Today, I present you with a collection of odd thoughts and trivia that have popped into my head. So there ya go…

It’s September. You know what that means, right? *points at meme in the corner* Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

Whiskey Fox. Alphabets. Y’all know that the military and first responders use a “phonetic” alphabet because voices don’t always enunciate words and so many words/letters sound alike, especially on the radio and with all the regional accents we got goin’ on. So, for the military, it’s Able,Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf/, Hotel, India,  Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform,  Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu. Stick with me here. I AM going somewhere with this. As a rule, cops and first responders use a different alphabet, using names: Adam, Boy, Charles, David, Edward, Frank, George, Henry, Ida, John, King, Lincoln, Mary, Nora, Ocean, Paul, Queen, Robert, Sam, Tom, Union, Victor,William, X-ray, Young, Zebra.

With me so far? Hang in there for another minute. Now, most of you know I’m married to a former US Army officer, and I’ve worked both in the fire service and with law enforcement. So yeah, I speak the language. I also happen to be a big fan of “On Patrol Live,” the reincarnation of “Live PD.” It’s a reality-based TV series where cameras ride around with law enforcement offivers and its broadcast live, where it’s predecssor “COPS” was filmed and edited.  Now, keep hanging, I’m almost to my point. Up above, I just stuck in two words. Whiskey Fox. Which is sort of military shorthand. A cop on one of the episodes called in a description, and said “Whiskey Fox.” Which stnads for “White Female.” I’m cracking up and then Iffy, my Muse, pokes me in the stomach and says, “Stop that! And write it down. Because what a freaking awesome name is that for a character?!?! Whiskey Foxx. Oh, hell to the yes it is! 

And now you’re sitting there scratching your heads going, “Well, that’s five miutes of my life I won’t get back.” Tough. I thought it was funny and yes, in some future book–likely a Nightrider story–there will be a heroine with the name Whiskey Foxx. And no. She will NOT be an exotic dancer, though…yeah, people might just assume that she is.

Sometimes, real names are better than made up names we authors create for our characters. Like Cutter Pryde. He’s a real person. And I totally want to steal HIS name for a character.

So, I heard an interview with a college football coach about the expanding playoff systems. “I could care less. Really. I could care less.” Dude, that means that you totally care but you are tying to come off like it doesn’t matter. “I couldn’t care less” is supposed to mean that you don’t care are all. Or does it? These two phrases put my brain on the hamster wheel. “I could care less” means that it IS possible for you to not care as much as you already do, because like, you already care a great deal.  Right? “I couldn’t care less” means that you don’t care at all and therefore it is impossible to care less than you already do. Or does it? Does it actually mean you care too much and therefore can NOT care less? See? What if they actually mean the same thing? Gah! Now I have a headache.

And yes, I have cheat sheets for stuff like that, along with effect/affect, lay/lie, and other confusing words. My bugaboo is “it’s” and “its.” Yes, the former is the contraction for “it is” while the latter is the possesive, as it something belonging to it. But possessives have apostrophes. And yes, I have to run a search on a finalized manuscript and look at every dang use of the work. Takes forever and I still manage to miss some. And now my headache is back.

On that note, I’ll leave you to your regularly scheduled Friday. What’s in a name? And what words/phrases make you crazy? Have a great weekend!