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Word of the Day: Shell out
Because we live in capitalist societies, we should understand that everything comes with a price.
Even stuff that initially seems free requires a payment of some kind, whether our time or data.
Problems arise when we feel we are shelling out but not getting enough bang for our buck.
Most people don’t mind paying the price when they feel it is good value for money.
However, when a cost is unexpected or unwanted, that’s when we think we are shelling out.
I live in Wakayama, and a car here is not a luxury; it is a necessity.
In the cities, I know people have to shell out big bucks if they want to have a car.
Honestly, I cannot remember the last time I paid to park my car anywhere.
I have been told by a student living in Tokyo that they shell out ¥50,000 a month to park their car in the underground parking of the building they live in.
WOW! They pay rent, and they still have to pay to park!
That’s the best part of living in Wakayama – we don’t shell out for everything because it’s all reasonably priced.
You may now be wondering where this phrasal verb comes from.
It comes from real-life actions.
If you want to get a seed, bean, nut etc., you often have to shell (verb) them.
Sometimes, that is not so easy to do.
Similarly, when it comes to paying a high price for something, you have to shell out money from your purse or wallet.
This, too, is often not easy to do.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 78.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.