"Three Little Words" - August 6, 2021

[M and M]

An absolute classic in that you don't see it till you see it, and then you wonder where your brain has been. Judging by the crowd on the beach, though, brains other than mine were showing up to the task a little faster. Nice to join the beach party!

[Franklin.Bluth]

Ashore with a pint of Makers Mark.

A PINT of Makers Mark?

Hopefully that means "a jigger plus some mixer in a tall glass"

[LadyBird]

Not even sure what I am looking for at this point.

A pleasant earworm. TY!

Here's my contribution to the Meta Muggles playlist. Some of the lyrics that I liked:

Do you know for certain the meaning of life
Why do we exist
Is this a test of some kind
If that's the case then what's the answers
Are there even any answers
How will we ever know the answers
Is it presumptuous to trust what you feel
How can you be sure you're not just assuming what's real
Do you know or do you just believe it
Because there is a difference
Do you even know the difference

I am Clueless
What's going on
I have no idea
And that's why I wrote this song probably. . . (notice the spaces!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRI1COQvxwM

**unfortunately, I don't know the trick to embedding the video

[escapeartist]

Toes in the sand!

Satisfying Solve.

[Dave C]

A late start, but safely ashore.

[Janet]

3 little words -- lost at sea
Solved the grid yesterday, looking for the meta today.

[Homer Buckle]

Nice puzzle and I'd even heard of the song. Safely ashore!

[CopperRiver]

On shore! TGIF!

[otlaolap]

But... I did think the question was regarding the "but." And any proper grammarian will tell you, it's spelled with an ellipsis: "But..." Ending a sentence with "but..." and leaving off the unfinished part in order to indicate that there are potentially many other possibilities which you can imagine for yourself, is quite common and not particularly regional.
At least it is in my experience, but...

The original question is about a final "but.", i.e., a "but" that is the final word of a full sentence and not an introduction to an ellipsis. Anyway, I did a little with Google (having the time as seem to be solving this week's puzzle so quickly) and found, at https://english.stackexchange.com/quest ... e-sentence, this:

Sentence-final but as it is known is a well documented feature of English as spoken in Ireland, much of Scotland and also in Australia and New Zealand. Although it is perfectly grammatical, it is not considered formal and won't be seen in formal writing or documents. It has been the subject of many academic papers in linguistics and a few books. If you'd like to read up on it, here's a source to get you going:

Mulder & Thompson, 2008, 'The grammaticization of but as a final particle in English conversation' in Ritva Laury Studies in clause combining. John Benjamins. pp. 179-204.

And the Cruise Director's post resonated because I read Irish and Scottish and English crime fiction.

[Colin&Chuck904]

Oh, hello!

Safely washed up on the white beaches of Okinawa. Cabana boy better hustle with that Mai Tai. Surfs up!

[edot]

On shore!

[EVJ]

Ashore! Fun one. I barely had time for that cappuccino Isaac made me this morning. Hefeweizen please!

[femullen]

Ashore! I'll have another coffee, please

Now 1700. Time to switch brews.

[DannyWalter]

Protest! That's 50% more words than last week! This is word inflation!

But I can handle it. "Hello AGAIN, Isaac".

Sure, but they're little ones. It says so in the title.

So what you're saying is, this puzzle is sold by weight, not by volume?

[debbierudy]

Glad to be ashore, although I'm unfamiliar with the song. Will give it a listen now.
Happy Friday, Muggles!

[Chantellebeal]

On shore earlier today. Fairly new at this so it was nice to solve one of these easily.

[EVJ]

On shore.
With a few notable exceptions, generally do not know the 2000s #1s.
Probably because our kids were born in 1997 and 1999 and popular new music didn't occupy nearly as large part of our lives beginning then.
Have spent a lot of time, however, introducing them to 60's, 70's and 80's musical canon, for better or worse!

I always say I missed the 80’s because that’s when I was raising my babies. Who has time for popular culture (or culture of any sort!) when one is busy singing The Itsy Bitsy Spider!

[EVJ]

So, how are things going these days? Any improvement?
Top of the world! Fantabulous! Never better! Si se puede!
Glad to hear.... (scribbling... grandiosity, invincibility, check)
Getting fitted for a tiara, feel fulfilled!
That’s wonderful. Got an advanced degree?
oh yes, but thats not it...
Bought a home? Got a great job? Did someone propose?
Yes yes, but its even better!
Early retirement, good skin, cancer and covid free? Two weeks of mild weather with low humidity?
YES, but that’s not it!
Then what ... oh don’t tell me... the little game in the crossword
I made it to SHORE by myself!!!!
You made it to shore... (scribbling, )

Congratulations!! I know the feeling. Glad to hear about the tiara. You deserve it!
I hope you get the mug.

[DannyCincinnnati]

Got on a disastrous tangent, but safely ashore! Beer me!

[Deb F]

Unusual for me but had this one before I even finished the grid. Yippee! On shore.

Have a great weekend, Muggles.