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this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2024
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.
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So, I've heard "over yonder", and I've heard "as the crow flies", and I live in an area where neither of those phrases are uncommon to hear... But I don't believe I've ever heard them both put together like that.
"Over yonder" is a casual phrase that's used to indicate the general direction or location of a place or thing, usually accompanied by a finger pointing in a rough direction.
"As the crow flies" specifically refers to the shortest distance between two points, rather than travel distance. Like, "the distance between New York and Washington DC is 231 miles by road, or 204 miles, as the crow flies."
"Over yonder" already implies that we are referring to a straight line from A to B, so it would be redundant to add "as the crow flies" after it.
So like, are people really putting those two phrases together like that? If so, I must protest. /angryface
You could preface it with a location and distance: "Buckingham Palace is about 3 parsecs over yonder as the crow flies," the Bajoran said, waving a limb vaguely. "Or perhaps a Romulan Warbird instead of a crow."
I could see it making sense in combination with a "you can't get there from here" type of situation. Someone asks, "Where is ____?" and the response is "over yonder as the crow flies", because it is literally in that direction, but since there are no direct roads to actually get there you must travel in a different direction first, which is why "as the crow flies" needs to be specified.
Not according to my mom. Growing up "over yonder" or "in yonder" was the location of the thing I needed to grab for her....no direction was specified.
"Go grab the thing for me in yonder"
"Where?"
"In yonder"
"WHICH YONDER???"