Swath

We got a new used mower this summer. Scott needed to give it a test run before he told these people whether or not we wanted to keep it. He was sitting at the patio table and declared, "I need to cut a swath of grass with the new mower to see how it runs." I had this smirk on my face, "A swath?" "Yes, a swath." I pride myself in words and their usage, that was not the right word for sure. So I asked him to define it for me. "Cutting one strip of grass. One run down the yard." He used his hands to demonstrate. Hmmm... not convinced on that one Mr. South Fork. So I went inside to get my handy dictionary circa... I have no idea because it says copyright some Roman numeral and I have never prided myself in that knowledge. It's old enough to have Kris Syler written inside in shiny silver pen. That's old.

Back to the word swath. I found the word and started laughing. My eyes were tearing because I was laughing so hard. Swath means "the space covered in one cut of a scythe; the strip or band of grass, wheat, etc. cut in a single trip across a lawn or field by a mower." His arms were in the air cheering. He was right! I told him so.

We used to love the show Mad About You with Helen Hunt and Paul Riser. She thought she was such a smarty pants, sound familiar? He said something that didn't sound right to her, so she says, "You say it your way and I'll say it right." We've both used that line a time or two.

Today, I announced I needed to paint a swath of paint on Reagan's wall to see if it was the right color. Hmmm... look whose word I used. It's good to be wrong sometimes... I said sometimes.