Good evening, Kibitzers!
Who has snow? I am writing this paragraph Sunday night, at a time when my Winter Storm Warning says that, over today, Tuesday, I will have gotten 9-13 10-14 inches of snow. You can tell that will really have happened because, as noted earlier, it’s time for me to drive to New Jersey. (It’s a big win for the future perfect tense!) I will wait until it’s done doing this, however. And meanwhile, I will use the AI-hot-chocolate title image, because much as I love the yellow teapot, snow = hot chocolate.
[Tuesday: Apparently, this storm has shifted way south, so New Jersey is getting dumped on but I get next to nothing. Man...]
This is a Taylor Swift diary, let’s just stipulate now. I plan to post some of her videos, because I’ve been seeing some and think they’re enjoyable. If that’s not where you’re at, see you in the comments.
However, you may have noticed the diary title is what was once called a “Tom Swiftie”— a sort of pun in which the adverb plays on something in the quoted part of the sentence. It pokes fun at the writing style of the Tom Swift book series, another in the early-20th-century family of Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, about a boy inventor. Because what better place than here to drag in this completely unrelated yet Swift-adjacent concept?
More about Tom Swifties here, from Meriam-Webster. Further examples:
- “There’s no more room in the hay barn,” said Tom balefully.
- "Get to the back of the ship!" Tom said sternly.
- "Don't ask me why I was at the mausoleum," Tom said cryptically.
- "I'd like my money back, and then some," said Tom with interest.
- "I dropped my toothpaste," Tom said, crestfallen.