So it has been awhile since last I posted and I never thought that I would be posting about ‘never’ which is just like ‘ever’ except it begins with a different letter and has a negative vibe unless you’re using it to show moral judgement in which case, just stop doing that because nobody likes it. Of course, you might be thinking my previous sentence was judgmental and filled with moral ambiguity, and you might be right about that, but you would be missing the point which I may not have clearly articulated so I really cannot fault you for missing it. (Though does ‘articulate’ only apply to spoken words, because if it does I may have to find a new word for my non-spoken words, but just in case it only applies to spoken words, you should go back and read my previous sentence out loud.) My point, and I do have one, is that I never wanted to write about my feelings about never and I wouldn’t have except the ever tricky Daily Prompt prompted me to do it. More specifically it challenged one and all to
Tell us about a thing you’ll never write about.
Of course, by telling the world what you would never tell us you are in fact telling us about it so it cannot really be done this telling of a thing you would never tell. And therein lies the problem and not just as it relates to non-Whovian time travel. The problem is the eternal not everness of the definition of never which I believe is a contraction of ‘not’ and ‘ever’ which eventually lost its apostrophe much like we lose our virginity though without the fun of having sex – an immaculate contraction conception, if you will and I believe I just did. Of course, I may be wrong about the etymology of ‘never’ but not the definition.
Not ever is a very long time to not do something. No matter what you may think you would never do, you never know until you find yourself in that position of having to make that choice. That’s not to say I never say never. I say ‘Never say never’ quite often, usually when someone is telling me that they will never do something. I do endeavor not to say never as it relates to something I may or may never do. Because you just never know.
I like your philosophy about never because it closely aligns with mine. I have been known to tell people not to say never or always because they are too concrete. Rarely is a much better word & so versatile too!
Apparently, great minds think alike!
Wouldn’t the apostrophless contraction of contraction and conception be contraception?
And where does that leave us?
Without a new baby word?
A much-abused word. I mean, can one really say, ‘You never know’ when at some time you are expecting to know, as is usually the case with that phrase?
Do you know what I will never, never, never write about? It is this:
I suppose I’ll never know until you finally write about what you never would then I will know what it is that you never wanted to do.
But as you point out if I wrote about it, then it would no longer be something I’d never write about so it would all be a fib.
One can never be free of the paradox of never.
It really does provide lots of couples of pooches, doesn’t it?
funny!
Thanks! And thanks for stopping by.
I was just thinking that is what my self talk sounds like most of the time. Nice to see it somewhere other than inside my head!
A fellow overthinker!
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I finished reading what you articulated and said ‘right’ right away. So yeah. I never say ‘never’ either..neither? Ugh….
I vote for either in this case because neither with never could be a double negative and you’re never supposed to be doubly negative.
I’ll just go with you on that one.
I automatically read this out loud anyway, because if I didn’t have a friend who talks ALL THE TIME the way that you write (the man has more thoughts in five minutes than most people do in 5 days, it’s exhausting) I’m not sure I’d be able to follow you. And I’m very glad that I can, because your stream of consciousness style is hilarious and intelligent. So, yay fast talkers…?
Thanks, Stankmeaner! Though I must confess that I write faster than I talk.
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I loved your write up. 🙂 I use never too much ! 🙂
Thanks, Archita! It’s never too late to break the never habit.
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I never get tired of your craziness, Sandy. Never
Elyse, I never get tired of hearing how you never get tired of my craziness.
Always say never.
I was gonna say something, ah never mind. 😉
I never mind when you say something. 😉
🙂
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A girl broke my heart with that word once – nevermind. Whoops. How is your old dog and pile of dirt coming along?
Happily, the big pile of dirt is no more. Sadly, neither is the old dog. I need to get a final post up on the dirt.
My head never hurt so much as when I read that. 😉
But in a good way (I hope). 🙂
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I too avoid the absolutism of “never,” because karma is a bitch and as soon as I say something I’ll never do, karma is sure to arrange me being forced to.
Karma does the same thing to me.