Words and their uses

As breakfast was winding down, I remembered to tell jwg that I no longer saw any need to preserve the contents of a set of videotapes on our shelf, but that I didn't think they could be reused, because the "write-protect" tabs had been removed.

He replied, "Well, you can tape over them."

I was mightily puzzled, and said, "I don't think so."

Then, more or less simultanously, we both said, "Oh... 'tape'."

Probably a good thing, on balance

The Boston Globe reports that the Massachusetts Senate will most likely pass a "civil unions" bill and send it to the Supreme Judicial Court for evaluation (i.e., ask if it meets the criteria of the marriage decision). I hope the court says "No, we said 'marriage' and we meant 'marriage'." That would clear the air a bit, anyway.