KEY POINTS:
Top 15 Amazing Coincidences from listverse.com, include this incredible yarn:
"In 1883, Henry Ziegland broke off a relationship with his girlfriend who, out of distress, committed suicide. The girl's enraged brother hunted down Ziegland and shot him. Believing he had killed Ziegland, the brother then took his own life. In fact, however, Ziegland had not been killed. The bullet had only grazed his face, lodging in a tree. It was a narrow escape. Years later, Ziegland decided to cut down the same tree, which still had the bullet in it. The huge tree seemed so formidable that he decided to blow it up with dynamite. The explosion propelled the bullet into Ziegland's head, killing him."
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Cameron Fisher's picks for misused or overused words include:
1. When an overused word is used incorrectly. Sometimes people use the word "guttered" instead of gutted, "chomping at the bit" instead of "champing at the bit".
2. TV3 rugby commentator Allan Whetton's continual use of "pressure". It's a surprise there aren't more heart attacks among rugby players with all the pressure being exerted out there on the paddock.
3. The winner by a country mile with no other word on the same race is the use of "awesome". Used by everyone, including contestants of Miss Whangamata featured in the Herald (she got 3rd, "which was awesome"). If you don't have a word to describe something, just call it awesome. Awesome.
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John's misused word pet peeve is a goodie: "I wonder why so many have to add an extra syllable to oriented to make it orientated?"
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A reader writes: "Gutted" reminds me of another phrase that in my opinion has been so done to death that it's long past due to be buried. It's that awful euphemism "intestinal fortitude". If you don't want to say "guts" to express what you mean, then why bother with slang or euphemism in the first place? What's wrong with "courage"?
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A woman who passed off a fake €1000 ($1940) banknote in a German shop to obtain cosmetics and cash change later returned with a box of chocolates to reward the gullible saleslady. The euro currency does not have any €1000 note. The fake bill had images of nude women on it. Police are hunting for the woman, who obtained about €200 worth of cosmetics at the shop near Waiblingen and about €800 in change.
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An Egyptian woman is seeking clarification from a court on whether her husband's declaration of divorce by text message is legally valid. After missing a call from her husband on her mobile phone, Iqbal Abul Nasr received a text message from him, saying: "I divorce you because you didn't answer your husband," Al-Akhbar newspaper said. In line with sharia (Islamic law) men do not need to go to court to file for divorce. A unilateral declaration of divorce by a man, repeated three times, ends a marriage.
