2019 - Day 12/353 - Saturday...Forte...

In my quest to become a more interesting person, and to be loathed by canines in a three to five county area surrounding the edge of nowhere, I decided that today was the day to give the dogs a bath. The white girl was not at all happy about this turn of events. That is not to mislead you into thinking that the grey girl was ecstatic about it, but the grey one did sit down while the bathing was taking place. The whole episode was done (both girls) in less than thirty minutes, and I think all parties to the event were please with the speed in which the chore was accomplished. I have put a tickler on the calendar in five weeks to consider a repeat performance. I have to tell you, it is certainly more cost effective than the beautiful parlor.

Forte -- Noun: something in which one excels (see dog bathing); one's strong point. Cooking is not Shawna's forte, so she tends to order takeout for dinner frequently.

Did You Know? Forte comes from fencing--when English speakers first borrowed the word from the French, it referred to the strongest part of a sword blade, between the middle and the hilt. It is therefore unsurprising that forte eventually developed an extended metaphorical sense for a person's strong point. (Incidentally, forte has its counterpoint in the word foible, meaning both the weakest part of a sword blade and a person's weak point.) There is some dispute over how to pronounce forte; while some usage commentators recommend \fort\, many speakers pronounce the word as \for-tay\ to match the Italian musical direction forte.