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What Kind Of News Station Assassinates The Character Of A 4-Year-Old?
Misleading editing either incredibly racist or...nah, it's just incredibly racist.
03.05.13
Photo credit: Reddithttps://www.reddit.com/r/daddit/comments/1icx7xl/roast_my_helicopter_pancake/
What do you think this helicopter pancake ACTUALLY looks like?
The things we do for our children. A dad on Reddit was asked by his child to make a helicopter pancake for breakfast and he took a picture of the result. His culinary art piece was… well, it was something. It was so bad that he asked fellow dads to roast his work to get a good laugh. The comments were hilariously brutal:
“How can we roast your helicopter pancake when there isn’t anything helicopter shaped in the photo?”
“Interesting choice to make a helicopter after it's already crashed.”
“Dad, that’s a NSFW pancake you’re serving.”
“Looked like a rabbit breakdancing to me.”
“I see Papa Smurf, but yeah, I could also understand bunny.”
“I mean, I see a bunny with a schlong but yeah, helicopter. 😂”
“I thought it was a guy in a sombrero.”
“Klingon bird of prey.”
“Stick to Mickey Mouse, bud.”
"Why couldn't they have asked for a circle, planet, or wheels?"Photo credit: Canva
While it was a bunch of playful ribbing and the poster knew his attempt at a helicopter pancake was subpar at best, another dad started a different thread praising him and his work.
Pictured: Dads supporting dadsPhoto credit: Reddit
While putting a comparison photo of a cartoon helicopter next the picture of the wonky pancake, the supportive dad tacked on to the post “Arnold would be proud,” referencing the often imitated and quoted line “GET TO THE CHOPPAH!” from the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, Predator.
Other dads added to the support:
“Nailed it.”
“Kids care that you try, and that you pay attention to them.”
“That’s what matters most. :)”
According to a 2024 study at Penn State University, parents that are able to laugh at themselves and have a good sense of humor alongside their kids tend to have better relationships with them and better bonds. This is because younger kids see that mom and dad make mistakes and can laugh at them, not making it a big deal. This allows kids to cut themselves a little bit of slack when they misfire during an honest attempt at a task. Being of good humor also lets kids feel able to approach their parents when they make a mistake, trusting that their confession won’t be met with outright anger.
It's actually good to look silly and laugh at yourself in front of your kids.Photo credit: Canva
“Parents need to be able to laugh at themselves to let go and not take life too seriously,” said family therapist Katie Ziskind to ParentMap. “If a parent gets overwhelmed and anxious, their child will also take on this anxiety and [become] overwhelmed. If you can laugh at yourself as a parent, you and your child will be much better off!”
Ziskind went on to say that laughing at your shortcomings, like making a helicopter pancake that actually looks like a melted dough claw hammer, can teach good behavior along with bringing light and laughter to breakfast time.
“Laughter can be a tool to get through tension and stress, so by modeling this behavior, you’re doing your child a world of good. By laughing, you’re teaching your child to stay positive.”
As both sets of dads have shown, it’s good to be able to laugh at your foibles but also just do your best for your kids. It sets a good example for them while also providing a bit of extra fun into day-to-day life. And on the internet, for that matter.
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I've always really liked cliches, idioms, proverbs, and common phrases that we like to use over and over. They can get repetitive at times, but they're crucial tools in communication. They allow us to convey so much meaning in so few words — a commonly understood shorthand that can get complex points across quickly.
The only problem is that many of the most popular idioms in common use date back hundreds of years. In that time, they've either become outdated, or seen their words adopt new meanings. In some cases the idioms have been shortened or reversed, losing important context. So when someone tells you to "bite the bullet," you may inherently know what they mean — but if you really stop and think about it, you have no idea why it means what it means.
If you're a word nerd like me, you'll be absolutely fascinated by the origin and evolution of some of these common idioms, and how they came to mean what they mean today.
1. Sick as a dog / Working like a dog
Ever have a cold and tell someone you're "sicker than a dog?" Kind of rude to dogs, in my opinion, and a little strange. I've had dogs my whole life and can't remember any of them coming down with the flu.
