The Slice: Speaking of family phrases …

A friend once expressed amusement at her husband’s fondness for the expression “land-office business.”

You know, to describe a store ringing up a high volume of sales or a new restaurant with people lined up out the door.

My friend found that phrase hilariously dated. But I’ll bet a lot of us use anachronistic expressions.

If my neighbor’s cat is in our kitchen waiting for a snack and she seems especially impatient, my wife has been known to say, “What’s your hurry — got a train to catch?”

What do you say in your family?

Just wondering: Is it just out here in the West, or do people everywhere sort of hope to turn up one or two outlaws when looking into their family histories?

Back before life was in color: “When my kids were young, the question of the black and white days came up,” wrote Jim Clanton. “I told them that the most difficult thing was the black and white mirrors. They bought it for a short while. Until they asked their mom, that is.”

Say “No” to the Valentine’s Day Industrial Complex: Love is not stupid. There is no reason to be a prancing clown about Feb. 14.

Name the song in which this lyric appears: But February made me shiver.

Then phone The Slice and leave a message in which you sing the next line.

You just might win a coveted reporter’s notebook.

This date in Slice history (1996): Today’s Slice question: What would be the perfect name for a special credit card that could be used only in the Inland Northwest?

One answer reported in a subsequent column was The IN Card.

Reader challenge: Make a list of 20th century Spokane icons who were not born here.

Finish this sentence (for single Slice readers): I would be uneasy about dating someone who made a living as a ….

Today’s Slice question: This will sound like tallying unhatched chickens, especially with the history of early tournament exits.

But what will it be like around here if the GU men advance to the Final Four?