Tuesday, April 19, 2005

I should have seen this coming...

OK, I hereby declare this post a rant-free zone (honestly, this isn't a rant - just an observation)

The usual banter continued after the news and weather on Wake Up To Wogan this morning as the Togmeister declared "Well, a real harbinger of spring you are again". Well firstly, I don't really expect the BBC weather forecasts to be too accurate and secondly, I wasn't at all surprised that we were forecast lousy weather throughout the UK on an April morning.

No, I was suddenly caught by the word "harbinger" (I only stated rant-free and never discounted mindless) which according to yourDictionary.com, can be defined as one that indicates or foreshadows what is to come.

So why have I only ever heard of "harbingers of spring" (e.g. cuckoos) or "harbingers of doom" (e.g. Party Political Broadcasts)? Surely the flashing lights at a level crossing indicates that a train is to come, but never yet have I thought to myself "Aha! Those intermittently lit bulbs would be harbinging a locomotive".

Of course, if we were talking about "hard bingeing" that would be a matter upon which I am infinitely more familiar, but then you probably saw that coming - especially if you are a harbinger...

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