Uh, I Guess So

“Sixty days ago, Daniel Barron was on the drill floor of Deepwater Horizon when the hissing began, a sound that soon enveloped the Gulf of Mexico oil rig. A goo of oil and saltwater rained down. Nearby, another worker yelled, "Man, something ain't right." (from cnn.com)

No, I would say not. That may stand as a viable candidate for the understatement of the year. In 1912, it was the mythical “unsinkable ship” tag attached to the Titanic. Never proven, but it hangs in our collective memory as the ship slid under just days later. There must be others:

“What does this button do?”
“I know what I’m doing.”
“Sure it’s safe.”
“You stupid (racial/ethnic slurs) don’t frighten me.”

I think of the people you see at the Indy-style races who hang out right near the infield fences with cars passing by at supersonic speeds. It’s daring, it’s manly, it’s fatal when one of them goes out of control, grabs some significant air and goes over the fence right into the daring, manly, to-be fatal crowd.

You’re looking up at the bottom of the car, thinking: “Man, something ain’t right.” The driver will walk away, of course; you get a ride.