Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with expression

Are manual anal gland expressions for dogs necessary?

wiretap — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:46:37 -0800

Anal gland expression for dogs - How does one keep a dog's anal glands in optimal shape? Having a minor disagreement with someone about this issue:

1. I've heard that dogs need to have their anal glands expressed regularly otherwise it can lead to an infection and impaction. My dog goes to the vet two times a year to get his anal glands expressed. It's obvious when he needs to get it done because he starts smelling fishy (TEEHEE) and is very sensitive/irritable and is constantly sniffing and licking his hindquarters. Once he comes back from the vet he's a happy camper and not at all preoccupied with his backside.

2. Someone else said that it's insane to take a dog to a vet to get anal glands expressed, and that it's just something dogs are able to take care of on their own.

What the what?

3. Then I googled it and it seems most people are saying dogs do need need regular expression, but the more you manually express the more frequently it will need to be done (?). A few sources say that feeding your dog high quality food and pumpkin will take care of the need for manual anal expression.

Do dogs need manual anal gland expression or not? Can a higher fiber diet really take care of the need for manual expression? How do you handle your dogs anal gland needs?

Help me help my dog please!

cricket chirps in my head

The Biggest Dreamer — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:31:19 -0800

How can I become more opinionated? Some background on myself: I'm a somewhat introverted person who doesn't have a problem with talking. I'm not shy. However, I usually don't think I ever have anything useful to say. The way I see it... everything happens for a reason. Why argue. At least, I'd rather let someone more competent with words and persuasion take care of any arguing.

When it comes to having an opinion, my mind feels very... blank. I'm a very mellow person (no drugs or anything like that, I'm mild-mannered and usually happy), and I get riled up over very little. Sure, I think some things are nice and some things are not very nice, but I can't seem to form any strong opinion I can get behind. Doesn't everything have its good aspects and bad aspects?

But sometimes I need to form opinions. Particularly for this weekend because I have an assignment to write an op-ed -- a fun writing exercise, but I can't really say I am devoted to the issue we need to write about -- but also because people seem to like opinionated people, and nothing in this world seems to be able to move forward without a talented and opinionated force pushing it.

TLDR: So, in short, I, a laid-back, uncaring transient being in this noisy world, would like to learn how to form opinions. Eventually I'd like to learn how to have persuasion skills and support those opinions, but I figure I best start from the basics.

Expression Engine file upload won't work. Why?

davebush — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:56:37 -0800

Why won't Expression Engine's file upload work? My first Expression Engine website has gone smoothly, with the exception of the file upload function within the Edit window. The server path and directory permissions are both correct (I've checked and re-checked). The file browser works fine (which I assume confirms the path is right), but attempted uploads give me the error message "An error of an unknown type was encountered."

EE's support staff haven't been able to provide a solution yet (via my forum thread) and searching through past forums threads shows me others have had this problem, but it's normally the result of server path or permissions issues.

I've begun to think the problem might stem from an issue with the host's temp directory. Apparently, uploaded files initially reside in a temp directory before being copied to the final destination (my "uploads" folder).

One more troubling aspect - the host's control panel file upload works fine.

Any suggestions? I'm baffled and frustrated. I'll attempt phone support with the hosting company tomorrow, but I'm hoping to know more about a possible solution before then.

Express yourself.

Alligator — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 12:45:31 -0800

To what degree do you (or people in general) share your emotions with other people? with your therapist? I'm mostly particularly interested in "negative" emotions, e.g. sadness, guilt, fear, anger, shame, etc. In the past couple of years, I've had a lot of intense, probably frightening emotions that I have felt unsafe sharing with anyone else. I'm doing much MUCH better, but it makes me feel sad and false at times that I can't just share my thoughts or feelings with other people. I actually just started therapy, and I like my therapist a lot, but I'm having trouble expressing myself with her, too. We pretty much wasted a whole session yesterday with her asking me questions and me answering that I didn't know. The thing is, a lot of times I DO know; I just get flustered or very unsure of myself when I feel put on the spot for answers. I was struck with just this feeling of sadness and guilt yesterday during our session, and I just didn't say anything about it, even when my therapist remarked that I seemed distracted. I guess I'm struggling with what degree of openness and self-expression is appropriate to have in relationships with other people, including my therapist.

