The cops wouldn’t help him because he was a fair –NYPD Blue
I can't provide further context but by chance does this ring a bell with anyone
As I wish to improve the clarity of my threads, my question is not what is meant by "fair," but wheteher you understand what the above two paragraphs are attempting to elicit and if not why not--thanks all
It's
déjà vu all over again.
Oops, forgive an old curmudgeon at the onset of Alzheimer's
Still, the question is different this time
Dear Dalehileman, think of it as Walzheimer always, just a positve perspective. The incredible lightness of being.I have all the good reasons to sympathize with you.
(and don't know the answer anyway)
Dale,
My problem with the above post and the discussions that followed it on this board and other(s) has to do with "I can't provide further context". From this. we had no way of judging source or the accuracy of the quote. You could have overheard it at the water cooler, copied it from IMDB, or read it out of a transcript. The context in which you found the quote is often as important to solving the mystery as the context OF the quote.
Eventually, on WW, you admitted that you got the quote from watching the episode yourself but you don't remember a single detail or even generality about the program other than this supposedly "exact" quote. Yet when people had earlier suggested fare and fairy, you were resistent to the possiblity of a misquote.
I am now going to suggest that, for all you know, the poor guy could have been "afire".
Quote:
Dale,
I am now going to suggest that, for all you know, the poor guy could have been "afire".
I'm following this mystery and I'm puzzled. If the man would be afire wouldn't it say "could not help in stead of "would not"?
I can imagine they could not help someone "afire",
but would not help?
Wouldn't you help someone who is afire? (if it means what I think it means). Or is afire not the same thing as on fire? ('-')?
I stand by what I said in the original thread. notice the word "wouldn't". it implies they could, if they wanted to.
Yes, but now the issue is whether the poor man is on fire or not.A new suggestion by Mirydon.(Myridon?)Changes the case.
I would say a burning emergency. Fair or afire or a burning friar?
Dale, I love your stubbornness on the subject. Really.
Or maybe it was the colour of the uniform. Yes! the NYPD wore a fair blue uniform and it should have been dark blue.
they WOULDN'T help him because he was on fire? I doubt that.
the word used was fair, and it is a derogatory word for homosexual.
a little digging came up with this:
Quote:
fair (adj.)
O.E. fæger "beautiful, pleasant," from P.Gmc. *fagraz (cf. O.N. fagr, O.H.G. fagar "beautiful," Goth. fagrs "fit"), from PIE *fag-. The meaning in ref. to weather (c.1205) preserves the original sense (opposed to foul). Sense of "light complexioned" (1551) reflects tastes in beauty; sense of "free from bias" (c.1340) evolved from another early meaning, "morally pure, unblemished" (c.1175). The sporting senses (fair ball, fair catch etc.) began in 1856. Fair play is from 1595; fair and square is from 1604. Fair-haired in the fig. sense of "darling, favorite" is from 1909. Fairly in the sense of "somewhat" is from 1805; it earlier meant "totally." Fairway (1584) originally meant "navigational channel of a river;" golfing sense is from 1910. First record of fair-weather friends is from 1736.
I can't get to the Urban Dictionary from school, but did you try there, dale?
Yes I know that, but did you or did you not read Myridon's post?
The fair = gay thing was all discussed in the original thread. But the context is gone and wel: see higher up....
I simply followed Myridon's suggestion and remarked that that could not be the case as no one would let someone burn unless they could not help. (!**!)
Of course the uniform colour is a random remark and well, this mystery will go into the unsolved cases' file, I'm afraid.
We tried...
I did read Myr's post, and while his suggestion is certainly plausible, I don't believe it to be true. (it was actually your post that I did not read carefully, otherwise I wouldn't have repeated the would/could thing.)
while the context may not be clear, my familiarity with the show leads me to believe the homosexual sense.
Ach, that were granma's wasted pearls again . Anyway,I learned from your last answer that Myridon is not a she and I must send my apologies to HIM. (I've till now neglected profile reading.)
And shame on those discriminating criminologists too. Police.
Remember that we're relying on Dale's memory for the entire quote not only for the word "fair"... What if it was IF instead of BECAUSE? "The cops wouldn't help him if he was on fire."
People do say:
I wouldn't help him IF he was on fire.
along the same line as:
I wouldn't give him the time of day.
I wouldn't touch him with a ten-foot-pole.
(^_^) Anyway, people on fire should be the job of the fire department not the police. (^_^)
Myr: Appreciate your analyses and apologize profusely for being unable to provide further context but I had hoped that someone might have heard the expr used that way or better yet could remember it from having viewed the program
Anyhow pretty sure it was "fair" though thanks all for the input
I don't believe that you or the context exist, DH, mon vieux chappe.
zm: Sorry, but really, I'm sincerely not trying to be opaque, but I don't understand your confusion
dh: You're not opaque, you're transparent, in the original sense of the word. Look that up in your urbane F&W's.
Of course I should not interfere in this very private conversation, but this thread is so amusing because it goes from nix to nothing and nothing is more amusing and relaxing than a serious phantom problem.
I subscribed earlier so I follow; that's only fair and I really laugh and am grateful to Mr. Dale.
This discussion brings to mind each time I hear an announcement of a "fare hike" (relating to a public service of some type), I proclaim, "NO hike is fair!"
A fair hike and a fare hike are both good reasons to invest in a good pair of walking shoes.
Quote:
A fair hike and a fare hike are both good reasons to invest in a good pair of walking shoes.
Nicely phrased, Myridon. My boots are made for walking when some lower-than-lawyer, egg-sucking politician tells me that we all must pay our "fair share" of some newly concocted government tax. 
Whoa, themilum
Can't tell YOU have an opinion on the subject, eh?
Bran thank you as I need a little support once in a while, mercilessly attacked as I am from all quarters
Of course! It's just not fair!
Could it not be about hair colour, or some sort of bias against albinos (the human variety)?
Or maybe he was a carnie (carnival worker), they used to have a bad reputation with local police.