The Word Nerd

I once was in London for business at the same time that Buckingham Palace was open to the public for a tour.

Everyone was given a device to listen to the tour and of course I chose the English version and it started with then Prince Charles starting the voice recording with "I should very much like to welcome you to the home of Her Most Excellent Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second". When I got home I wrote to the Palace stating that this opening statement was grammatically incorrect and I received a rather gruff response from the Master of the Palace stating that the Prince cannot make grammatical mistakes because his family owns the language.

I kind of forgot that part.

- Stem the tide means?

- Throw in the towel means?

-Think of some others?

- something

- anything

- everything

"I mean"

You mean what? You haven't even started speaking yet?

Um, ahh, etc. are all ways the brain can take a pause and if you are talking about a topic and misstep then you can say: "what I mean/meant to say is: XXX" but this meme (the original meaning) that one can start a sentence with "I mean" makes you look like a moron!