So, my question is, to what degree do you (or people in general) share your emotions with other people? with your therapist? I'm mostly particularly interested in "negative" emotions, e.g. sadness, guilt, fear, anger, shame, etc.

Should I insist he tell me he loves me?

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:31:48 -0800

I'm verbal. He's not. Is our relationship doomed? I have been with my wonderful S.O. for nearly five years. I truly adore him and can't even begin to describe the ways he's contributed to my life; he is my best friend, is an amazing lover, and an all-around great guy.

Problem: I'm hyperverbal and expressive. He...is not. Add past relationship trauma to the mix and you get a whole lot of insecurity.

He blames some messed-up relationships for the fact that he can't (or won't) tell me he loves me. I am too afraid of rocking the boat to insist he expresses his love in words. To clarify, he is considerate, kind, and loving in deed, just not in words. On occasion he will go into hermit mode and refuse to touch or be touched (he has ultra-sensitivity issues and insomnia that prevent us from sharing the same bedroom), but this tends to be the exception rather than the rule and I do my best to be understanding and give him space.

Still, something inside me yearns for A Declaration. I feel in my heart that if I insisted on it, he would be unable to do so. This hurts, but not as much as the thought of not having him in my life.

I guess my question is, is a relationship without verbal expressions of love doomed? How have you dealt with similar issues? If you have a hard time saying "I love you," how come? Should actions speak louder than words? Am I obsessing over something that's irrelevant?

DTMFA advice is really unnecessary, as I have no plans to break up with this person any time soon. Questions or more personal advice welcome at mefimail@inbox.com.

How to improve my southern speakin' skillz

willie11 — Thu, 08 May 2008 07:14:16 -0800

Please help me expand my base of quaint southern expressions, aphorisms and witticisms. Obviously I need to read more southern literature and spend some quality time with the good ol' boys here in beautiful Raleigh, NC. But are there any online resources out there? Recommended books? Any southern maxim or locution you're partial to?

Begging the question, for all intensive purposes: misused colloquialisms in modern English

cosmic osmo — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:41:08 -0800

Commonly misused phrases or expressions? It drives me nuts in a totally pedantic way when people misuse the phrase "take it with a grain of salt" to make the amount of salt larger (i.e. a "giant" grain) when the whole point of the expression is to emphasize how small the amount of salt should be--are there any other examples of phrases or expressions that are frequently used in the exact opposite way intended, either by mangling the phrase itself or just using it incorrectly (e.g. 'hoi polloi' to mean 'the wealthy elite' when it actually means 'the common masses')? I've seen things like lists of common errors in English, but I'm looking for this particular kind of error.

I'd rather not make this a debate on how language and meaning evolve over time and more about specific examples. Also, I have no idea how to use the phrase "to beg the question" but props to anyone who can finally explain that one to me, because I just know that'll be the first example given.

everyday expressions of love

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:02:31 -0800

In an average relationship, how often and how intensely do people express their love for each other (in private)? I don't have vast experience with relationships. I'm in one now, the other person is very committed and I am not as sure. I had accepted that I was just more "beloved" than "lover", that this happens sometimes. (I have read the threads about the kind of things like chemistry and finding M- Right and so on.)

I was impressed and touched how much my partner expresses their love and felt I was more loved by this person than I could have expected, even if my feelings back were not fully as strong. But then a friend mentioned casually how often their partner expresses love, and I realized since these expressions are most often private, I have no idea what is normal or average. Please clue me in.

If you have personal experience that is relevant to the lover-beloved question, your views on that are also very welcome.

If you feel comfortable answering, please include details of your experience(s) like ages, length of relationship, and how much this changes over the years or with different people.
If you would like to reach me privately, you can write to everydayexpressionsoflove@gmail.com.

