If NPR can say it, I can too.

Because our kids have grown up in a culture that does not speak, let's say, the Queen's English, they have been known to pick up certain speech mannerisms.

Owen, for example, often states that he is "bout to do dat." You know, like he is 'bout to get it, or 'bout to clean up. I imagine if we sent him to daycare in the south he'd be fixin' to do things.

One thing that Chris has a personal vendetta against is the word "busted." He does not like it when Sam refers to things as being "busted." So we spend a lot of time saying, "don't say 'busted,' say 'broken.'" Probably a lot more time than we would have to if we, ourselves, could stop saying busted.

But now we don't have to. Because this morning I was listening to NPR and the host said "busted." Like, out of the blue. Not in a quote or anything. Just something like, "Obama's state of the union focused in on the struggling economy and the plight of the middle class, but many of us are left wondering how he's actually going to fix his busted plan." I figure if the smart dude on NPR can use it, then we can too.

So, sweet. Now we can worry about something else.

Like our busted household budget.

Wait.

I think that might be appropriate usage.