Wordwizard

I assumed that the offence for which Tom or the shopkeeper was arrested was the stealing of the badge so it's hard for me to imagine the theft occurring later. I also assumed that if you meant that the arrest came first, then you would have said it... "They arrested Tom, who later stole an officer's...

It has nothing to do with decency (or cleanliness). The meaning behind the statement is that it is a bad (pointless?) idea. It makes about as much sense as putting on dirty clothes after you shower...or scratching a spot that is not itchy...or rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic...

Quite so. It's like having a car crash.

"a friend that breaks all your dopest peices."... I don't understand that, either, Steve but it has nothing to do with what is being talked about here. They are talking about a (water? sewer?) pipe that is in the basement and has broken (burst, failed) and caused some damage to the basement and/or g...

When I read that statement, with no context, my first thought was "John knows where who works?... Mike?...Gary?" As Erik said, it's unlikely to be taken as in your second option and I eliminated your first because, really, doesn't everybody "know where they work"?

I'm familiar with the game but had never heard of a "Whack-a-Mole strategy". It is an apt description, though...frantically trying to hammer out solutions as they pop up...being reactive rather than proactive. I like it but I probably will start using "guacamole strategy". That is, until someone acc...

It just occurred to me that "skookum" is probably not an adjective that folks outside my neck of the woods are familiar with. Bonnie, are you familiar with that word, down there?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skookum

Good question, Steve. The whole structure is a fence. On a wooden fence, those vertical parts would be called pickets, or maybe spindles or balusters but that doesn't seem correct, in this case. If it was a wrought iron fence they would be spires. These ones seem a little too skookum to be called ba...

Indeed it does, Steve.

I'd be willing to bet that you are correct about which "jam" the phrase refers to....the spreadable kind, the kind that all kids love, the kind that the White Queen offered (or didn't offer) to Alice. Jam is (or was) something very desirable. "I had a pretty good family life, growing up in the 60s.....

A belated Happy Father's Day to all the dads...those ones still with us and those who are not. It is a very tough and important job and I, for one, did not make it any easier on my old man.

I don't find it offensive, but, keep in mind that everyone has a different level of acceptance. I am not really offended by the word that it stands for and putting a mask, or a splash of perfume, or a drop of honey on it doesn't change the meaning. It's usually a good idea to know your audience and ...

In this case, a "keeper" is something that is worth keeping. It is something that has some value and should be held onto.

To me, #5 sounds the least strange of them all. I wondered if #6 really meant that it was surprising that the painting was not done in black and white and the writer had simply forgotten a punctuation point (comma? em dash? colon?...)
"6) Colour has been used in these paintings, strikingly."

In examples 2 and 3, I don't think your vision was affected at all. Example 1 may be a little less clear but I would assume your vision was not affected. I think if all 3 had a comma after "vision", I'd even be more that sure your vision was not impacted at all. I would tend to think that if you did...