what's so wonderful about being a pooh-bah (pb)? at least one of the pb's amongst us gets upset at being constantly held up for approbation (or ridicule), so maybe it's time to examine the thrall of it all. first, consider all the perks....
- if you don't post for an hour or so, speculation is rife as to your health, well-being and/or visitation hours.
- it is well established that you maintain archives of all of the private mail you have received and sent and can answer any question in regards to the workings of the known multiiverse.
- everyone knows about the friendly competition to reach that next, unknown, level and provides encouragement for reaching same.
- as is well known, we pb's have the ear of the sainted yet ostensible wordsmith and have inside information into the workings of the system. (you'll notice that max no longer complains about his lack of juice.) [what was that about an unknown level?]
consider these truisms: pb's either a) have been around a long time or b) have something to say about everything (or both). but look, if you've been around for a year it's only 4.383562 posts a day to reach poohbahdom. some of you just haven't been trying hard enough.
"but once having reached poohbahtude, what is there to look forward to?", one might ask (or not). I'm sure there must be something, said joe adumbratively.
as is well known, we pb's have the ear of the sainted yet ostensible wordsmith and have inside information into the workings of the system. (you'll notice that max no longer complains about his lack of juice.
Max no longer complains about his lack of juice because he has accepted it as an immutable fact, not because the situation has changed. I have received no indication that Anu has altered his decision to ignore any correspondence from me.
Ahhh! I was so glad to see that title - since ...I cannot bother someone for each thing
that I don't understand ...but I really would like to know the meaning of "Pooh-ba"!
> ...some of you just haven't been trying hard enough.
Oh, I don't know.
Pooh-Bah was a character in The Mikado who had about 20 jobs, and so it was entered in the dictionary as a peson with many jobs.
jimthedog
Well well, looky what we have here, ..I have, since my last post said goodbye to standard membership here, and therefore taken one step closer to this Pooh-Bah-ism. So tell us you three, is it over-rated?
Congratulations, BY,
just one small step at a time.
By the way, honourable Pooh-Bahs, do you share the 20 jobs or do they think up another 20 as each new Pooh-Bah is announced? (What is the name for the ceremony of being made a Pooh-Bah?) I can see that "Checking that each other Pooh-Bah is doing things right" will add to the job stack of each, and may even put a limit on the number and eventually reduce the efficiency and output of the set (lair, ministry, wunch??) of Pooh-Bahs to zero. A bit like our governments really
.
Rod
tsuwm - That was a side splitter for me....
especially the math... but especially the existentialism.
"...to ignore any correspondence from me."I'm *sure it's not as whelming as your desire to
make it so...
I'm *sure it's not as whelming as your desire to make it so... You may well be right, but in that delightful USn idiom, I'm 0 for 4, an loathe to endanger my eggshell fragile self-esteem by trying again!
(What is the name for the ceremony of being made a Pooh-Bah?)
It is an "Elevation" to Pooh-Bah status, much like an Archbishop is "elevated" to Cardinal, and the elevation is conducted by The Enigmatic Anu alone. There are mysteries within paradoxes, riddles, and allusions known only to the Great One. It is a mystery.
wow
High Priestess
>(What is the name for the ceremony of being made a Pooh-Bah?) It is an "Elevation"....It is a mystery.
to paraphrase something the good doctor said in another thread in this vicinitude, that is a slice of shamanistic effutiation.
you posts your requisite posts and (lo and/or behold) this typically feckless simulacrum totes up yet another digital totem for the amusement of the proles.
.... for the amusement of the proles.
And this prole is duly amused, tsuwm. (I wonder if there's a booby prize for the longest continuous presence with the fewest elevations?)
All I can say is that it must be tough at the top.
All I can say is that it must be tough at the top.
Is that why you're leaving it, and heading down to the bottom of the world?
Yep, Maxie-boy, I says to myself, I says, well, CK, you're at the top. There's not many of us up here, and it's getting damned lonely. And it's all downhill from here, so I better get a wriggle on down the slippery slope to the uttermost depths. The only thing to do, see, Maxie, is to start again from the bottom and see if I can't make a better job of the climb the second time round.
What is the name for the ceremony of being made a Pooh-Bah?....It is an "Elevation"...a mystery.
that is a slice of shamanistic effutiation......
for the amusement of the proles.
