Illiterations: Laughing At My Own Expense

Do you know a loose cannon?  It's a metaphor and it means completely exactly what I know it to mean and so I use it a lot. But I am very literal, and sometimes I think others may not internalize the reality of that term. "Loose Cannon" is a term that dates back to the days of galleons and wooden ship explorations.  As early as the 1300s, explorative ships from countries in Europe and other places included cannons mounted on the decks to protect them from pirates and other invaders. Cannons, as you can imagine, weighed an immense amount because they were Solid cast iron. Their barrels were thick walls of 3 inches or more, they were somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 to 10 ft in length. As mighty as these old-fashioned defense weapons may seem, their immense bulk and weight were a liability on the ships. There was almost nothing technologically that could perfectly assure that the Cannons would not come loose from their mountings in high seas or a heavy storm. Picture the i...