#59441
03/03/2002 9:15 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
New Scientist 9 Feb 2002: p 51 On Brownian movement: .......Contrary to what many textboods state, Brown actually observed the motion of much smaller particles inside fluid filled voids within the pollen grains. This no doubt sounds like tiresome nit-picking.but as Einstein's analysis of Brownian movement shows, the effect is far smaller for relatively huge pollen grains than it is for the particles inside them.
Confusing the two has in the past led to accusations that Brown could not possibly have seen the effect which bears his name. It would be a shame to rob someone of his claim to fame simply because the textbooks can't be arsed to get the facts straight. Robert Matthews, Oxford
Translation, please?
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#59442
03/03/2002 9:19 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 96
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 96 |
cant be arsed = cant be bothered, unwilling thru laziness, Im afraid i use it far too much.
the Duncster
the Duncster
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#59443
03/03/2002 9:35 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
But, Dear Duncster, is it derived from the vulgar term for the external termination of the intestinal tract?
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#59444
03/04/2002 6:12 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 618
addict
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addict
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...is it derived from the vulgar term for the external termination of the intestinal tract?
Just guessing ... but it's probably a contraction of "Can't be bothered getting off (or moving) one's arse". I believe arse is generally used to refer to the buttocks as well as the ET ot IT.
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#59445
03/04/2002 7:22 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
>Just guessing ... but it's probably a contraction of "Can't be bothered getting off (or moving) one's arse". I believe arse is generally used to refer to the buttocks as well as the ET ot IT.
This sounds about right. It is not a term one would use in front of one's grandmother but is more like slang than an expletive. To be correct the ET ot IT would be more likely used in the much coarser expression "he is such an arsehole".
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#59446
03/04/2002 5:10 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
At least it seems clear that "arsed" was not a typo for "asked".
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#59447
03/04/2002 7:21 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055 |
> At least it seems clear that "arsed" was not a typo for "asked".
Clear as day, Bill. The writer has obviously chosen this informal, and yes, crude usage to point out his annoyance at the lack of investigative diligence by would-be scientific writers who question the roots of 'Brownian motion'.
I doubt the writer makes a habit of using this kind of slang. It rounds the article off nicely though, eh.
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#59448
03/04/2002 7:51 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055 |
Is it Brownian movement or motion, by the way?
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#59449
03/04/2002 8:31 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear BY: the article uses only the word motion. Movement was my word, which I believe I have commonly seen used.
P.S. I went into Yahoo Search box for " Physics Brownian movement" and found twenty sites.
I repeated for "Brownian motion" and got seventeen sites. Seems pretty even. No clue as to preference.
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#59450
03/04/2002 10:49 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
I was going to chase the derivation up, but I found I couldn't be arsed, either. 
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#59451
03/04/2002 11:16 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Poor dear CK; Don't tell me you are half-arsed!
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#59452
03/05/2002 12:33 AM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 2,605 |
Yahoo Search box for Physics:
"Brownian movement": twenty sites.
"Brownian motion": seventeen sites.
Seems pretty even.
How odd, in that Google seach gives a great discrepency (but with each used enough to suggest that either one is acceptable):
"brownian movement": 8,720 hits.
"brownian motion": 51,300 hits.
AHD says, "Brownian movement ... [definition] ... Also called Brownian motion."
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#59453
03/05/2002 12:45 AM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
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Poor dear CK; Don't tell me you are half-arsed!dr. bill, I believe the technical fundament al term is hemipygous.
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#59454
03/05/2002 1:39 AM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 163
member
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member
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Posts: 163 |
I only recall hearing the term "Brownian Motion" when I was getting my physics degree. I was entirely arsed enough to walk to the basement, dig through a dusty old box of physics texts (I am not sure why depuis 15 years I have lugged them from one side of the continent to the other), and check the indexes. Not a Brownian movement to be found.
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#59455
03/05/2002 2:43 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
I looked it up in Encarta Encyclopedia:Brownian Motion, constant erratic movement of tiny particles suspended in a fluid or gas.
It appears that the "Brownian Motion" has carried. But notice it is immediated defined as a "movement"!
"Brownian Motion," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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#59456
03/05/2002 10:12 AM
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679
addict
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addict
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I was going to contribute to this thread but now I can't be arsed. 
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#59457
03/05/2002 10:33 AM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 163
member
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member
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Posts: 163 |
I was going to contribute to this thread but now I can't be arsed.
What a bummer!
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#59458
03/05/2002 5:20 PM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
Gosh, if you aren't arsed, where are we to find a brown(ian) movement???
TEd
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#59459
03/05/2002 9:55 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
Don't want to stick my nose in where it's not wanted, but I do second that motion ...
