Elbows and armpits

Odd phrases I’ve heard and read recently “cough into your armpit,” “cough into your elbow.” After reading those bits of precautionary advice for not getting the flu, I tried to cough into my armpit and elbow and couldn’t so I settled for my arm.

“She’s not nuts — she’s crazy.” My husband said that about someone last week. To him, crazy must be a worse state of mind than nuts.

“I’m not angry, I’m mad.” Joe Jackson said that about learning his son’s death was being investigated as manslaughter. Technically, “mad” means insane, but in today’s parlance, it means angry. To Jackson it must mean beyond angry.