Exactly.
tsuwm>>>>>>>>>
you posts your requisite posts and (lo and/or behold) this typically feckless simulacrum totes up yet another digital totem for the amusement of the proles.
I just learned today how many postings=pooh-bah(hood) and I got dizzy! No wonderif you don't post for an hour or so, speculation is rife as to your health, well-being and/or visitation hours. A pooh-bah is in such an "elevated state" wow on top of that digital
totem pole that it is understandable the proles quiver at the thought of a pooh-bah toppling over.
With the knowledge of this incredible feat that you have achieved, let me ask forgiveness for not giving all of you pooh-bahs my proper respect when you each were elevated (kneeling on the ground and bowing repeatedly emoticon)
chronist
What is the name for the ceremony of being made a Pooh-Bah?....It is an "Elevation".and is the collective noun the same - "an elevation of Pooh-Bahs" or "a flight" perhaps? I suppose in UK we would call an elevation a lifting
Rod
and is the collective noun the same - "an elevation of Pooh-Bahs"?Being inordinately fond of alliteration, I prefer, "a palaver of Pooh-Bahs"
Speaking of the top of the world; here at the bottom (which we mistakenly believe to be the top [shamelessly sucking up in hopes of actually® getting my question answered {Fat Chance of Fong©} emoticon]) of the world, I recently saw a picture in a newspaper of a train traveling on a track which I knew to be, conceptually at least, oriented on the east-west axis. The train was shown as traveling from the right side to the left side of the picture. I drew the conclusion that it was traveling west. If you were to see a similar picture in the true top of the world what direction would you, on some gut level, assume the train to be traveling in?
If you were to see a similar picture in the true top of the world what direction would you, on some gut level, assume the train to be traveling in?
South.
tsuwm's truisms:
pb's either a) have been around a long time or b) have something to say about everything (or both). but look, if you've been around for a year it's only 4.383562 posts a day to reach poohbahdom. some of you just haven't been trying hard enough. AnnaS adds: And then there's those that have been around since Day 1 (AWADtalk calendar), and don't feel the need to rush a good thang.
If you were to see a similar picture in the true top of the world what direction would you, on some gut level,
assume the train to be traveling in?
South.
[awaits Zildian indignation manifestations]
ASp drawls And then there's those that have been around since Day 1 (AWADtalk calendar), and don't feel the need to rush a good thang.
she would be the exception that rues the prole.
Although magnificently underqualified to interject in this thread I feel the rudimentary, but candid, impression of a newcomer may (or may not, as the case may be) help.
I can't help but notice that the threads have a tendancy to become more and more surreal as you progress through the echelons (eg South - not wishing to single out Jackie, but it was the easiest to quote in entirety). I posit that as the posts increase in their bizzareness through the levels, the process of the progress we all operate by is summed up in the name of the state that is given to them that is the most novice (subliminal conditioning of the intakes??)
In view of the possibility of the title 'stranger' being taken as an adjective (and thereby suggesting that we would therefore superceed even Pooh-bahs in this strange scale) I move to suggest that the most novice rank should be renamed saner.
Am I making any sense??
Am I making any sense??
Nope. You fit right in.
I can't help but notice that the threads have a tendancy to become more and more surreal as you progress through the echelons...
this could be thought of as following the dialectic of the board [pun intended].
The Rite of Elevation to Poohbahdom
In the spirit of the character alluded to in the opening scene of GBS' play The Apple Cart, who was a professional ritualist and who died when marooned on a remote island where there was nothing artificial, I suggest a few notes for the mysterious rite:
The candidate for the Exalted Grandiosity of Poohbah is escorted down the aisle of the Abbey by the Hierophant (the senior Exalted Poohbah), both accoutred in white tie and tails (irrespective of gender), and doing the penguin walk to the strains of I Was Glad When They Said Unto Me, reaching the chancel just as the choir reaches the middle section, where the Westminster Boys Choir sings, "Vivat! Vivat! Vivat Pu-Ba [name]!" The candidate is led to the throne, which is made from a special edition of the OED in one double-folio-size volume and assisted to sit upon it. The Archimandrite of Linguistics (currently the Most Ven. Anu Garg) solemnly reads out a list of the new Poohbah's postings, after which a trumpet fanfare is blown to wake up the audience. The A.L. then anoints the P.B. with snake oil on the lips, tongue, ears, and writing hand, and proclaims him/her duly installed in the Exalted Grandiosity, after which all AWADers of lesser rank come forward and kowtow. The new EPB then reads aloud a special posting composed for the occasion, which should be not less than 50,000 words. After various other ceremonies which can not be described to the profane, and the ceremony concluded, all AWADers repair to the chosen dining facilty for an elaborate supper, the high point of which is a baloney carried in on a tray with much fanfare whilst The Jabberwock is recited.
