posted on 03/12/2009
I have heard many people say "I feel numb."
I'm guilty of saying it myself, but the more I think about it, the more I find myself thinking it's not the right use of the word.
Numb describes being without feeling, would it be appropriate to say "I breathe vacuum"? I don't think so.
While it is still approprate to use "nothing" as a term to describe one of the senses or lack of one: "My trunk? I hear nothing Officer!" using the term that describes the absence of something doesn't seem right.
Something else I have noticed is the level of redundancy when it comes to computerized banking.
Most people are aware of the redundancy in saying ATM machine, as the last M stands for machine.
Its the equivalent of saying "I need to find an automated teller machine machine."
What usually goes unmentioned is the term "PIN Number" which is saying "Personal Idenitfication Number number"
What is it about banking that has us saying these things multiple times? Are we that mystified by these contraptions? I don't think that's likely as even I, old hoot man of Fubar have been using ATM's as long as I have been banking. Sure they were big as Photohuts, and we had to walk to them 5 miles in the snow, uphill both ways, but we did in fact have them.