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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
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zabernism, choose one:
a) a reversal of the usual order of things, as in, for example, a countdown or reverse alphabetical order.
b) the state of being pigeon-toed. from Janos Zaber, 1787-1852, Czech physician who described the condition in a monograph ca. 1838.
c) a phrase that goes beyond meaningless, named for Wally Zaber. example: The necklace sock flew fishscales.
d) an economic system based on a network of professional guilds and trade unions collecting dues rather than taxes.
e) an 18th century Polish religious schism whose followers excluded wine from the holy sacraments.
f) the foreign policy theory that acting charismatically toward an enemy will result in further animosity. from the German word zauber for charm or magic.
g) a cult religion of germanic tribes from the common delta region of the Rine, Meuse, and Scheldt rivers which includes the Zuider Zee. central to their rites was the toss of the ZABERN, a wooden log that was tossed on end into a zodiacal circle. the direction of the lay of the log they believed predicted future events. Viking raids around 1000AD helped spread the rites to Scotland, where the tossing of the zabern, (scot-galic, caber(n),) survives today as a national sport.
h) military jackbootery. from an incident at Saverne (Ger. Zabern) in Alsace (1912), when an excited Ger. subaltern cut down a lame cobbler who smiled at him.
i) the belief that the Egyptian pryamids were built with the aid of extraterrestrial intelligences and have cosmic significance. after Thomas E Zabernsk (1942 - ), proponent.
j) abstention from alcohol.
k) carping criticism; like that of Zabernius, a Greek critic.
l) a compulsive penchant for repeating oneself, as identified by psychologist Dr. Gustav Zabern in 1923.
m) the nearly obsessive practice of seeking out the best pizzaria in the capital of Switzerland.
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Joined: Jun 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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OK Fools rush in, so I'll guess first.
K
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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They all sound wrong to me. Can I vote? I wish a. were correct, but doubt it. Probably zaerism would be better there.
However, I like c. even though I've never heard of Wally Zaber. (Wally???? What kind of name is Wally????)
I vote for c. 'cuz I like it. And, if c's wrong, we really need a word for meaningless phrases. We also need zaerism for the backwards stuff.
WW
PS: Do I get to vote???
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Joined: Nov 2000
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veteran
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veteran
Joined: Nov 2000
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One of the finest collections of bluffs we have seen for some time. After much careful discrimination to avoid falling for one of the bluffs, I have to go for A
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Joined: Jan 2001
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addict
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addict
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 428 |
It is so hard to choose, they all sound so silly at first, but after you think about each one for a minute, it begins to seem more plausible. I'll reward the simplicity and brevity of J with my vote.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
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Well now, the Scottish caber (g) sounds very attractive, but I have never come across, whilst sampling the product of the many distilleries in that fair countree, any reference to it having Teutonic origins, so that's out.
I don't think any one suffers from compulsive repetition syndrome, as in (l), indeed I don't think any one suffers from compulsive repetition syndrome, as in (l), so that's out.
In my mind there is a connection with alcohol - and by co-incidence, two of the proposals concern alcohol (abstention - what a terrible thought!!) It isn't total abstention, surely? so not (j)
I will go for the Polish sect who exclude it from the Eucharist, E
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old hand
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old hand
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Anonymous
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I agree with Rhuby; something about the word draws a hazy connection to alcohol (but OTOH, a lot of things do this for me). i think i'll go with the alluringly simple J
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I haven't a clue, so I'm giving my vote to the person who gave me my best laugh of the day. So M it is.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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