Life Not Imitating Art

whoaali — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 17:41:35 -0800

How do I get art back into my life? So I'm an art historian/photographer turned law student and I really feel a void missing now that art isn't a part of my daily life. My skills as a photographer have also gone to hell. Right now I find the only real way I have any sort of style/design/art in my life is through clothes, which may sound odd, but I obsessively read the sartorlist and am a far more stylish dresser than my budget really allows. I don't have a lot of time and Washington, DC is hardly a great place for taking pictures. I know there are loads of museums, but to be honest I've been too them and they are not exactly the most dynamic places and obviously have a very heavy bent towards American art. My background is in modern European art and Renaissance art, with a lot of modern design and architecture thrown in. I realize the obvious answer would be to go to more shows, but really I want to find a way to incorporate it into my daily life. I used to take pictures nearly every day or at least a couple days a week, and now I don't have the time or opportunity to do that. So how do people have super corporate jobs still find an artistic outlet at the end of the day?

The (non)babbling idiot, excluding this question in which I babble rather idiotically

Anonymous — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 21:11:16 -0800

I suffer from a general retardation when it comes to expressing myself verbally in romantic situations, and I am a female. And I'm 25. This has always been an issue for me in relationships. It's like since I'm a female I'm supposed to know just what to say. The reality is that I am the one perpetually at a loss for serious words to describe my emotions, yet never at a loss for a sarcastic one-off that has in the past bordered on criticism. I've curbed that mostly because I'm way less bitter now that I'm past adolescence.

The conversation always goes "How do you feel about me?" or "-insert sweetest, most insightful thing any man has ever said to a woman-, what about you?" and then I blank. The most creative compliments I can think of being "Duh, I think you're funny, too" or "You're sexy, ahur."

Why can't I articulate myself? Why do I clam up? I guess I just feel like anything I say would be trite or not significant enough and then I'm completely blocked. I need some specific examples of sweet things to say that are sincere but aren't flowery and ridiculous.

Of course anything I actually say will come from me and my specific experience, but I need some phrasing assistance or something...I want to be a better romantic.

The person I'm dealing with right now makes me laugh and is effing hot and smart and I want to be in direct contact with his penis as often as possible. This may sound mildly amusing in print but doesn't quite flow when spoken. And even if I say it once, which I have + 10 times the charm, saying it again the same way grinds my nerves and I feel like an idiot repeating myself in such a non-creative way. Any advice, specific or general?

What are we talking about again?

JaredSeth — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 07:43:46 -0800

Is there a turn of phrase for when someone resumes a conversation after a extended period of time as if no break has occurred? My wife habitually picks up conversations where she left off sometimes hours later as if no time has passed.* I know this is pretty common and was just wondering if there's a word or phrase for this. English or otherwise, since I know the Germans and French are famous for this sort of stuff: schadenfreude, L'esprit de l'escalier, etc.

* This wouldn't drive me so crazy if she didn't expect me to realize that we were back to the previous subject.

Funny sayings, expressions and idioms

Anoxs — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:29:10 -0800

I'm looking for funny sayings, expressions, idioms, et cetera. The comical value is, of course, subjective, but I like funny phrases and such. Sometimes their humor is derived from their antiquatedness, sometimes just from the way they sound. I like fun to drop these things in casual conversation, so I need to learn a collection of them.

Along the lines of what I'm looking for:
"23 skiddoo"
"Cock in the henhouse"
"Bee in your bonnet"

It's getting a little chilly up here...

mariokrat — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 22:50:06 -0800

What are my rights as a freelance writer? If I'm writing about employees competing on a company-sponsored team, do I have to clear everything I write with their PR people?? I was invited by a friend to join a sports team his company was sponsoring to compete in an upcoming festival. Aspiring writer that I am, I pitched an idea to the local free paper, and to the other team members to see if they'd let me talk to them and write an article about the team and the event. The response from both was positive, and things went well. About a half week after I sent the e-mail out to the team describing what I wanted to do, the de facto leader of the team got a bit nervous...

She (let's call her 'Jodie') prohibited me from naming the company or any of its employees on the team unless I got prior approval from their corporate communications manager on the article I wrote before I sent it to my editor. She said this once in a conversation between me and her, and again in front of the entire team at a post-practice lunch. Needless to say, the rest of the team had cooled to the idea of talking to me after that.

