The Slice: If you can’t stand the heat …

HERE’S SOMETHING to keep in mind. Summer doesn’t actually end until Sept. 22. And if, by chance, you remember how hot it got here in early September of 1988, you understand that it ain’t over till it’s over.

Misspeaking: Heather Lester once worked with a man who described how a car salesman went above and beyond to make a deal seem attractive. “The guy just bent over for us,” he said.

Hmmm.

“I think he meant ‘bent over backwards,’ ” said Lester.

“Slice answer: Here are the all-time Top 10 TV shows for Slice reader Amy Trowbridge, a 30-year-old mother of two.

1. “The OC.” 2. “The Shield.” 3. “Rescue Me.” 4. “Jeopardy.” 5. “That ‘70s Show.” 6. “Unsolved Mysteries.” 7. “Melrose Place.” 8. “MacGyver.” 9. “Beverly Hills, 90210” 10. “CSI/Las Vegas.”

“Colorful backwoods expressions – the next generation: Nola Barrett’s 6-year-old son, Marcus, must have come across the concept of folk sayings or homespun colloquialisms. Because he’s been making up his own. And while they have a certain old-timey sound, they’re also, well, I’ll let Nola explain.

“They all involve hogs,” she said. “I don’t know why.”

On one recent night, she asked Marcus if he was tired.

He answered, “I’m as tired as a hog that stayed up all night.”

Another time, she asked if his jaw was sore after a dental appointment.

“It hurts like a hog on a needle bed,” said Marcus.

And on still another occasion, she asked her son if he was hungry.

He replied, “I’m as hungry as a hog that never got lunch.”

All he needs now is a pair of overalls, a whittling knife and a rocking chair on the porch of a general store. And he can start telling stories that begin, “Well sir, it was back in ought-five …”

“I can’t wait to hear what the hypothetical hog might be up to next,” said Barrett.

“His heart was in the right place: An infant being held by a woman in a medical waiting room made a few sounds of distress. It wasn’t full-blown fussing, by any means. Just an occasional whelp.

Across the room, an unrelated 5-year-old boy heard this and decided to address the problem. He picked up a fairly large, rather complicated toy and walked over to the mother and baby.

Presenting the toy, he explained that the baby could play with it.

This, of course, was a complete miscalculation of the infant’s developmental stage and motor skills. But others in the waiting room cut the 5-year-old a little slack.

We seldom hug strangers in our society. But that doesn’t mean some of us aren’t tempted now and then.

“Pet Names Department: Spokane’s Pattie Felland calls her cat “Himself.”

“Today’s Slice question: What is Spokane’s most photographed building?