Never say never--or always

During our 8 years of marriage, my wife and I have had a few laughs about this. She often punctuates her speech with never and always--which unleashes the English major in me. Because rarely in life is something an always or a never. Chances are, we've done something of which we're speaking at least once.

And that's what I remind my wife. And that causes her to change her "never" to occasionally. As an example, she might say, "I never get to shop anymore."

Me: "You went last month."

Her: "Ok. I hardly ever go shopping."

Me: "And you're going again tomorrow."

Her: "Ok. I don't go shopping often."

Fact is, it's just too easy to rebut always and never. Whether in conversation or the body copy of an ad. That's why I steer clear of it.

Full disclosure: my wife is highly intelligent; I'm simply a word freak. Always.