People who want precise definitions should not use imprecise words. Words like "heap" and "lots" and "yonder" are all meant to be relative, which means only your relatives know how much you are talking about.

I passed on posting this because I assumed it was the same as this video:

http://www.misscellania.com/miss-cellania/2010/3/24/plastic-bag.html

But I was wrong...

Sorry about that, OddNumber, got it fixed. The software looks out for multiple links, no matter where they come from.

I've only been to Starbucks while traveling, but in quite a few cities I've ordered their coffee in, I've never had a barista insist on using their jargon. If I order a small coffee, they just give it to me. Either I have "tourist" written on my face, or most people who work there are flexible and accommodating.

Agreed -link changed.

OK, I'll take your word for it. I've spent my entire life being ridiculed for saying possum instead of opossum, so it's a breath of fresh air to be corrected in the other direction!

No, the conveyor belt itself is not twice as long, but it will LAST twice as long in use before it must be replaced.

That really looks like some kind of instrument of torture.

Yeah, like this:

http://www.misscellania.com/miss-cellania/2010/7/26/civil-disobedience.html

I flipped my husband out badly by showing him some videos of Fry and Laurie. He is a big House fan and had no idea Hugh Laurie was not American!

sandyra, are you sure that was The Twilight Zone? I can't find that episode.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Twilight_Zone_episodes

DrewBlood, thanks, I had a brain fart, corrected.

I don't mind making verbs out of other types of words if it helps to communicate an idea clearly, like "Googling" something instead of "searching for x on the internet". However, it can get out of hand, as in cases where a silly verb is used in place of a common, clearly-understand, perfectly serviceable existing verb.

Why trailer a boat when you could tow it? Why colorize a movie when you could just color it? It's cute when children do it, but in adults this just indicates a small vocabulary.

A woman in front of me at the grocery bought several canisters of powdered baby formula for about $47 each. After she left, the clerk commented on how ridiculously expensive that is. I said, "It's enough to make you want to breastfeed!"

She laughed, because she is young and probably never thought of that.

If you look on a global scale, outside countries with social welfare systems and in different periods of history, it has long been established that women would have fewer children if they had more assurance those children would survive to adulthood. Having more kids to get benefits is a very recent and geographically-limited phenomena.