coming out of the woodwork

[fox]

(what a disgusting expression.  and yet we all use it without any complaints, really.  huh.)

like everybody else, i have crazy numbers of gmail invites.  i imagine we're at the point now where people who want gmail accounts have got them, so the rest of these invites are just going to sit here and gather virtual dust, but who knows?  give a shout if you want an invite or six.

off to choir in a few minutes.  good music to get self in the mood with.  "he is an englishman -- behold him!"

Comments

[datlowen.livejournal.com]

I don't understand why it's a disgusting phrase?

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

bugs and things come out of woodwork. ew.

[datlowen.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's not how I think of it at all. I think of it as someone who blends in with the background--so when you come out of the woodwork, it's like you've materialized out of the walls. Like a chameleon thing.

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

hmm. [thinks about this]

[ellen-fremedon.livejournal.com]

Actually, I have YET AGAIN allowed your gmail invite to languish unused until it expired.

Maybe if you give me another I'll actually, you know, set up an account this time? Please?

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

done. :-)

[cannons-at-dawn.livejournal.com]

I've always heard 'coming out of the woodwork' applied to disgusting activities, though: to take a random example, people queueing up to sell stories to tabloids, or estranged relatives turning up to claim money when the will's read... 'ah, yes, they're all coming out of the woodwork now...'

So the expression is fitting. Or is that just me?

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

i haven't heard it applied only to disgusting things, though. i mean, but, yes, it's always had a sense like "swarming" -- but i've always been perfectly comfortable using it to describe things that it's okay if they swarm, and you don't really mind. like benefactors.