Musing over common expressions

Examining some expressions, sayings and beliefs.

ONE of my lunchtime kaki (local lingo for “enthusiast, buddy, crony”) has an almost paranoid mistrust of food and drinks in general. He occasionally makes provocative pronouncements, I think, for the sheer hell of starting an argument. One example: “Coca Cola is corrosive. It can even dissolve a nail.” Not wanting to get into an argument – “You cannot win an argument,” so wrote Dale Carnegie in his book How To Win Friends And Influence People – I put two small nails into a glass of the beverage. It has been four months and the nails are still intact. No, this finding is not an endorsement for Coca Cola! It only cautions us not to accept without question what is said or written.