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sealing wax
*wow*, it just occurred to me that i've been mondegreening one of my favorite songs for the past 30 years. i've always thought that Jackie Paper brought ceiling wax to entertain Puff.
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and i thought i was crazy for (wall) papering my ceilings-- you wax your? I have enough trouble getting to wax my floors--
I am able to say you are able to off my floors-- there are crumbs everywhere!
I believe in an orderly house everything has place, and each thing is in its place-- So dust bunnies belong under the beds and furniture, and cobwebs belong in the dark corners.. It make cleaning much easier to keep things to clean when you realize the things like dust bunnies and cobwebs have their place.
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As always, Max, your plea for tolerance and civility is eloquent indeed. I will take note and try to moderate my occasional outbursts.  I do not, however, retract or apologise for a single word, as I meant all I said from the depths of my soul. This, too, is an important function of language.
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of troy's post reminded me of a poem i have hanging in the hall, which i refer to when my husband complains about coming home to a disaster: Some houses try to hide the fact
That children shelter there.
Ours boasts of it quite openly;
the signs are everywhere:
For smears are on the mirrors,
little smudges on the doors...
I should apologize, i guess,
for the toys strewn on the floor.
But i sat down with the children (in between AWAD sessions )
and we laughed and played and read...
and if the doorbell doesn't shine,
their eyes will shine instead.
So quiet down, cobwebs,
dust go to sleep...
I'm rocking my baby,
and babies don't keep.
~author unknown
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old hand
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old hand
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it just occurred to me that i've been mondegreening one of my favorite songs for the past 30 years. i've always thought that Jackie Paper brought ceiling wax to entertain Puff.I don't think that's really a mondegreen because you didn't hear the word wrong, just interpreted it incorrectly. Not sure which one is worse, you decide. 
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bill objects the word "sucks" is one I dislike very much. It seems quite likely that it originated in an activity that is not party talk.yah, boo! (as shanks would say.) that may be a logical assumption to draw, bill, but the OED traces it differently; to wit: 15f. To be contemptible or disgusting. slang. Cf. suck n.1 12.
1971 It 2–16 June 3/2 Polaroid sucks! For some time the Polaroid Corporation has been supplying the South African government with large photo systems+to use for photographing blacks for the passbooks+every black must carry. 1976 G. V. Higgins Judgment of Deke Hunter vi. 59, I had a lousy summer.+ I thought it sucked, and I bet next summer'll suck too. 1978 M. Gordon Final Payments xi. 193 All the hotels have the same pictures. The last one, the food sucked. and so we dutifully follow along to the noun.1 12: 12. Canad. slang. A worthless or contemptible person. Cf. suck v. 15f; suck-hole* s.v. suck-.
1974 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 8 Mar. 1/6 The teachers are copping out. They're now saying, if we can't have our way, then we're going to be sucks and refuse to work. 1975 Citizen (Ottawa) 28 Oct. 1/1 A neighbor described Rob as ‘a quiet guy who was always getting put down a lot. Lots of people used to call him a suck.+ He didn't do much socially or in the way of sports.’ ...but this also regresses to n.1.11: 11. pl. as int. Used as an expression of contempt, chiefly by children. Also in phr. sucks to you and varr. slang.
1913 C. Mackenzie Sinister Street I. i. vii. 98 This kid's in our army, so sucks! 1922 F. Hamilton P.J.: Secret Service Boy iv. 178 ‘S’, he announced, ‘u,c,k,s,t,o,y,o,u.’ 1935 N. Mitchison We have been Warned i. 28 Brian is a baby. Oh sucks, oh sucks on Brian. 1945 E. Waugh Brideshead Revisited ii. v. 287 It's great sucks to Bridey. 1952 ‘C. Brand’ London Particular xv. 191 A most regretable air of sucks to you. 1968 Melody Maker 30 Nov. 24/5 This is a rotten record—yah boo and sucks. 1974 Times 4 Mar. 9/5 Sucks boo, then, with acting like this, to that new National Theatre down the road. 1978 ‘J. Lymington’ Waking of Stone ii. 45 ‘Sucks to you!’ she said+tossing her head so her pigtails swung. 1983 Listener 19 May 11/1 The council treated the urbane Mr Cook to the politician's equivalent of ‘Yah, boo, sucks’. I sincerely hope that explication didn't suck too much. *suck-hole - [n] a whirlpool [v] to toady [he won't suck-hole to anyone]
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Dear tsuwm: for once I am not impressed by your references'
I remember hearing "cocksucker" shortened to "sucker" to "he sucks" over seventy years ago. There was also "sucker" meaning a gullible person. I don't believe "sucks" can be totally divorced from "cocksucker".
I don't doubt that a lot of people that have used it were not aware of that possibility. But that is similar to the number of times I have heard "scumbag" used by people who had copied it from someone else without knowing what it really meant.Don't try calling a cop that.
It may not be hazardous now, but I can remember when calling a Canadian a "bum" could get you a punch in the mouth.
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>...shortened to "sucker" to "he sucks" over seventy years ago.
well, bill, 1913 (in use by kids) is almost 90 years ago.
sometimes we see connections that we want to see -- it's probably true of the OED folks as well.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Of course many commonly used words had meanings related to sex a long time ago. I wonder how old male and female for threads is. And the expression "I won't stand for that" is so similar to the stock breeder's term that I wonder if it originated with the stock breeders.
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