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#59460
03/05/2002 10:19 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 163
member
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member
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 163 |
Don't want to stick my nose in where it's not wanted, but I do second that motion ...
I believe that would be called Brownian-nosing.
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#59461
03/06/2002 2:07 AM
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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old hand
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Posts: 833 |
This thread has gone a bit pear-shaped. In fact, I'd say it's lost the plot altogether..... But we are amused.
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#59462
03/06/2002 2:33 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Dear MG: Does getting pear-shaped mean fat-arsed? Reminds me of the guy who called his girl Crisco, because she was fat in the can. He also said she sagged, but didn't give.
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#59463
03/06/2002 2:44 AM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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pear shaped I believe the word is pyriform. [not in wwftd, but in Grandiloquent Dictionary]
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#59464
03/06/2002 3:31 AM
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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old hand
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Posts: 833 |
Hmmm....Hadn't heard of "pear-shaped" meaning "fat-arsed"....! Think it refers rather to the wobbly shape a pear has - which may well match some bottoms. "Wobbly" is another good one, actually....it's how my British cousin, living in La Belgique, refers to bad driving: eg, "Stop wobbling about in my blind spot, woman!" Are you sure the bloke said his girlfriend was "sagged"? Just because "shag" is my most favourite British slang word. Although....I must confess a liking for slagging people off (but only when they shag with my head and make my life go pear-shaped so I lose the plot).....  Right, it's getting late - I'm off to bedfordshire... :o)))))))))
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#59465
03/06/2002 1:59 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Quinion and a couple other sites say "pear-shaped" referred to difficulty in flying a perfect circular loop, and was extended to mean other problems getting out of control. Doesn't appeal to me.
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#59466
03/06/2002 2:32 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 96
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 96 |
you would say "It's all gone pear-shaped" when things go wrong it is Southern saying that through TV etc. has spread around the country
"We'd robbed the bank and everything was going great , it all went pear-shaped when the getaway car would'nt start."
the Duncster
the Duncster
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#59467
03/06/2002 4:37 PM
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
From whence cometh the charming acronym OTT (for Over The Top)? I like that one....
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#59468
03/06/2002 5:15 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 2,605 |
"From whence"???
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#59469
03/06/2002 6:45 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
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Posts: 1,156 |
Online Webster's:
From whence, though a pleonasm, is fully authorized by the use of good writers.
And Atomica:
USAGE NOTE The construction from whence has been criticized as redundant since the 18th century. It is true that whence incorporates the sense of from: a remote village, whence little news reached the wider world. But from whence has been used steadily by reputable writers since the 14th century, most notably in the King James Bible: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help” (Psalms). Such a respectable precedent makes it difficult to label the construction as incorrect. Still, it may be observed that whence (like thence) is most often used nowadays to impart an archaic or highly formal tone to a passage, and that this effect is probably better realized if the archaic syntax of the word—without from—is preserved as well.
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#59470
03/06/2002 7:17 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Bean, thanks! It's good to learn something new. [  ]
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#59471
03/06/2002 7:49 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
>This thread has gone a bit pear-shaped. not to be confused with turnip-shaped. (napiform) http://home.mn.rr.com/wwftd/
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#59472
03/06/2002 8:16 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
Whence (and from whence) and whilts are very uncommon in US speach and writing.
i used to have UK produced instruction manuals that suggested Whilst holding with a spanner...
these direction alway were fun.. Our staff was such a mixed bag-- about 25% understood (from UK, or Jamaca, or other island that has british based schooling.) but many of the other nationals (pick a country!) who's first language was not english, really had a problem.
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#59473
03/06/2002 9:03 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Dear of troy: Forgive the quibble, but "whilst" is not Brit slang. And I think USns might be less likely to know what a "spanner". I know it only from having read such books as Nevil Shute's "Trustee From the Toolroom".
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#59474
03/06/2002 10:51 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 3,146 |
That must have been a bit of a wrench, Bill!
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#59475
03/07/2002 12:04 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
No, CK: the wrench is the painful sensation of discovering my erroneous pronunciation of some common English words or names of eople or places.
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#59476
03/07/2002 12:22 AM
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 477
addict
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addict
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Posts: 477 |
you would say "It's all gone pear-shaped" when things go wrong
My colleagues and I working on Y2K called our manual "What to do if things turn pear shaped". If nothing else, it lightened up an otherwise contentious issue.
