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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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probably akin to Latin flare to blowThat should be: probably akin to Latin flare, to blow. Flare is the Latin infinitive of the verb meaning to blow and is pronounced FLAH-ray. In its full up dictionary entry form, flo, flare, flatus, flatui, if I remember my full up dictionary forms correctly. This is the root of our word inflate. EDIT: Yeah, right. I spend a half hour researching and making sure that I'd leave something out that'll come back and bite me and Bean slips in ahead of me. Harrumphİ 
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old hand
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old hand
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> "williwog is also Aussie slang for "willie"?
'twould seem so from the link - but this lil numbat has never heard it before. May be a localised usage??
stales
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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faldage gripes Yeah, right. I spend a half hour researching and making sure that I'd leave something out that'll come back and bite me... [I.A.]
you succeeded admirably.
p.s. - have we considered that perhaps 'williwog' was a typo for the wrong word?
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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p.s. - have we considered that perhaps 'williwog' was a typo for the wrong word?
Well, tsuwm, knowing the newspaper in question, this is a distinct possibility. This is the weekly I cited once before where the editor insists on the one-"e" emplye/employee spelling.
And is there more of an etymology for williwaw in the OED?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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>is there more of an etymology for williwaw in the OED? nope; here is the entry for etymology: [?]it could be native to the Cape Horn area, since that's where it was first applied, according to the citations. sorry, my silence in this regard usually means "origin unknown". :-} http://home.mn.rr.com/wwftd/
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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it could be native to the Cape Horn area, since that's where it was first applied, according to the citations.
Hmmm...interesting...I wonder, then, if williwaw could be traced to an indigenous South American tongue?
'Course that particular area, being a timeless seaway, is such a melting pot of multi-national settlers that it could be derived from any one of a wide assortment of languages. Guess we'll never know.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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http://ggweather.com/winds.html This is a site all about wind names. It says "willy-willy" is name for cyclone in Australia, also now being used for "dust-devils". I still think "williwaw" originated in Alaska, and was extended to describe similar winds off Cape Horn.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I still think "williwaw" originated in Alaska, and was extend to similar winds off Cape Horn.Wow, Dr. Bill!...I'd say that's quite a stretch!  But, seriously...I tend to agree that it sounds like some aboriginal American tongue...be it North or South.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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But remember, we had very little contact with the natives anywhere near Cape Horn.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear Bean,
Thanks for the explanation about flare. That flare to blow really had me puzzled. I've gone through all kinds of possible scenarios to explain to myself what a flare to blow and how it might be related to phallus.
DubDub
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