Sick as a dog actually originates hundreds of years ago, if not longer. Some explanations say that in the 1700s, stray dogs were responsible for the spread of many diseases, along with rats and other gutter critters. There are also references as far back as the Bible to dogs eating their own vomit — sounds pretty sick to me.
What about working like a dog? Dogs are the laziest creatures around! For this one you have to remember that dogs as "pleasure pets" is a relatively recent phenomenon, and before that they had to earn their keep by working tirelessly on the farm to herd and protect the animals.
2. Sweating like a pig
This is an extremely common idiom that we all use and accept. There's just one problem with it. Pigs don't sweat!
So... what gives? You might be surprised to hear that 'sweating like a pig' actually has nothing to do with farm animals.
According to McGill University: "The term is actually derived from the iron smelting process in which hot iron poured on sand cools and solidifies with the pieces resembling a sow and piglets. Hence 'pig iron'. As the iron cools, the surrounding air reaches its dew point, and beads of moisture form on the surface of the 'pigs'. 'Sweating like a pig' indicates that the "pig" (ie iron) has cooled enough to be safely handled. And that's a "pig" you wouldn't want to eat."
3. Bite the bullet
Biting the bullet refers to sucking it up and doing something hard, something you don't want to do but is necessary, and accepting the difficult consequences and/or pain that comes with it. But what does that have to do with biting a bullet?
There are different theories on this. One common explanation is that in the olden days it was common for soldiers on the battlefield receiving surgery to bite down on a lead bullet. You've probably seen people in moving biting down on a piece of wood or leather strap. Since lead is a softer metal, it would give just a little bit between their teeth and not damage them. So the idiom 'biting the bullet' means, okay, this is going to suck, just bite down and get through it.
4. Healthy as a horse
This one has always confused me. As a layman, it seems like horses are prone to injury and have trouble recovering when they hurt themselves. More research shows that horses can not vomit, which means they are highly at risk for deadly colic episodes. Doesn't sound super healthy!
The best explanation I can find for healthy as a horse is that, again, in the olden days, horses were symbols of health and strength and vitality. Which checks out — they're really powerful, majestic creatures.
5. Slept like a baby
To many parents, this common idiom is rage-inducing. If babies sleep so well, why am I so exhausted all the time?!
Yes, babies are notorious for waking up every few hours or at the first sign of hunger or a dirty diaper. It puts their parents through the wringer (another strange idiom!). But to the outside observer, a sleeping baby is pure bliss. They are so innocent and blissfully unaware of anything going on around them — after all, if they're not sitting in a dirty diaper they really don't have too many other things to worry about. Also, despite all their shenanigans, babies do sleep a lot — around 17 hours a day or so. When you put it that way, the idiom starts to make a little sense.
6. Happy as a clam
Clams are a lot of things. Some people find them delicious, others disgusting. One thing I think we can all agree on is that clams don't seem particularly happy, which makes this idiom a bit of a conundrum.
The truth is that this phrase is actually derived from the full version: "Happy as a clam at high water."
At low water, or low tide, clams are exposed to predators. At high tide, they're safe in deeper water. That's about as happy as mollusk can get!
7. The proof is in the pudding
Hey, we all love pudding. But what the heck does this mean? If you're not familiar, it refers to judging something based on the results it generates — but what that has to do with pudding is a bit of a mystery to most people.
This is another example of a shortened idiom that makes more sense when you read the full, original line: "The proof of the pudding is in the eating."
According to Dictionary.com it "originated as a reference to the fact that it was difficult to judge if the pudding was properly cooked until it was actually being eaten. In other words, the test of whether it’s done is taking a bite."
8. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth
I've always been a big fan of this idiom, which basically means that it's rude to over-analyze or criticize something you got for free, especially when it was a nice gesture from a friend or loved one.
But here we go with horses again! This phrase likely originated from the fact that you can determine a horse's age and health by looking at its teeth. So if someone were to give you a horse as a gift, it would be rude to immediately try to see how "good" it was by looking in its mouth.
9. Clean as a whistle
Whistles are objectively disgusting. They collect spit and germs every time they're used. I certainly wouldn't hold them up as a beacon of cleanliness.
So what gives with this idiom? There are several possible explanations that have been proposed.
