When I was in college, I had the best work-study job on campus. I worked for the Night School Registrar, who was absolutely, without a doubt, the funniest man for miles around.

One attribute of working for "the Boss" (and this was pre-Bruce Springsteen) was the constant presence of dozens of jokes and catch-phrases, many of which only we on his staff could figure out. The hilarity increased over the months I worked there, fueled by scotch and a stereo that played Italian opera incessantly. "Listen to that [ethnic slur on person of Italian heritage] sing, Boggledanski!" the Boss would howl. "Doesn't that tear your nut off?" At one point, the catch phrases even drifted into other languages, particularly Spanish, which the Boss would speak to the Cuban-American gals who would drop by from the admissions office. "No me toques!" ("Don't touch me") he would shout at them, and then cackle madly. "I love Cubans. Everybody should own two."

At one point we all decided that when in a recuperative state, the Boss liked his coffee not just strong, but "brutal." As this saying repeated itself, it morphed into the goofy voice of an uneducated dolt, who pronounced it in three syllables: bah - ROOH - uhl. And in between the second and third syllables, there would be a slight hitch in the back of one's throat -- I think it's called a glottal stop.

Anyway, I guess you had to be there, but what brings "bah - ROOH - uhl" java back to mind is Cousin Jim's fine post on the merits of black coffee, over at Parkway Rest Stop. The blogspot permalink may be on the fritz (what else is new), but it's from Saturday night. Definitely worth a read.