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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,027
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,027 |
to an entire truckload is stretching the point to the limit, imho: the onomatopoietic ring of the word would be difficult to reconcile with the manner in which a truck, loaded with concrete, is discharged.
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,571 Likes: 1
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,571 Likes: 1 |
."a dollop in the middle range is about the size of a hen's egg...having a form that will hold for a while..."
I'm entirely with WW. In whipped cream or such it's about the amount easily held in a tablespoon, plopped on top of the main dish, and holding its shape is clearly an implied property of the substance in question.
As I recall, Tigger called it a "golollop" (sp?) when he took that amount of Roo's Strengthening Medicine. Although I don't think Extract of Malt has all that much solidity, now that I think of it...Maybe it was Pooh with Hunny.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
Maybe by is thinking of daub not dob? Atomica gives lots of cheerful definitions, which sort of fit the idea, though they seem to refer specifically to paint:
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daub (dôb)
v., daubed, daub·ing, daubs.
v.tr. To cover or smear with a soft adhesive substance such as plaster, grease, or mud. To apply paint to (a surface) with hasty or crude strokes. To apply with quick or crude strokes: daubed glue on the paper. v.intr. To apply paint or coloring with crude, unskillful strokes. To make crude or amateurish paintings. To daub a sticky material. n. The act or a stroke of daubing. A soft adhesive coating material such as plaster, grease, or mud. Matter daubed on. A crude, amateurish painting or picture. [Middle English dauben, from Old French dauber, from Latin d?alb?re, to whitewash : d?-, intensive pref.; see de? + albus, white.]
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And for me, a dollop always involves a spoon. It's the amount of something goopy you can scoop with a spoon, and with a flourish, glob it onto your plate. Therefore, as stated earlier, you couldn't speak of a dollop of orange juice. We would like use the word for sour cream or whipped cream.
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