First, a whistle won't work, or won't work very well, if it has debris blocking up its inside. So you can think of "clean" in this case as being "empty or free of clutter." Another possibility is that, in this idiom, clean refers to sharpness — as in the sharp sound a whistle makes — and that inference has been lost over time.
10. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps
This phrase is commonly use to describe someone who was "self-made" and built themselves up into a success from nothing. Imagine lying on the floor and hoisting yourself to your feet using only the straps on your boots.
The only problem is... that's impossible! And that's exactly the point. This idiom is actually meant to be sarcastic and to imply that "socioeconomic advancement... was an impossible accomplishment," according to Useless Etymology.
11. Have your cake and eat it too
Why bother having a cake if you can't eat it? That's the mystery of this extremely common idiom or proverb (sometimes worded "you can't have your cake and eat it, too")
The explanation is actually really simple. "Have" in this case really means "keep" or "hold onto." So, in that case, it makes perfect sense that you can't eat your cake and also still have it. "You can't have it both ways," would be another way of saying it.
12. Head over heels
Very rarely do people describe being deeply in love without using this phrase. But it's a confusing one, because isn't your head always over your heels? That doesn't seem to be an extraordinary state of being.
The idiom here has actually been flipped over time for unknown reasons. Originally, it went "heels over head", implying upside down. Some say it may also reference certain sexual positions...
13. Pushing the envelope
When I think of radical, risky, or pushing the limits of what's possible, sliding an envelope across a table just somehow doesn't quite capture it for me. But an envelope doesn't have to be just a paper container that you put other paper in. It can actually refer to different parts and practices of an aircraft.
"Push the envelope comes from aeronautics, where it refers to a set of performance limits that may not be safely exceeded," according to Merriam Webster. Now that's more like it!
70 year old love story uncovered with woman's $3 Goodwill find
We all love a good bargain. There's nothing quite like getting a compliment on something you recently purchased opening the door for you to say, "thanks, it was only five bucks, can you believe it?!" One of the best places to get a good deal on vintage items are thrift stores like Goodwill. It's easy to walk in there planning to just browse and walk out with a few bags of things you suddenly needed.
When Angelina Palumbo did her Goodwill run to find a few classic records, she expected to bring her purchase home to enjoy some jazz music. But the Cincinnati woman got a little more than she bargained for, now she's on a mission to locate the family of two strangers.
Palumbo has an affinity for old jazz vinyl records and is starting to amass a pretty nice collection. One of the ways she is able to keep up with her hobby of collecting this old school jazz music is to purchase it at thrift stores. This time, her recent rummage through the Goodwill record bin left her with a delightful surprise. Inside the record sleeve were two small records, but not just any records.
man and woman walking on road during daytime
Photo by micheile henderson on Unsplash
The records that had likely found themselves inside the much larger record sleeve for safe keeping, were actually voice-o-graphs. An old way of essentially leaving a voicemail. According to NPR, "in the 1940s, it was the only way to send a voice message. It allowed people to record their own voices onto a vinyl disk and send it to friends or relatives."
Palumbo's rare find was recorded in 1954 according to the dates on the envelopes. One was sent by Airman Douglas Hoybook Jr. who was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonia, Texas. The voice-o-graph was being sent to his wife back home in Isanti, Minnesota, and the second record has the recording of a message she sent him. It's unclear why the pair were apart but since Lackland is a training base and his rank appears to be low level, it would stand to reason that he was likely in basic training.
person playing record on Victrola turntable
Photo by Victrola Record Players on Unsplash
"I could not find any contact information, I tried looking them up on Facebook. I just haven't been able to find anybody to contact, cause I don't know if their family is still in Minnesota, if they're out in California, so I'm hoping this news story will reach the right people," Palumbo tells WKRC Local 12.
The recordings are very clear, so a family member would certainly recognize their voices even more than 70 years after they were recorded. The thrifty shopper explains that she lost her grandparents at a young age and would give a lot to hear her grandparents' voices if someone had found old recordings of them.
"Closure. Kinda get closure for the family and me a little bit because this is such a valuable piece of history for them. It's family history. And this is 1954, this is pre-voicemail, pre-social media, this is how they would communicate," she says.