Too close, BobY.
wow
High Priestess
Note to self: Replenish stock of vellum and goose quills. Write The Great Anu re security at Pooh-Bah elevation ceremony.
[awaits Zildian indignation manifestations]
With the serenity conferred upon me at my elevation, I have realised, as a southpaw living at the top of the world, up here in the Southern Hemisphere, that getting indignant at bottom-dwelling Northerners for their quaint delusions about their spatial reality is akin to getting indignant at USn's for spelling funny. In both cases, they just can't help it, so the elevated (geographically and metaphysically) among us must just smile condescendingly, and not risk inflicting permanent harm by insisting that the deluded abandon their delusions.
Bobyb, in describing the Elevation to PoohBahsity Ceremony mentions: The new EPB then reads aloud a special posting composed for the occasion, which should be not less than 50,000 words. (emphasis mine)
Or, to use the portmanteau word, compost.
"an elevation of Pooh-Bahs"? ... "a palaver of Pooh-Bahs" A compergation of Pooh-Bahs.
YCLIU.
Faldage wrote The train was shown as traveling from the right side to the left side of the picture.
Presuming you mean right-to-left as I look at the picture :
East.
The wise old woman contributes: A compergation of Pooh-Bahs. and adds YCLIU
ILIU and MW suggested compurgation
compurgation
Right again, Faldage!
Typing too fsat, fst, FAST!
Definitely west.
jimthedog
- it is well established that you maintain archives of all of the private mail you have received and sent and can answer any question in regards to the workings of the known multiiverse
We were wrong in believing you have an eidetic memory?
> We were wrong in believing you have an eidetic memory?
Do those with an eidetic memory, not see the employment of books and the written word as futile?
Do those with an eidetic memory, not see the employment of books and the written word as futile?
I'd say that they'd like them just as much as anyone else, they just don't see why everyone has to look at a certain book again.
jimthedog
What does eidetic memory mean?
It's a photographic memory.
jimthedog
The Archimandrite of Linguistics (currently the Most Ven. Anu Garg) solemnly reads out a list of the new Poohbah's postings, after which a trumpet fanfare is blown to wake up the audience.
Oh, Bob! This made me laugh out loud! (I've not had a great deal of time to be here so far this week, and didn't realize I'd let Miscellany go since Monday. Trying to catch up, now.) But you got it all right but the snake oil.
Our oldest-I-mean-grandest Pooh-Bah found out it tastes terrible, so we did away with anointing the lips.
Max: just what do you mean, I spell thangs funny??
Faldage wrote The train was shown as traveling from the right side to the left side of the picture.
Presuming you mean right-to-left as I look at the picture :
East.
Surely, you need to know what time of day it is, so that you can note where the shadows fall. Or else look at the picture of the tree and see on which side the moss grows.
In any case, unless it is a moving picture, you do not have any idea whether the train is travelling forwards or backwards, which is a significant factor in solving this particular urgent problem.
Max: just what do you mean, I spell thangs funny??
You are quite right, Jackie, my dear. There is
no alternative spelling of "thangs" to the one that you have used.
Rhuby notes: In any case, unless it is a moving picture, you do not have any idea whether the train is travelling forwards or backwards, which is a significant factor in solving this particular urgent problem.
In this particular case there was a railroad worker who was about to leap onto the train and we could tell from his stance which way he was going to jump. The particular urgent problem was that the train was a runaway with hazardous chemicals on board. If it derailed and dumped its contents in a highly populated area it would have wreaked untold havoc.
wreaked untold havoc
Why do we say this common phrase in an apparent past tense, when we surely mean something closer to 'untellable' or 'unpredictable' - anyone know the origin?