TMI

I've learned some of the Tweet/Internet abbreviations. I suspect some of them might even make the OED, if they haven't already

We probably all know LOL by now: Laughing out loud. I pretty much have mixed feelings when I write something and someone tells me they got a kick out of it by adding LOL. I appreciate that I've probably made them laugh, but I have trouble really believing that after reading something someone has laughed out loud. It is likely way overused. There are times I've read something and laughed out loud, but usually I just mentally acknowledge something is funny. I don't go LOL.

Sometimes, if I've really hit the funny bone they tell me LMAO, Laughing my ass off. I have trouble visualizing this one. I take it means I've really made them laugh out loud, so such that their ass fell off. About that I'm concerned, but happy to have provided the hilarity.

Why isn't it IFOMC? Or IFDL? I fell off my chair: I fell down laughing. I can visualize those. I have laughed at some things so hard that I've slid off the couch. I once told my boss a joke about rustics going out for the evening but couldn't get in the roadhouse for the night's entertainment because there was a "two-tooth minimum." She was standing, and did laugh so hard she started to crouch down and nearly hit the floor. It was memorable. I can still see it.

Now TMI has nothing to do with laughing. It means: Too much information. It is usually attached to something someone said or wrote that was of a close personal nature, possibly in the hygienic category, something you didn't really know, or better yet, need to know, but now do, because they can't "walk back" what you just heard. Oy vay.

The Wall Street Journal A-Hed pieces are gems. They are always on an offbeat topic, likely nothing you ever thought anyone would take the time to write about, but once reading them, you're glad you they did.

Take a recent one, July 25, 2018 that carried the heading and sub-heading:

Brushing Teeth in the Shower—Just Fine or totally Gross?
Fans say it saves time and conserves water; opponents say...'sickening'

If you get the feeling you're about to get TMI about some people, who are not anonymous, but fully named, and even photographed, you're right. The great thing about news stories online are the pictures that accompany the text. Great digital photographs, in color, that just aren't in the print edition because of space considerations.

Thus, the online edition of these A-Hed piece shows in glorious color two female college roommates who are on opposite sides of the shower-brushing-your-teeth divide. Pictured above are Cassie Special on the left and Annalise Hoffman on the right; shower/not shower brushers.

The girls are happy, smiling, showing off sparkling teeth. They could be in ads for dental products or HMOs. Since both sets of teeth seem clean despite the venue of brushing, what are the pros and cons of shower brushing about? You asked a great question: time, and water conservation. If you do anything to conserve water you're newsworthy, even if there are those who seriously doubt your efforts contribute to maintaining reservoir levels.

The A-Had piece contains several stories of those who do and don't brush their teeth in the shower. Frankly, I never heard of anyone brushing their teeth in the shower. When Annalise realized her roommate Cassie was a shower brusher she was freaked out.

Again, the great thing about the online story is the picture of the sealed holder Cassie keeps her toothbrush in in the shower. Since the girls are five in their dorm suite, keeping things separate and labeled is important.

Mouth rinsing in the shower is discussed. The jury is still out on whether anyone actually saves water when they brush in the shower. Saving time is a possibility, and it reminds me of the lyrics to the Broadway musical "Pajama Game" where one of the cast members, who is a time and motion expert, sings of saving time by going to bed dressed and sleeping in their clothes. "My suit gets mussed, but think of the time I save." He further presents his case for time saving by telling the audience he shaves in bed as well..."the lather drips and the bed gets wet...but think of the time I save."

The musical is from the 1950s, so I have no doubt that brushing your teeth in the shower is anything new. Reporting on it might be. But that's where the fun is.

The A-Hed piece is full of TMI. But it is a fun read, but closes with even more TMI than you might imagine.

Dustin Guillotte, a 30-year-old hotel worker from New Iberia, LA shared his brushing habits by telling the reporter Patrick Thomas that he started brushing his teeth in the shower eight years ago when he was working at Chili's to save time and not be late for work. It worked so well he became a permanent convert.

When Dustin's boyfriend noticed the tooth brush in the shower he couldn't believe it. But Mr. Guillotte made a convert of the unnamed boyfriend, and since they married, there are now two toothbrushes hanging in the shower.

TMI. There is no end to what people will tell you.

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