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#67869 05/06/02 12:16 PM
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Meanwhile, I *have noticed that shop clerks, for example, up here in the colder climes will say "have a good evening" when it's only shortly after noon. I'd sort of attributed it to the longer winters, the sun setting earlier.

There's a OED here but the print's too small for me to read it and the magnifying glass is unwieldy.


#67870 05/06/02 12:36 PM
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A similar game is...
Wofa, you wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you...?


Sorry, I know the Punch-buggy Red (or whatever color) game but not the hit-the-rodent one.

"Beaver" can have many meanings, of course, ranging from the lascivious to the bland. Even without resorting to a dictionary we can give it implications of hard porn, or soft porn, but I would guess the relation to fake veneer most likely arises from the belief that a beaver fells its wooden "victim" by scraping off thin layers, and this is what's made into the veneer facing. (Just remember, though, this is the Premarin-guesser speaking!)

Punch-buggy-* has the potential to have a resurgence now that VW has hatched out the new Bug. Just think of it - a whole new generation of black-and-blue arms! (I always preferred the "padiddle" game, myself - you know, first to spot and proclaim the oncoming car with one burnt-out headlight gets to kiss the companion.)


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padiddle

OH MY GOD!!!!! Finally someone besides a friend in high school who knows this game, by this name!!!!!! I'm totally thrilled, wofa!!! Usually, when I mention "padiddle" people look at me like I've lost my mind.

Regarding the beaver thing - it gets worse - my mom says those kind of cars were called "woodies" and were worth a punch, much like punch buggies.


#67872 05/06/02 03:10 PM
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I've always pictured "woodies" as old station wagons with wood on their sides (or, later, wood-grained paper or equivalent).

Oh well. Whatever turns you on, as they say.


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Sorry, wofa, I think I was unclear. A padiddle in my vocabulary is a car with only one working headlight, while a woody is a vehicle with fake wood panelling as Rapunzel mentioned in the "Beaver whacker" post. Both padiddles and woodies were fair game to my mom and her sibs when they were little - or so I hear.


#67874 05/06/02 05:40 PM
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(well, not so recent, but.)

Beaver College changes its embarrassing name:

http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/11/20/embarrassingbeaver.ap/


#67875 05/06/02 06:57 PM
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Yeah, Bean, we did padiddle too! Although it was designed as another reason to pound on fellow passengers, not express affection. Never had a game for woodies, but when it comes to VWs, it was always Slug Bug.


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A woodie had real wood panels. My parents had an old Ford station wagon with some rotting wood panels, and I remember my father's complaining about how expensive it would be to replace them.

Along the same lines, many cars had wooden frame members. I owned an old Y-series MG that had quite a bit of wood in the frame.



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#67877 05/07/02 01:40 AM
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I taught my kids the Slug Bug game. Boy was I dumb! My son got a kick out of hitting me as hard as he could and almost wrecked us once before I added the rule "No hitting the driver." My arm is still sore!


#67878 05/07/02 03:47 AM
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From Anna's link:

Beaver College changes oft-derided name to Arcadia University


...
"It seems to be a perfect name," Avington said, citing Arcadia's origin as a picturesque region of ancient Greece and its associations with a peaceful environment for thought and learning.

So is there any way anyone can make something rude out of the new name?

"We don't believe so. Certainly, that was something we looked for," Avington said. "We tried to go through every scenario. We've looked pretty carefully at it."


Is that a challenge?


Bingley


Bingley
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