It was a Sunday, and I explained to her that my deadline for the article was Monday morning. My compromise solution was to send the article to both my editor and their communications officer at the same time, and have the communications officer deal with the editor about any problems the company might have. Jodie's repeated that their communications officer had to give approval before anyone else saw the piece, and that if I was unwilling to do that then I had to remove all mention of the company and its employees.

I decided then that I had no choice but to remove them, and spent that night re-writing the article into something I am not at all happy with. I sat there enraged thinking, "What the hell? Why am I having to write this piece in this way? Why should I need to get the company's approval?"

Monday morning, Jodie e-mailed me again and told me that it was 'imperative' that I contact their corporate communications before I sent my article to the editor or for any sort of publication. Their communications manager got back to me separately (my friend in the company had e-mailed them for me), and after explaining that the problem was no longer really a problem and that I had re-written the piece, I asked her to clarify their company's policies about such things. She explained that it was unlikely that they would have asked to screen the article in advance of publication, but that they would have asked about what I was likely to write, and who I had talked to. This answer, while better than the one Jodie had given me, was still a bit too ambiguous for me.

My view on the situation is this: Whatever issues there were with my mentioning the company or employees in the piece, they were between the employees and the company. As a non-employee, I believe I was within my rights to write what I wanted within the bounds that I had laid out in my original e-mail to the entire team. It seems to me that there should have been no reason for me to submit my article for approval prior to its even being seen by an editor at the paper.

But: I have very little idea about what rights I actually have about writing in a public forum about a team sponsored by a private entity. If I am participating on a team that is sponsored by a private entity, am I automatically subject to whatever corporate rules they have about talking to the media, even if I'm not an employee myself? Help! I feel like I've self-censored, and it makes me feel dirty. Did I really? I'm in Canada, and so advice about my Canadian rights would be appreciated.

Website for the masses!

sirliberal — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:05:32 -0800

Non-Profit Website: How to allow non-techies to edit! Problem: I work for a small (150 ppl) non-profit as a netadmin and we want a webpage (zomg 2007 right?). My specific issue is I want a platform that will allow:

Adding content/deleting content/adding PDF's/adding images

Without requiring input from me. The bureaucracy of our organization means that this will make life MUCH easier for me. As a result I prototyped the site in Plone, which worked out great except Plone is a flaming turd of a product.

I really like Plone's in-template editing, drag and drop content ordering, staging (ie, bits can exist on the site ONLY when logged in). I need something that will run on Dreamhost (which is pretty much anything PHP/Perl/etc).

I have looked at: (ask://cms)

WordPress
Expression Engine (I'd love to have their main site tempate)
TextPattern (Perfect Implementation)
SilverStripe

This seems like a rather trivial adventure, except all of these products seem geared directly towards running a blog, with side static pages, as where Plone was a content manager with a blog addon.

Is CMS a synonym for Blogging these days? My users are fairly inept, and I do major styling (ie, they can handle textarea with buttons for formatting). I would love something where they can easily add sections. Let's use the Library site linked above as 'implentation' which uses features that aren't available to the public.

* Major sections, subsections shown on the right in content area
* Each major section has a 'landing page' that is styled differnetly
* User's can concievably add a new content area and it is automatically added to the navigation system.

One specific gripe with MT is that it seems to be all static pages, and I see a benefit to having dynamically built pages so I can add in php code later to do things on the fly (database lookups in page?).

I don't need any blogging functionality at all, which is the biggest stumbling block here. Everything I look at is primarily driven off this 'articles' idea, whereas I simply want 'pages'. I want to have a way to specify the display order in the navigation. All things Plone did, but I cant find something more lightweight (preferably in PHP) that can do the same.

I am on the edge of just writing my own custom app in PHP/Smarty, but it seems silly to do that when SOMETHING must automate this all for me. There are great examples of sites running off these platforms.