Hev
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#59477
03/08/2002 3:14 AM
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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old hand
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Posts: 833 |
DA da DAAAA! Thank you, Bean, for nobly taking up the cause of "from whence" (a few posts back). "fully authorised by the use of good writers" Hey, I'm a good writer! Must go celebrate with some two-bite brownies.... but before I go, some more Brit slang (sort of): What are you like? You git! Town bike Taking in laundry and the rather rude "You twat!" - which, interestingly enough, is pronounced differently in the UK - where they make it rhyme with "cat" - from how it is pronounced in (scary loaded word coming up) the colonies, where it rhymes with "what."
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#59478
03/08/2002 9:41 AM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 163
member
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member
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 163 |
Two words to add to the list:
chuffed: happy, pleased
tabbed: from what I can gather to walk or march
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#59479
03/08/2002 2:27 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
nd the rather rude "You twat!" - which, interestingly enough, is pronounced differently
in the UK - where they make it rhyme with "cat" - from how it is pronounced in (scary
loaded word coming up) the colonies, where it rhymes with "what."
Dear MG: This word interests me, because I think it is related to the cross-wise plank in a skiff, which is called a "thwart", on which you rest your butt. It is also used to refer to the female pudenda. I have seen a quote in that sense dating from about 1200. And I have only heard it pronounced like 'not'.
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#59480
03/08/2002 2:35 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
"You twat!" - which, interestingly enough, is pronounced differently in the UK - where they make it rhyme with "cat" - from how it is pronounced in (scary loaded word coming up) the colonies, where it rhymes with "what."
Obviously the colonies does not refer to where USns live since USns pronounce it to rhyme with "squat". "What" rhymes with "hut".
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#59481
03/08/2002 5:01 PM
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
what/hut/not in Canada, none of these quite rhyme. Even twat doesn't quite rhyme with what....but it's close (for those indelicate enough to use it such as, okay I'll admit it, me - but only under extenuating circumstances, honest!)
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#59482
03/08/2002 5:16 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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what and hut...yeah, unless i have on my 'formal' speaking voice, and then its slightly different..
but not, got, hot, are all closer to twat! then What or hut!
twat fall some where between not/got/hot and that/hat/sat!
OK, so we definatately need a list of words to be read..at wordapalooza.
we'll make up a list, and scrabble the list order, and then each person read the list.. and we'll try to deside what they are saying.. include American and Merkin, Roof and Rut, rough, car and care.. Mary and Marie, not and nut..
(i am sure this game will best played after a round or two of drinks has loosened everyones tongues!)
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#59483
03/08/2002 6:33 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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#59484
03/08/2002 9:15 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 3,146 |
Sorry, I was watching TV. You talking about what-nots, now? 
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#59485
03/08/2002 9:17 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 3,146 |
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#59486
03/08/2002 9:33 PM
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 688
addict
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addict
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#59487
03/08/2002 10:29 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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CK: to quote that eminent authority [namely you], "Good on ya, mate!"
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#59488
03/09/2002 3:27 AM
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 2,891 |
A can of coke costs a buck! Mon Dieu, a 2L is only 99 cents. Come, we'll celebrate here in Montréal.
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#59489
03/09/2002 2:30 PM
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Congrats, CapK. I have a bottle of champagne chillin' in my fridge. Think I'll go pop the cork. 
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#59490
03/09/2002 3:02 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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only 99 cents
and that's Canadian.
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#59491
03/09/2002 3:24 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 3,146 |
Congrats, CapK. I have a bottle of champagne chillin' in my fridge. Think I'll go pop the cork.Yeah, thanks a heap, Connie Just pass me that glass, will yer? Ta ...
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#59492
03/09/2002 3:32 PM
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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How long's yer arm? [whistling "My Connie Lies Over the Ocean-e]
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#59493
03/27/2002 5:42 AM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 3,065 |
In reply to:
the rather rude "You twat!" - which, interestingly enough, is pronounced differently in the UK - where they make it rhyme with "cat" - from how it is pronounced in (scary loaded word coming up) the colonies, where it rhymes with "what."
However it's pronounced, I cannot forbear from bringing to the Board's notice Robert Browning's use of the word in his poem Pippa Passes:
Then, owls and bats,
Cowls and twats,
Monks and nuns, in a cloister's moods,
Adjourn to the oak-stump pantry!
When this was queried by his publisher, Browning in all innocence said that it was an item of nun's headgear, citing a 17th century ditty, where unfortunately it meant just what you'd expect but the poet had taken a wild guess at the meaning from context.
Bingley
Bingley
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#59494
03/27/2002 11:31 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 11,613 |
the poet had taken a wild guess at the meaning from context.
Yes, and no one ever got up the nerve to tell him what it really meant!
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#59495
03/27/2002 11:42 AM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Well, Jackie, in the interests of philological certitude, perhaps you could explain to us exactly what it does mean.
