Ragtag Giggagon

Nobody likes a cliché! Are we all on the same page about that? Here is a top 10 of phrases that we need to omit from all of our workplaces expeditiously. 1. Touching Base [I am just] touching base [with you on] = "I am contacting you to ascertain something" What to say instead: "Hey, how's the project coming along?" 2. Run this up the flagpole Let's run this up the flagpole = "Let's get feedback from management / personnel / market research about this" What to say instead: "Let's get feedback from management slash personnel slash market research about this." Photo by Irene Chaney 3. Proactive Can you be proactive about this? This means making sure that all of your ducks are lined up in a row. What to say instead: "Can you be a little more liney with your ducks, row-wise?" 4. Synergy Making sure all of your energy is lined up in a row, and flowing in the same direction. What to say instead: "Let's all be very ene...

Quick till I tell you: There was a free-to-attend event on in the Bistro Bar of the Workman's Club on the quays at one pm today, Sahhherdeee, 18th of October. There are more than a few events taking place over the weekend, and the performance poetry in the packed-to-capacity little upper room of the pub was top notch. Check out the full programme here in PDF. The first spoken word festival in Dublin, the Lingo Festival , takes place over this very weekend. The organisers make the claim that Irish spoken word (which I suppose is spoken Hiberno-English) is on a par with any other spoken word on the planet. I'd be in agreement. We have a tendency to transliterate our native tongue into Ang-ul-a-zay, so we do to be sure. For instance, you will hear an Irishman say "I've a fierce thirst on me" if he's worked up a hankering for a pint of the cool black sour alcopops with the creamy head on it. This is a transliteration (is that even the right phwackin' word...

The launch of Black History Month Ireland took place at European Union House, Dawson Street on October 2nd 2014. Its principal organiser, Zephrynus Ikeh, hails from Nigeria and he has been working assiduously to get the thing together for the last few months. Zeph's had a successful run of BHM in the Rebel County for the last few years, but it's gone national for the first time with the launch in the capital. I had the pleasure to meet a chap from California who's privileged us Irish for the last few years with his presence on the Emerald Isle. Raven performed some poetry at the event. He has a buke of poems out, and it's pretty frickin' marvellous. Quick disclaimer: Loath as I am to discuss my own experience as a reader in such a review, I am not a big poetry buff. I took my first bash at a poem on here earlier this year. So "I just know what I like." I like this stuff. Some of Raven's work is socially-based, addressing issues like race. There'...

Surprise Family & Friends alike with a # sweet # cereal / # savory # snacks # swapover ! Laugh at their confusion! Hurray!