Day 178: The Huffington Post

I'm grateful for the Huffington Post. I know. Today's Gratitude Attitude seems either 1) a cop out or 2) lame. But it's my blog* and what makes me grateful so today it is the Huffington Post! (And it's kind of a cop out but I truly am grateful for it so it's only a partial cop out!) The reason I am grateful for the Huff Post (that's what the cool kids call it) is because they publish short, easy to read, and very thought provoking articles. For example, this one from a few days ago. I love it! Right up my alley. Oftentimes the articles Huff Post publishes are great jumping off points for me - they help extend or deepen a conversation, provide a challenge to my set way of thinking, affirm a theory I had about something (hello Introverts! *wink*), or just provide a good laugh. Check 'em out if you haven't and maybe you'll find you are grateful for Huffington Post as well!

*I know I said yesterday that I tried not to make my minutes, hours, and days all about me but in this case a blog written about me and focused on what I am personally grateful for does in fact seem to be all about me. Hmmmmm. *wink*

Butter someone up

There are two probable origins for this idiom and I think both are equally plausible. The first one is that when you spread butter on bread you are buttering it up like one would do when trying to flatter someone. The second is in ancient India there was a practice of throwing balls of butter at statues to ask for favor, i.e. buttering them up. ( source ) When we use the phrase today we generally mean that extreme flattery is used to gain information or favor. It's not always necessarily a compliment.

Call it a Day

The literal use of this phrase hails from 1838 when the phrase originally was "call it half a day" to mean leaving work early. (source) The modern use of the phrase is to indicate ending something due to false sense of accomplishment.

More bang for your buck

This phrase was used a lot in 1953 but an earlier citation puts it at 1940 in a Metals and Plastics Publications advertisement. Read about it here . The phrase means you get more for your money.

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