(no subject)
You know what is a useful commodity of the english language? The phrase, “the other day.” You see “the other day” has a unique power that alternative ambiguous statements lack: it gives the implication of something having happened recently while actually saying nothing at all about the time at which something occurred except that it did not happen on the present day (which is usually obvious). To say that something happened “a few days ago” doesn’t really do it, because “a few” is understood as 3 or 4. “Several days ago” is also less indirect because “several” connotes 4 or more. “A couple days” is about 2 or 3. Then there’s your “a while ago”, and that just feels like a long time.
No, none of these can compare to the wonderfully meaningless “the other day”:
“When did you tell me I had to do that?”
“The other day.”
“When was it all supposed to be submitted by?”
“The other day.”
“When was King Arthur alleged to have lived?”
“The other day.”
“When was it that this would have been useful?"
“The other day.”
“When was it that the whole of human goodness imploded into itself?”
“The other day.”
What? It didn’t happen today did it?
No, none of these can compare to the wonderfully meaningless “the other day”:
“When did you tell me I had to do that?”
“The other day.”
“When was it all supposed to be submitted by?”
“The other day.”
“When was King Arthur alleged to have lived?”
“The other day.”
“When was it that this would have been useful?"
“The other day.”
“When was it that the whole of human goodness imploded into itself?”
“The other day.”
What? It didn’t happen today did it?