I don't mean to tell you it's Third Sentence Thursday but yeah, really I do.

1) Take the book you are reading now and post the third sentence

2) Review this sentence anyway you want (funny and silly reviews encouraged)

3) Post a link to your sentence at Sniffly Kitty's Mostly Books or if you don't have a blog, just post it in the comments!

 I am reading the critically acclaimed Chime by Franny Billingsley and the third sentence is:

I don't mean to be difficult but I can't bear to tell my story.

Some one famous and quote worthy said once that when someone says "I don't mean to,...but,...," That what they really mean is, "I most certainly do mean to,...,but societal convention requires that I couch my insult/'helpful' suggestion deferentially regardless of how little I do know or how catty I really am."

As an example, your mother-in-law (I don't mean to disparage mothers-in-law but,...) might say something like, "I don't mean to tell you how to raise your children but do you really want to send him to public schools?"

What she really means is probably "I do mean to tell you exactly what you are doing wrong and if you had half a brain you would listen and do just what say."

Here is a slightly benign such quote from JK Rowling

"I don't mean to be rude—" he began, in a tone that threatened rudeness in every syllable. "-Yet, sadly, accidental rudeness occurs alarmingly often," Dumbledore finished the sentence gravely."
— J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)


“I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out.”
Bill Hicks quotes (American Comedian, b.1961)

And another example, perhaps more telling is that Simon Cowell wrote a book entitled I Don't Mean to be Rude. And we all know from how Mr. Cowell presents himself that he most certainly does mean to be rude;, it's his schtick, and a profitable schtick too!