Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh

Did this really appear in our favorite morning paper today, or (since the circulation department didn't hit its usual spot under the neighbors' truck) were we imagining things from the Web?

The big chill

No, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. This is one of the Great Cliches and must never be allowed out of its cell to wreak mayhem on an unsuspecting world.

Here's how a really good then-copy chief (and occasional visitor here -- hi, Kirk) put it in a note on the bulletin board in ... jeez, was it really 1986? "Enough 'Big Chill.' File it with 'white stuff.'" Good advice 20 years ago, and the darn thing hasn't gotten any fresher with the millennium.

While we're at it:
Street Department salt truck drivers wait on Wednesday to treat Columbia bridges. The department kept a five-man crew on duty to combat the winter forecast.

Not much point in combatting the forecast, which has been a done deal (and a high-decibel one at that) for some time now. Be nice if they combat the snow and freezing rain, though. And as for "wait on Wednesday" -- well, we all wait on something. The best way to not sound like a robot is to not write like one.