WWE, Wednesday Writing Essentials Challenge, 8/8/12, Call 911

Eeeek! How scary!

I thought cats like to play with snakes.

He is in search of the mice. Neat prompt.

I sure wish he'd catch a few.

For a Stew?

If I don't correct you, someone else will, Pam. The expression is "with bated breath".

He/she was probably just looking for a nice, fat mouse.

Thanks, John. No wonder I thought that was a sick cliche.

Wonder if anyone will write a story for this?

Oh, I expect you'll get stories, Pam.

Doesn't look poisonous to me.

Dianne, write two stories - one for each side. Don't listen to John, he can't see the end of this guy. Notice the diamond patterns on it.

Those nice little diamonds on that bull snake? Yes, they can fool people.

Um...I thought it was "with baited breath". Cuz you bait the breath so that the prey comes right into the mouth so you can eat it, see? lol...oh, well.

Rayda, you made me laugh.

Me too.

Um why? I was serious. BATE. transitive verb. 1: to reduce the force or intensity of : restrain So you're saying you're holding your breath which would not induce your prey to come to you whereas baited would entice the prey in. In my area it was always an enticement and did not mean we were holding our breath.

"The correct spelling is actually bated breath but it’s so common these days to see it written as baited breath that there’s every chance that it will soon become the usual form, to the disgust of conservative speakers and the confusion of dictionary writers. Examples in newspapers and magazines are legion; this one appeared in the Daily Mirror on 12 April 2003: “She hasn’t responded yet but Michael is waiting with baited breath”.
It’s easy to mock, but there’s a real problem here. Bated and baited sound the same and we no longer use bated (let alone the verb to bate), outside this one set phrase, which has become an idiom. Confusion is almost inevitable. Bated here is a contraction of abated through loss of the unstressed first vowel (a process called aphesis); it means “reduced, lessened, lowered in force”. So bated breath refers to a state in which you almost stop breathing as a result of some strong emotion, such as terror or awe.
Shakespeare is the first writer known to use it, in The Merchant of Venice, in which Shylock says to Antonio: “Shall I bend low and, in a bondman’s key, / With bated breath and whisp’ring humbleness, / Say this ...”. Nearly three centuries later, Mark Twain employed it in Tom Sawyer: “Every eye fixed itself upon him; with parted lips and bated breath the audience hung upon his words, taking no note of time, rapt in the ghastly fascinations of the tale”.
For those who know the older spelling or who stop to consider the matter, baited breath evokes an incongruous image; Geoffrey Taylor humorously (and consciously) captured it in verse in his poem Cruel Clever Cat:
Sally, having swallowed cheese,
Directs down holes the scented breeze,
Enticing thus with baited breath
Nice mice to an untimely death."

from here.

I believe you, I believe you. I'm also grinning.

Okay, I understand but I never used it like that. When I used baited breath it means exactly what it says. I am tempting you to join me and luring you in. But I can see both meanings and uses.

Rayda, you can lure me in with your baited breath if you'll write a story about this challenge.

Rayda, put the discussion into context. I'm 74; I'm sure you're at least a generation younger. Language evolve.
Hats off to "Thoroughly Modern Rayda".

Wow John, That's simply excellence. Thank you.

I just want to clear the air about my breath, so you keep a proper distance.

John, I can't see the word bated being replaced by baited (even if some have chosen to use the wrong spelling) when they mean such different things. Since the word bated is from "abated" it has a completely different origin than baited. Just because it is commonly done doesn't make it correct.

Sounds like I've baited the trap and am luring all of you in. I'll wait with bated breath to see how this goes. 8:)

I agree with you, Alice. But language does change. It used to be incorrect to use "different than" when "different from" was meant, but we've already lost that battle. I fear that we'll soon lose the battle with the misuse of "myriad" where we see "a myriad of" actually mentioned in some dictionaries.

John, that seems a bit irregular. Giggle.

I agree with John.

Oh, ick! Hmmm...

I warned you. "Hmmm..." makes me think you're thinking about it. Hmmm....

I keep the messages coming, but rarely have time to do these lately. This one is intriguing, though ;)

Hmmm. Woo-hoo - I was afraid it was going to be a bust.

Maybe he saw his buddy George and decided to snake in a few calls. He, he

Too funny. Love your new icon.

;)

Awwwwww...... She's cute!!

How in the world do you know it's a she? Oh, never mind - the little baby I almost stepped on.

She brought her babies to visit?

I guess I'll know when you write a romantic poem about it.

Do "guy" snakes go into labor?

August Lady, you could have a lot of fun writing me a story around that theory. I have no clue - yet.

Did you not see my response?

Did you already write one? I have two pending and Gather is being stubborn about showing them. I think I found it though because I see it in my mail showing your post. I'm going to it now with bated breath.

Cool!

Oohhh, a snaky photo essay???

Awesome shots.

Thanks, Rayda. This guy has pretty much adopted us.

Rayda - see above you made me and John laugh.

A PICTURE IS AS CLOSE AS I WANT TO GET

Wow, you made that loud and clear. I did give a warning in my email.

One way to warm up to snakes is to spend quality time hugging a Boa.

William, I have a nephew that used to do that.

This should be interesting.

Thanks for sharing with Surreal Circus

Only if you participate. Hint, hint.

I would assume it a political spam ad that materialized in its true politician form.

Hey, William. Be nice. I like snakes.

Washington D.C. is slithering with them.

Washington D.C. may be slithering, well, they are. But at least one can respect a snake. I've never heard one lie. I've read about one that lied in regards to an apple, but I've never heard one lie.

I like snakes too, Pam. They are such beneficial creatures!

We seem to have a lot of snake lovers.

I now realize what you ladies are trying to do. It's so obvious you are either fans of Turtleman or are religious zealots trying to persuade us who Gather to handle a few nice Vipers at a Sunday service.

Gotta be the zealots...

What's a zealot?

Zealot: Person of little faith whom wishes to fool people of their shortcoming by acting in a radical manner that has much coercion. Actually, USA culture has an abundance of arrogant zealots. One virtue is humility, which is but a ghostly memory in the USA. Pretty heavy, eh? I lived a total of 15 years outside the USA and I understand and approve the message our friends say our problem: It is Zealot arrogance. To make foreign friends we cannot be thought of as thinking we are superior, yet this the message we project through our chest thumping and our leaders constantly attacking each other. The USA looks like a land where leaders are bought and sold like a two-bit whore and citizens line up to decide which liar they like best. What a disgrace to the Founding Fathers. A house divided cannot stand.
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of misery, with no common sense. Where lies are readily believed, by an embedded partisan mentality. Truth is but a broken loser's dream, Let us forget humanity.
Because of vile leadership, the USA is sick and the world has noticed.

I wrote siomething a bit off the wall for this.

I read it first and am still laughing. I love it when you go a bit off the wall.

I have a funny twist on a serious story, should be good for a laugh!!

I'm on my way over.

With your luck, I'm surprised he/she didn't swallow the phone. That would have been fun. It'd ring inside its belly and you'd have to pick up the snake to hold it up to your ear, after punching around trying to find the speaker button.

Oh, gross - that is so visual. Hi, Tan. I'm so happy to see you. I've missed you. Toni too.