Princess Diana & No-Knead Bread
In 1997 when Princess Diana died, my mom and I started a joke between the two of us. Whenever something was really obvious or overplayed, we would ask "Did you know Princess Diana is dead?" in a macabre reference to the fact that *everyone* knew Princess Diana was dead. We still do it to this day, and it cracks both of us up.
I think that the similar question today would be "Did you know a terrific no-knead bread recipe was printed in the New York Times?"
Did you hear that Britney Spears is going to a lot of parties?
Posted by: jen's mom | December 07, 2006 at 02:48 PM
did you know Tom Cruise got re-married?
Posted by: jeanne bee | December 07, 2006 at 04:24 PM
Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still seriously dead!
Lindsay Lohan is in AA!
W is in incapacitated denial, needed an intervention, and is still... oh, god, I can't continue.
Posted by: cookiecrumb | December 07, 2006 at 04:46 PM
Wait...something has been bothering me since I read this post earlier today...did something happen to Princess Diana?
Posted by: jen's mom | December 07, 2006 at 07:39 PM
I love family lexicons. That's such a great use of the phrase...
Ours is "Just the one, dear?" after an Ab Fab quote (from Edina's mother, in response to Edina saying, "You don't understand! Inside this fat body is a skinny woman just dying to get out!").
"Just the one dear" has multiple applications, and can be employed in a variety of circumstances.
Posted by: Tana | December 07, 2006 at 07:56 PM
Hee! In my family, it is "The train was THREE HOURS LATE!" because after an Amtrack trip from Minnesota to Washington, my train-obsessed father couldn't stop mentioning how the train was THREE HOURS LATE!
That was over fifteen years ago and we still say it to one another.
Posted by: Stephanie | December 07, 2006 at 08:38 PM
This bread really is everywhere I read. I hadn't read the reason why until I came across your blog. Too funny!
Posted by: Kristen | December 08, 2006 at 11:13 AM
There was another article from the NYT that was everywhere for a while, entitled "What Shamu Taught me About a Happy Marriage." Not only was it being e-mailed all over, I found print-outs of the article in random places.
Maybe Malcolm Gladwell will write something about this in the next revision of "Tipping Point". :-)
Posted by: Jennifer Jeffrey | December 08, 2006 at 11:44 AM
Our family thing is anything quoted from Rocky Horror or Monty Python.. specifically anything with a bit less rat in it.
Posted by: nika | December 08, 2006 at 03:12 PM
Right now I'm wondering when everyone in the world will stop emailing the New York Times article about the 25 guys who like to surf in Ohio. Is it really that relevant or exciting?
In our family we always say "it's 8:10" when we want to state the obvious. We had a clock in the kitchen stove that stopped, and read 8:10 for about 5 years until we moved. Whenever anyone asked what time it was, we would look at the clock, and deadpan reply "8:10."
Posted by: Noelle | December 12, 2006 at 11:39 AM