🍽️ Pick and Choose: The Art of Decisive Indecision 🤔
To pick and choose is to select very fastidiously, almost to a fault. This beautifully redundant phrase—and by redundant, we mean both pick and choose mean the same thing—dates back to the seventeenth century. Our buddy from way back, Sir Thomas Herbert, documented it in his lively travelogue Travels into Africa and Asia (1665). His memorable words: “He found he had the liberty to pick and choose,” kept the phrase alive, and it hasn’t lost its charm since then.
Similar Terms & Related Expressions
- Cherry-pick: To select only the best or most desirable items.
- Fussy: Hard to please, too particular about details.
- Choosy: Tending to be selective, not easily satisfied.
- Discriminating: Having refined taste or judgment.
Synonyms
- Select
- Elect
- Opt
- Choose
- Single out
Antonyms
- Reject
- Dismiss
- Ignore
- Overlook
Fun Quotes
“Some people are so sophisticated, they can’t choose between a rock and a hard place—first-world problems, I tell ya!”
“She has the uncanny ability to pick and choose like it’s an Olympic sport… medals pending!”
Proverbs
“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” – Be grateful for gifts or opportunities, even if they come with flaws or aren’t perfect.
“Half a loaf is better than none” – Accepting something is better than rejecting the whole thing and getting nothing.
Books, Songs, and Movies
- Book: The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz – A fascinating dive into how more choices might lead to less happiness.
- Song: “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by The Rolling Stones – Because let’s face it, sometimes someone else picks, and you have to deal with it.
- **Movie: The Devil Wears Prada ** – An impeccable example of navigating fussy choices and high standards in the fashion industry.
Literature Suggestion
“For what I’m after is something akin to fiction, a passage of text where one must pick and choose, select the bright words out of the bloom of possibilities.” – Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen
And Now, Some Quizzes…🎉
“May you always be spoiled for choice, yet smart enough to pick wisely and fast enough to choose well!”
Yours Perplexedly,
Imogen Query
October 2023
