Eat more possum - Wordsmith.org

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#132648 - 09/08/04 09:33 PM Re: Back to the original question
Bobyoungbalt veteran Registered: 11/22/00 Posts: 1289	In re translationis Jenetis Fiddle faddle. It is true that eat is in the subjunctive, but if so, why? There is no occasion for it in this sentence except possibly as the hortatory subjunctive, but try making any sense out of that, particularly as you would have another verb, possum, in the indicative. I suspect this is some arcane schoolboy joke (in English). And incidentally, there are people who think that possums make great eating. Latin mottos and short quotes are notoriously difficult to grasp and translate since they generally are greatly condensed and often have peculiar word order. An example is the motto of the State of Maryland on the Great Seal: Scuto bonae voluntatis tuae coronasti nos. Have a go at that one. There are two schools of thought about the usage, hence the exact meaning, of 'scuto'.
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#132649 - 09/08/04 09:36 PM Re: Back to the original question
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 13667	there are people who think that possums make great eating. Don't be confusing possum with 'possum. Two totally nother animals.
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#132650 - 09/08/04 09:42 PM Re: Back to the original question
sjmaxq Carpal Tunnel Registered: 07/20/03 Posts: 3230 Loc: Te Ika a Maui	>Don't be confusing possum with 'possum. Two totally nother animals. Which is the point I was trying to make, obliquely. _________________________ noho ora mai http://maxqnzs.com/References.html
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#132651 - 09/08/04 09:46 PM Re: Back to the original question
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 13667	I was just trying to splain BobY that. Not sure he got the point.
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#132652 - 09/08/04 09:51 PM Re: Back to the original question
sjmaxq Carpal Tunnel Registered: 07/20/03 Posts: 3230 Loc: Te Ika a Maui	Indeed. The error in my last post was that I forgot to include a thanks for the assist. I'm not sure BobY would want to eat our possums, given that they are the major vector for bovine TB in NZ. That's a cross-species contamination I'm not willing to risk any more. _________________________ noho ora mai http://maxqnzs.com/References.html
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#132653 - 09/08/04 09:52 PM Re: Back to the original question
Bobyoungbalt veteran Registered: 11/22/00 Posts: 1289	Faldage, if you and max are trying to make the point that the Zildian marsupial is a possum and the American one is a 'possum, I have to cry Nitpicking! I don't believe I've ever heard anyone use the full form, opossum, except in a technical context and I don't think you find it with an apostrophe in the dictionary. Are you going to tell us that the plural of possum is possa?
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#132654 - 09/08/04 09:55 PM Re: Back to the original question
sjmaxq Carpal Tunnel Registered: 07/20/03 Posts: 3230 Loc: Te Ika a Maui	>Faldage, if you and max are trying to make the point that the Zildian marsupial is a possum and the American one is a 'possum, I have to cry Nitpicking! Not I. The point I was trying to make was exactly as Faldage stated it, that they are two completely diferent animals, nothing more. The point was made relevant by your comment that some people like eating possums. Unless you've spent time in Oz or Zild, I think I can state with confidence that you've never eaten one of our possums. EDIT I've just noticed that said disease-carrying, kiwi-killing, flora-munching pests were called "Zildian". Not so. They're an Oz invasion, and we would happily send them all back, if we could. _________________________ noho ora mai http://maxqnzs.com/References.html
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#132655 - 09/08/04 10:02 PM Re: Back to the original question
Wordwind Carpal Tunnel Registered: 09/30/01 Posts: 6296 Loc: Piedmont Region of Virginia, U...	And from what I gather about our USA 'possums, they ain't really that good--kinda like eating baked grease wrapped in skin.
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#132656 - 09/09/04 06:05 AM Re: Back to the original question
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 13667	I merely included the apostrophe in the name of the USn beast to distinguish it from the antipodean one. As for nit-picking, my reputation exceeds me.
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#132657 - 09/09/04 02:13 PM Re: Back to the original question
belMarduk Carpal Tunnel Registered: 09/28/00 Posts: 2888	Mmmmmmmmmm baked grease, wrapped in skin. Is it salted?
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