By the Bye, You Learn Stuff Reading

I've picked up many colloquialisms over the years, and it is often humorous when people say what they hear, even if it doesn't make sense. For example, I once overheard someone say that something was happening "for all intensive purposes*."

That made me smile. Those purposes sure do get intense at times.

Of course, I can merely smile because I've had my fair share of misquotes.

I have long loved the phrase "by the by." It feels far more proper/pompous to say, "I'm a pompous person, by the by," instead of "by the way." "By the by" also seems to require a British accent--which I can't do--which just makes the whole thing even better.

Last night, my wife finally convinced me to start reading "Perelandra" out loud to her. Within a few pages, C.S. Lewis has penned "by the bye."

<wha?>

So, I looked it up. It seems that "by the bye" is the older way of writing "by the by." Which is odd, by the bye, because shouldn't there be some sort of meaning attached to these words that would render one nonsensical?

Apparently not.

No wonder English is so confusing.

So there you have it. I learned something new... sort of. I guess it isn't exactly "new," per se, more that I learned something more.

Also, turns out that bears don't hibernate. Wasn't aware of that.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

*Should be: "...for all intents and purposes": As in, this happened because someone purposed and intended that it should.