Verbatim
“I was with some intelligence people this week. You wouldn’t believe what’s going on in this country; it would scare you to death … We are the center of their attention because we’re the center of the Bible Belt. And they’re purposely moving terrorists in here, and they’re bringing their families in, and they’re setting it up for a jihad, I can tell you right now.” — Senator/fabulist Mae Beavers spreading all kinds of actual figurative horse manure to Macon Co. residents about jihadists infiltrating churches to “find out what’s going on.”
“Merp”
Merriam-Webster’s “Words at Play” blog quoted Fly on the Wall in a post about an emerging new word. “Merp” — the word in question — is used, according to Merriam-Webster, to express awkwardness when you don’t know how to respond to something, “especially something disappointing.” To illustrate how the word is creeping into established publications, the dictionary blog excerpted a blurb from Dec. 5, 2013 — “In case you missed the breathless wall-to-wall Black Friday coverage, the number of holiday shoppers was up (yay!), but overall sales were disappointing (merp).” Merp is our business.
Driving Dead
Memphis is famously a city of innovation. From full-service grocery stores to overnight delivery to rock-and-roll. Now, as reported by ABC affiliate Local 24, we’ve got a drive-through funeral parlor. As is always the case with progress, not everybody thinks this is a good idea. “Why would you even do that,” one critic from Orange Mound was quoted as asking.
Neverending Elvis
Every Elvis fan’s dream of sleeping like a king can now come true! The Beverly Hills home purchased by Elvis and Priscilla Presley shortly after their 1967 marriage is up for sale. Asking price for the royal, 5,367 square-foot love nest: $30 million.