Um, er, ah, oh! oh? Puhleeeze!

chase — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 19:29:30 -0800

Where can I find a list of words -- dictionary -- for writing the sounds people make during dialog or conversation? I am hoping to either generate or find an existing list of words, with their definition for all the little noises or expressions that people use during conversations. And typically, I've noticed that many of these words or expression are limited to writing only and not found too much in verbal dialog. This is what I have so far:

duh - criticism that something is not known that tends to be obvious

Oh! - surprise

Oh? - interest or intrigue

ah - agreement

um - hesitation, shyness

er - error

eh - what do you think; do you agree

Where does "bread and butter" come from?

zardoz — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 05:12:33 -0800

When walking on the strip in Vegas recently, a couple walking toward me was forced to split to either side of me, and the woman said "bread and butter!". I remember my mom using this phrase when I was a kid, but it was the first time I'd heard it from someone else. What's the origin of this phrase? My mom's from Iowa/Kansas, and no telling what part of the States (or Canada) that couple was from. I'm wondering as well if any Brit MeFites have heard this expression.

Mathematical Notation

Neiltupper — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 02:29:46 -0800

Mathematics notation help needed please. Given the expresion: cosx(x+1), is this properly interpreted as (x+1)cosx or cos(x^2+x)?

Single Entity Seeks Creative Consultation

SinisterPurpose — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 21:10:21 -0800

I'm looking for suggestions which will help me develop a more disciplined attitude toward my creative endeavors. Most people, or at least the ones I've come across, believe if a person posses any sort of creative tendencies whatsoever these talents inherently contain the will and ability to make these impulses manifest into a product. It's simple right? If you possess the raw materials for creative expression you must also possess the means to consistently manufacture effective and meaningful expression. The magnificent obsession of artistic endeavor is a self sustaining construct in a state of constant execution.

In my experience, this is so not the case.

I'm wondering how other Mefites have structured their creative activities for greater productivity. What is the methodology by which you have tooled your creative time for maximum efficiency? What system have you implemented to reduce creative down time? Do you have any proactive solutions for limiting the impact of organic existence on your processes?

The particular medium in which you toil is unimportant. I'm much more interested in stopgap measures.

A word that describes taking pleasure in my enemy's pain?

Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 08:20:20 -0800

Is there an English term for, or an idiom that describes, taking pleasure in the pain or humiliation of one's enemy?

Help me not look insane.

evil holiday magic — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 15:25:15 -0800

Can I learn to show affect? People have told me that I often have no expression, or that when I'm talking a look blank and speak in a monotone. I've never been outgoing, but when I'm with familiars we crack jokes for hours and have a lot of fun. I expect that the people who know me are used to my subdued personality, but more than this, I think I'm doing something differently around the people I don't know. Even though I feel a continuity of emotion, I suspect I'm unable to express much of it in strange situations. In fact, I've seen myself on video doing this. Essentially, what I'm portraying in affect doesn't match what I'm feeling.

Can I train myself to be more expressive?

Regular expression search engine

inquisitive — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 04:51:39 -0800

Is there any regular expression based search engine or search engine that allows to search for one word in the vicinity of another word, like say word1 within 10 words of word2 ? I remember altavista had this facility (i.e. one word within n words of another word) several years ago, but I can no longer see it now.

Hear me say it here!

WolfDaddy — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 09:08:13 -0800

"Hear hear" or "here here"? What's the correct way to express this exclamation in writing?

Where does the phrase "X, Y, Z Oh my!" come from

DangerIsMyMiddleName — Wed, 16 Feb 2005 16:46:29 -0800

Where does the phrase "X, Y, Z Oh my!" come from? I read it all over the web, but I don't get the reference.

How Do Americans Use the Phrase "Later"?

MiguelCardoso — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 10:50:11 -0800

I'm baffled by the American colloquial expression Later and its many usages. Can someone pin it down for me? [More inside.] Sometimes it seems to mean merely "See you later"; like the standard French au revoir or even the Italian arriverderci, sort of an abbreviation of the old 50s "See you later, aligator"; other times it's clearly sarcastic, meaning anything from "go your way and I'll go mine" to the extreme "Oh, just piss off, will you?".

The ironic meanings lead me to suspect that the friendly interpretation is probably wrong, inasmuch as the brevity of the response (including here on MetaFilter, after a particularly lengthy goodbye from a certified pain in the neck) may indicate a couldn't-care-less attitude.

Or is it a simple procrastination expression, i.e. "Not now"? Any help would be much appreciated. Granted, it's a very minor issue, but it fascinates me as I'd like to be able to use it too...! ;)