Sideswipe: January 24: Triple treat

Why settle for one when you can have all three.

Hard to take

A reader writes: "I've worked as an editor for many years and with that experience comes the undeniable tendency to become delusionally irritated by incorrect spelling and grammar. A week ago, while scrolling through an Instagram feed (a large part of my job is social media marketing) I came across a post which urged me not to 'take life for granite' and I mentally imploded on the spot." (Via quora.com)

Expert-level pranking #2

A 3m petrified human body, the "Cardiff Giant" was discovered by a group of workers who were digging a well in someone's backyard. An atheist named George Hull had created the giant as a prank on a fundamentalist minister who believed that Earth was once inhabited by giants, as per the Bible. When a man named P.T. Barnum started showing off a recreation of the giant, Hull tried to sue him, failing when he couldn't produce any evidence that his giant was legit. (Source: ScienceAlert.com)

Sad death

In a quiet corner of the Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis' oldest active, is the grave of a 21-year-old woman who died after childbirth on February 1, 1876. Her tombstone reads:

"Kate McCormick. Seduced and pregnant by her father's friend

Unwed, she died from abortion, her only choice.

Abandoned in life and death by family.

With but a single rose from her mother.

Buried only through the kindness of unknown benefactors.

Died Feb. 1875 [sic] age 21.

Victim of an unforgiving society

Have mercy on us."

Geddit?