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EDITi misunderstood the text of another thread. i was not clear how much of the text was a quote and how much was added editorial. the original text (now in white)will be deleted in 10 days- for now now its should be ignored. in an other thread, a rather insulting comment was made.
i have no intention of posting anything in reply to a general insult.
a number of people read the same post, and decided, to for what ever reason, not to comment either.there was a discussion some 3 years ago about mug shots, and toby mugs were part of the discussion,(as were an number of other topics!) in case anyone is interested, you can find the discussion here: http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=etymologies&Number=21236i didn't reread the entire thread, but wonder about 'beakers' --is beaker a more common term for a mug in the UK? Keeping Up Appearences is a perennial rerun (here in NY on our PBS station), and the choice is Hyacinth's "hand painted periwinkle dalton china" or a beaker and neighbor elizabeth always asks for "a beaker, please!" and recieves her tea in what i would call a mug. feel free to continue the discussion here, or in the older thread, (or to ignore!) ********************************************************** Edit continued: it is important to somehow be able to sort out what is a quote and what isn't, and when a post has been edited after it has been responded to. in the FAQ there are instructions for how to use color, and to create italics, or to bold, there is even a In reply to:
this is a quote
box (rarely used here.. for what ever reasons.)
when a poster is in the habit of mixing quotes with his own editorial comments, it becomes easy to misunderstand the comments, and their sourse. I made a mistake.
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Of Troy:
If either Dr. Bill [or myself as his agent] has inadvertently published a "general insult" or any kind of insult in his "mug" thread of this morning, please accept my sincere apologies.
I can personally assure you, on behalf of both Dr. Bill and myself, that if any "general insult" can be found in his post, or any insult at all, we will eradicate it as soon as we find it.
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I ignore some of the comments here (AWAD), or don’t read them, or stop reading as soon as I come across one. That doesn’t mean that I think it’s ok.
As a lab rat, when I hear the word beaker I usually think of two things: “A glass jar with no handle and a flat bottom” or that puppet from the Muppet Show. A former co-worker gave me the puppet version a year or so ago saying that it looked like me. I don’t agree. It has more hair and a different colored lab coat. All the same he hangs onto some of the electrical cables that are plugged into the 5’ high receptacle in the wall of my cubicle. He seems nervously pensive although I very infrequently blow anything up anymore, especially at my desk.
A former boss of mine, a degreed geologist, functioning as an analytical chemist, used to dole out date-of-hire anniversary presents that the company unwittingly purchased for us from the Fisher Scientific catalogue. One year she ordered a Pyrex beaker with a handle, which was meant to be a beer mug. It was complete with volumetric graduations on the side. I think they called it a Labmug.
Here in southern NE, its always mug (big) or cup, unless you’re in a lab, (although you often hear “parlor” when what’s meant is living room).
Oddly enough, to me anyhow, my current boss is a different degreed geologist, employed as an analytical chemist/supervisor. (I’m just lucky I guess) She presents Home Depot gift cards at the holidays, which is nice too.
We enjoy Keeping Up Appearances at our home too. Such lovely things!
I will not comment on my experiences regarding mug shots.
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Thanks, Owlbow.
I take it that the concern is that one of the mugs described in the dictionary source might bear some inadvertent resemblance to some unknown person who might be visiting AWADtalk, and that if that unknown person were to click on the link that Dr. Bill supplied, that person might discover a Toby mug which reminded that person of himself or herself or someone close to them, resulting in an unintended insult to someone, possibly.
Fortunately, the link Dr. Bill has supplied doesn't work, and has never worked since it was first posted, so the improbable chain of events leading to an unintended insult to some unknown person by exposure to some unknown mug is, thankfully, not merely unlikely, but entirely impossible.
I know Dr. Bill will be as relieved as I am.
