Thursday, January 29, 2004
Do banana plants like snow? [answers on the back of a post card to...].
Or more to the point do they like living in houses with non-functioning central heating? Especially when it's on a cold damp window sill next to condensation-covered, single-glazed window. And it keeps developing brown speckles about an inch away from the edge of the leaves, which then spread outwards as the fringes of the leaf die. And for the size of the plant it's in very small pot (well it wasn't that small when I put the plant in, it just grew quite rapidly). Also I'm worried about over-watering it, as the soil is constantly sodden, yet bits of the leaves keep drying up (and it's given up on the whole weeping thing[1]). Maybe having tropical plants in a less than tropical house isn't such a great idea (it was rarely the recommended temp, even when the heating was working). Having said all that, it is continuing to grow and churn out huge leaves. Which is just as well as I just managed to annihilate one whilst drawing the curtains[2]. Oops.
[1] I never did find out if what that's called, but I did find out that it's meant to happen (which given it won't do it now...).
[2] As in pulling them together[3], for the deliberately obtuse of you. And they're not really worth sketching anyway.
[3] Or pulling them apart for that matter. None of your weird uni-directional usage here. Though I've never figured out what those who use "draw" for one of the options use when they want the other option. Except for open/close, but if you're going to use one specific verb, where's the mirroring counterpart?
Although in reading other people's blogs (Cas-Av, and MM in this case), I noticed a couple of other divergent bits of language. So is it "couldn't care less" or "could care less", for when you really don't care. Me: the former. The latter is some odd US variant, but it implies that if you could care less, then you do care a certain amount, which isn't what you mean[4].
What about "never/neither a borrower nor lender be". The version I'm used to is Neither...which fits with "nor", although never could also fit (but it doesn't necessarily). Cheatingly using Google: both are common, but neither is the one with all the domains beginning "quote...", and mentioning Shakespeare.
[4] Except that when people get upset enough to say "I couldn't care less", it usually means they do a bit anyway, otherwise why are they getting involved? But that is just me doing my usual "illustrating the rule by showing the exceptions".
Hmm, there was something of significance that I wanted to post, but I'm not sure what it is anymore. Oh well.
Anyhoo,
Or more to the point do they like living in houses with non-functioning central heating? Especially when it's on a cold damp window sill next to condensation-covered, single-glazed window. And it keeps developing brown speckles about an inch away from the edge of the leaves, which then spread outwards as the fringes of the leaf die. And for the size of the plant it's in very small pot (well it wasn't that small when I put the plant in, it just grew quite rapidly). Also I'm worried about over-watering it, as the soil is constantly sodden, yet bits of the leaves keep drying up (and it's given up on the whole weeping thing[1]). Maybe having tropical plants in a less than tropical house isn't such a great idea (it was rarely the recommended temp, even when the heating was working). Having said all that, it is continuing to grow and churn out huge leaves. Which is just as well as I just managed to annihilate one whilst drawing the curtains[2]. Oops.
[1] I never did find out if what that's called, but I did find out that it's meant to happen (which given it won't do it now...).
[2] As in pulling them together[3], for the deliberately obtuse of you. And they're not really worth sketching anyway.
[3] Or pulling them apart for that matter. None of your weird uni-directional usage here. Though I've never figured out what those who use "draw" for one of the options use when they want the other option. Except for open/close, but if you're going to use one specific verb, where's the mirroring counterpart?
Although in reading other people's blogs (Cas-Av, and MM in this case), I noticed a couple of other divergent bits of language. So is it "couldn't care less" or "could care less", for when you really don't care. Me: the former. The latter is some odd US variant, but it implies that if you could care less, then you do care a certain amount, which isn't what you mean[4].
What about "never/neither a borrower nor lender be". The version I'm used to is Neither...which fits with "nor", although never could also fit (but it doesn't necessarily). Cheatingly using Google: both are common, but neither is the one with all the domains beginning "quote...", and mentioning Shakespeare.
[4] Except that when people get upset enough to say "I couldn't care less", it usually means they do a bit anyway, otherwise why are they getting involved? But that is just me doing my usual "illustrating the rule by showing the exceptions".
Hmm, there was something of significance that I wanted to post, but I'm not sure what it is anymore. Oh well.
Anyhoo,