Palumbo surmises that the recordings were left behind by mistake, likely stuffed inside the record sleeve during a move and forgotten about. Hopefully the stories about the recordings make it to the family of the two lovebirds so they can enjoy hearing their loved ones' voices when they were young and in love.
via BigSisCasey/Instagram (Used with permission)
Casey Smith explains her emotionally immature parents on Instagram.
Have you ever had a friend who loves to gossip and criticize other friends in your group? Did that make you think, “Gee, when I’m not around, I bet they say bad things about me, too?” Well, if that was your takeaway, you’re probably right. Unfortunately, children often make the same connection when they have overly-critical parents, and it can cause them myriad psychological problems.
One such child of highly critical parents, Casey Smith, who goes by the name @BigSisCasey on TikTok and Instagram, recently shared why it took years to connect between her parents’ negativity and her fear of rejection. Casey Smith is a wellness influencer on TikTok and host of the "It's Not Normal" podcast.
“My parents would constantly comment on and criticize others, whether it was the way that someone dressed, the shape of their nose, the way they sounded when they sang a song, or their hairline,” Smith recalls. “But it didn't stop there. I distinctly remember my parents throughout my childhood and my teenage years commenting on the part in my hair. They didn't like how skinny I was. Calling me flat as a board, mocking the way that I pronounce different words if they differed from the way my parent pronounce those words, and criticizing my taste in music and shows.”
Smith says that her parents' immature judgment of others made her feel like they were also silently judging her, too. “I think it causes us to internalize a lot of this criticism and to interpret our parents' attitude as a reflection of how they secretly or not so secretly maybe view us,” Smith revealed. She was also rewarded her for joining them in judging others.
“I remember when I was a kid sort of sharing in my parents' criticism and becoming critical of others myself because the more I was like my parents, the more my parents seem to like me,” she continued. Smith goes on to say that being around her hypercritical parents led to a fear of rejection and people-pleasing behaviors.
Upworthy spoke with Smith about her parents, and she ventured to guess why they were so emotionally immature. "If I had to venture a guess, it’s likely that my parents’ insecurities stem from their own unresolved trauma and their resulting need for control," Smith told Upworthy. "It’s common, I’ve learned, for adults who felt powerless throughout childhood to go to great lengths to achieve and maintain a position of power and authority in adulthood. As I got older, I became more independent, my independence, I think, was perceived as a threat to them. Their emotional limitations are a result of their unwillingness to develop the skills necessary for healthy communication, unconditional love, and mutual respect between a parent and their adult child. These limitations lead to fear—fear of rejection, fear of abandonment, and often lead to more toxic behavior."
Smith realized her parents' behavior was unhealthy at 21 after meeting her husband. "I felt as though I couldn’t do anything, completely suffocated, and it was then that I realized how unhealthy it all was, that I had been enduring emotional abuse for quite some time," she told Upworthy. "From that point on, I slowly started gaining perspective and began the process of unlearning all of the toxic traits I was taught throughout my childhood."
The post resonated with many of Smith's followers who were also raised by hypercritical parents. “I always thought everyone was judging me because my mom was always making negative comments about people,” one commenter noted. “My dad would comment on every little detail of a stranger. Like, things I legitimately didn't even notice until he pointed it out. So naturally, now I think everyone is judging my every flaw,” another added.
“It's like preemptive self-defense. If you think people are judging you for something, judging them even before they voice it feels like you have control, but you'll never feel good about yourself,” a commenter wrote.
An angry woman judging people.via Canva/Photos
Anyone who has hypercritical parents should seek professional help to overcome the psychological damage and develop a healthier sense of self. Barbara Greenberg, PhD., suggests that the journey begins with self-acceptance. “Begin to learn to appreciate yourself. Make a list of your strengths and positive qualities. Also, give yourself permission to make mistakes. This is part of the human experience. We all need to forgive ourselves for our mistakes and get back into the game of life. Disappointment is okay, but tearing yourself down is not,” she writes in Psychology Today.
It’s unfortunate that Smith had to deal with hypercritical parents and spent many years feeling inadequate because of it. But over half a million people have seen her video, so hopefully, it will inspire some people to realize the pain that immature parents can cause, and they can work to break the cycle.