If you want to know more, let me know.

Also this is what my fall decorations are supposed to look like. They have been revived and restored since the ugly gourds attacked. The scarecrow pulled through and is doing well. Thank you for all the well wishes.

That's right. The grass is still green outside and it's been so dry I'm having to water again! Yuck.

Tune in over the weekend for *pictures of the Halloween costumes. Believe it or not I actually put something together this year. From what I'm seeing and hearing, lots of folks are doing something for Halloween this year. It's fun and can be reasonably cheap and with the state of the economy and the worries over potential unemployment, why not?

*you may see mine assuming I can pose with my eyes open

Have a great Halloween and to celebrate the revival of my fall decorations, I'll take a pumpkin smiley. That is if it's working again [another sigh].

Also be sure to check out the Halloween Carnival at Humorbloggers.com. There will be numerous posts about....you guessed it: Halloween! Yeah, I know. You're sick of Halloween by now.