Bingley
Bingley
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#59496
03/27/2002 12:05 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Sigh--I found out yesterday that there was a term I knew nothing about, and which explains several posts that I had formerly looked at in dumb non-comprehension. I was talking with a Brit-speaking friend about the wayzgoose site, and reading about the Morris dancing group (side, rather, there--I kept asking "the side of what?"). I commented that it must be a rather remarkable group, when I read that at a gathering some of the dancers were legless.
For this I received: 1.)outrageously prolonged laughter, and 2.) the information that that meant they were drunk. Gave me a whole new perspective, Max, on your post title "Mav's legless".
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#59497
03/27/2002 12:06 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 11,613 |
Well, Bingley, I might, but I don't know what philological means.
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#59498
03/27/2002 12:18 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 3,065 |
Philological -- to do with philology
Philology -- the practice of philologists
Philologist -- one who loves and studies words, we denizens of AWADtalk basically.
Now, I repeat: in the interests of philological certitude, perhaps Jackie could explain to us exactly what twat does mean.
Bingley
Bingley
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#59499
03/27/2002 12:24 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 11,613 |
Gee--do philology and philately come from the same root?
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#59500
03/27/2002 1:45 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 3,065 |
They do. We are still waiting for your explanation of the poet's misunderstanding.
Bingley
Bingley
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#59501
03/27/2002 1:49 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Posts: 2,204 |
Probably - for a new word to be accpeted thoroughly and legitimately, it needs a philologists stamp of approval.
Or isn't that t'what Bingley was alluding?
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#59502
03/27/2002 1:58 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,803 |
What it means:
Speaking for our dear Gutter PolicePerson, to whom I owe a favor for pointing out my gutteral misinterpretation of today's Word, there are several beverages that were served to the steerage class passengers on the now defunct TransWorld Airlines' flights. These were TWA milk, TWA coffee and TWA tea.
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#59503
03/27/2002 2:52 PM
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
hahaha. You are a rascal.
k
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#59504
03/28/2002 3:32 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 11,613 |
We are still waiting for your explanation of the poet's misunderstanding.
How the heck do I know? I reckon he ran in too genteel a circle to have heard the term; he was just too sweet and innocent--like thee and me.
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#59505
03/28/2002 3:38 AM
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 688
addict
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addict
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 688 |
he was just too sweet and innocent--like thee and me.
Tee hee! [snickering-e]
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#59506
03/28/2002 9:40 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
New Scientist for 2 March, OpinionFeedback,p.108:
".....Now we have the Meterological Offices Edinburgh division advertising online for "Climate Quality Controllers".
West Lothian reader Jim Bartholomew, who found this, says: "It's just the sort of thing we need up here in the middle of a dreich winter. .........."
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#59507
03/28/2002 9:53 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
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#59508
03/28/2002 10:01 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear Max: I could tell it meant unpleasant, but what are the specifications to the charge?
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#59509
03/28/2002 10:19 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
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#59510
03/28/2002 10:44 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear Max: "dreich" is not in several dictionaries I use. So perhaps "dialectic" might fit better than "slang".
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#59511
03/29/2002 5:20 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
Dreich may be the etymological forebear of drek, then. Any views?
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#59512
03/29/2002 1:12 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
I never knew this was a real word! it was like snafu, or faquary (a contraction, for "Where the F*** are we?") a word that i used all the time, but never thought about!
dreich, or as i think of it, dreek, is cold, left over, day old coffee, that you are drinking because there is no fresh coffee to brew up, or some such.. (how can you drink that dreek?) and or a cold, windy, rainy, grey winter's day.. the kind you wake and want to just get back under the covers with a nice cup of cocoa, and good book..
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#59513
03/29/2002 1:16 PM
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679
addict
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addict
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Gee--do philology and philately come from the same root?
Well, Phil O'logy was my ethics professor in college wheras Michael Philately is an Irish-American ex-riverdancer who tends to stamp quite a bit.
Okay, This isn't Wordplay and fun and I'm being flippant but I'm on a day off and I had to come into work to some stuff so I think I'm entitled to a bit of fun!
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#59514
03/29/2002 11:24 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 2,605 |
Dreich may be the etymological forebear of drek, then. Any views? CK, I cannot forebear [ ] saying, "Honor thy yiddish!" Dreck is yiddish, and a commonly-used word. dreck: slang Trash, especially inferior merchandise. ETYMOLOGY: German, dirt, trash and Yiddish drek, excrement http://www.bartleby.com/61/63/D0386300.html "Dreich" is obscure scottish, and is pronuonced with a long-e sound.
http://www.scotsmagazine.com/words.htm#D
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