BTW I have never taken any particular notice of Toby mugs myself but, if I ever found one that resembled me, even in the cruellest of caricatures, I am sure I would buy it and display it both proudly and prominently in my office. Folks might think I had the caricature created specially for me at fabulous expense, giving convincing evidence of my extraordinary and endearing capacity for self-deprecation.
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Carpal Tunnel
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in an attempt to clear the air for all, the perceived insult was few members are likely to remember; and as oftroy has indicated in her original post, there was a misunderstanding as to which part of the post was bill's words. bill was wont to say this often, and we soon learned that he thought we were all getting senile. : )
to add context to this, sweeping statements of this kind, "I'm sure we can all agree..", tend to set some people's teeth on edge. I well remember how the acronym YART, which had the affrontery to assume that *everyone would like to know that a certain topic had been previously discussed within these hollowed walls, was treated when I introduced it. (hi bill!)
I hope this helps.
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Thanks for clearing the air, tsuwm and Of Troy:
When I post something "from Dr. Bill", such as "mugs", it is entirely Dr. Bill's. I don't consider it my responsibility to read it too closely or to edit. That is Dr. Bill's own responsibility and he is highly principled about what he posts, as we all know from long experience.
If the search results in one of Dr. Bill's posts are search results which I obtained on his behalf, it is my practice to say so. Of course, I am responsible for my own search results but only for those results, not for the subject of the post or its message.
Whew! I hope that clears the air from our end as well. :)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Well the illustrations for this article on the Beaker People has drinking vessel with and without handles: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/archaeology/bronzeageman_2.shtmlI would normally assume that a beaker was a tall fairly narrow drinking vessel with a flat bottom and no handles. A mug would have a broader bottom and a handle. Bingley
Bingley
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From Dr. Bill [wwh] in response to Bingley's link to
Bronze Age Britain: The Beaker People*
EDIT: In the German the 'goblet' was called a 'Becher'.
THE KING OF THULE.* [Der Koenig von Thule]
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
(* This ballad is also introduced in Faust, where it is sung by Margaret.)
[Alternative Translation below this Translation]
IN Thule lived a monarch,
Still faithful to the grave,
To whom his dying mistress
A golden goblet gave.
Beyond all price he deem'd it,
He quaff'd it at each feast;
And, when he drain'd that goblet,
His tears to flow ne'er ceas'd.
And when he felt death near him,
His cities o'er he told,
And to his heir left all things,
But not that cup of gold.
A regal banquet held he
In his ancestral ball,
In yonder sea-wash'd castle,
'Mongst his great nobles all.
There stood the aged reveller,
And drank his last life's-glow,--
Then hurl'd the holy goblet
Into the flood below.
He saw it falling, filling,
And sinking 'neath the main,
His eyes then closed for ever,
He never drank again.
Alternative Translation:
THE KING OF THULE
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
There was a king in Thule,
Was faithful to the grave,
Whom she that loved him truly
In dying a goblet gave.
He found no prize more appealing,
Each feast he drained the cup;
To his eyes the tears came stealing
Whenever he held it up.
And when he came to dying,
The towns in his realm he enrolled,
His heir no prize denying,
Except that cup of gold.
And at a royal wassail
With all his knights sat he
In the hall of his father's castle
That faces toward the sea.
The old carouser slowly
Stood up, drank life's last glow,
And flung the cup so holy
Into the flood below.
He saw it plunging, drinking
As deep in the sea it sank.
His eyes the while were sinking,
Not a drop again he drank.
* "The emergence of the Beaker People in Britain gave rise to what is now termed as the "Wessex Culture". This is the name given to a number of very rich grave goods under round barrows in Southern Britain. The grave goods include well-made stone battle axes, metal daggers, with elaborately decorated hilts and precious ornaments of gold and amber. Some of the loveliest prehistoric objects to be found in Britain come from the Wessex Culture graves. Some of the golden cups found in the graves were so like those of the Mycenae that it used to be quoted to prove the existence of trade between Wessex and Greece."
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