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#181521 - 01/07/09 03:16 AM Re: Blackbird fly ! [Re: PastorVon]
Zed Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 08/27/02
Posts: 2154
Loc: British Columbia, Canada
AHA! I knew someone else out there had heard of mugwumps!

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#181529 - 01/07/09 11:08 AM Re: Blackbird fly ! [Re: Zed]
PastorVon Offline
member

Registered: 12/30/08
Posts: 107
Loc: USA, North Carolina
Well, it may not endear the culprit to hoi polloi; but it is certainly a less uncomfortable way to straddle a fence.

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#181540 - 01/07/09 01:15 PM Re: Blackbird fly ! [Re: Zed]
LukeJavan8 Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 06/23/08
Posts: 5268
Loc: Land of the Flat Water
Originally Posted By: Zed
AHA! I knew someone else out there had heard of mugwumps!


mugwumps:
originally mogkiomp in the native Massachusset dialect
of the Algonquian meaning "great man", (mogki - "great", omp - "man").
So a person of status.
_________________________
----please, draw me a sheep----

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#181541 - 01/07/09 01:17 PM Re: Blackbird fly ! [Re: LukeJavan8]
LukeJavan8 Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 06/23/08
Posts: 5268
Loc: Land of the Flat Water


Little did I ever know that when my grandmother
(herself, Native American) called her dog mugwump, it was
actually a compliment to the little pooch.
_________________________
----please, draw me a sheep----

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#181542 - 01/07/09 01:58 PM Re: Blackbird fly ! [Re: LukeJavan8]
BranShea Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 06/23/06
Posts: 5248
Loc: Netherlands, the Hague
I looked up this new to me word 'mugwump' and the various definitions did not make quite clear to me: does the word mean someone who can't decide which side to choose or someone who stands firm against the mainstream?

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#181550 - 01/07/09 06:10 PM Re: Blackbird fly ! [Re: BranShea]
tsuwm Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 04/03/00
Posts: 10462
Loc: this too shall pass
Quinion: mugwump (notice link to 'bated breath' on the right)

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#181552 - 01/07/09 08:30 PM Re: Blackbird fly ! [Re: PastorVon]
Faldage Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/01/00
Posts: 13653
Originally Posted By: PastorVon
Well, it may not endear the culprit to hoi polloi; but it is certainly a less uncomfortable way to straddle a fence.


Hoi polloi is nominative plural. Following the preposition to it should be dative plural, tois pollois.

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#181553 - 01/07/09 08:37 PM Re: hic, hic ! [sic] [Re: Faldage]
zmjezhd Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 08/13/05
Posts: 3268
Loc: R'lyeh
Following the preposition to it should be dative plural

Audite, audite!
_________________________
Ceci n'est pas un seing.

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#181561 - 01/08/09 04:49 AM Re: Blackbird fly ! [Re: tsuwm]
BranShea Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 06/23/06
Posts: 5248
Loc: Netherlands, the Hague
Originally Posted By: tsuwm
Quinion: mugwump (notice link to 'bated breath' on the right)
Good site!

"Hence the old joke that a mugwump is a person sitting on the fence, with his mug on one side and his wump on the other."

So, synonimous to fence sitter. Also new to me. turncoat, turncloack. And wump is multi-interpretable I assume.

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#181588 - 01/09/09 02:51 AM Re: Blackbird fly ! [Re: BranShea]
Zed Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 08/27/02
Posts: 2154
Loc: British Columbia, Canada
Baby talk (w for r) version of rump or backside.

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