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#75826 07/11/02 09:36 PM
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Leth'e (2 syl.), in Greek mythology, is one of the rivers of Hades, which the souls of all the dead are
obliged to taste, that they may forget everything said and done in the earth on which they lived. (Greek
letho, latheo, lanthano, to cause persons not to know.)


#75827 07/11/02 09:42 PM
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Letters Patent So denominated because they are written upon open sheets of parchment, with the seal of
the sovereign or party by whom they were issued pendent at the bottom. Close letters are folded up and
sealed on the outside. (Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy.)


#75828 07/12/02 02:05 AM
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Larvae Mischievous spectres. The larva or ghost of Caligula was often seen (according to Suetonius) in his palace.

I never heard this word used this way before. Since it must be older than our use of the word to mean
very immature form of an organism, that use seems poorly chosen.

Dr. Bill, in one of my Mary Stewart books, a little girl is being shown things in nature by her cousin, a "wise woman". They see a larva pupate, and the little girl mishears "a nymph", and says it is "an imp". It took me a while to remember that much detail; at first I was thinking that I'd read that larvae really were called imps. So I tried looking it up, and look what I found:
[Old English impa "young shoot, scion" and impian "to graft," both ultimately from Greek emphuein , literally "to emplant," from phuein "to grow, plant"] There really does seem to be a connection!


#75829 07/12/02 09:26 AM
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do we have any home brewers on the board?

Have done, Helen, and know many people who make their own wine and beer. Generally speaking it's pretty good stuff, not to mention stronger and cheaper than most of the commercial products. As you say, it's quite popular in the UK. Fairly high tax on booze probably accounts for that, although we've a long and proud tradition of DIY wherever possible - and also of heroically failing at DIY..

To be honest I'm unaware of the distinction between hot-weather and cold-weather yeasts. I know that brewers have their favourite strains of yeast, which they've kept going for - literally - centuries, and I know it's a good idea to get yeast from your favourite brewery, as it's such a fundamental ingredient. Well, yeast is the essence of the whole process, really.

Over here, "lager" has always meant continental (European) style beer, which first arrived here in the 70s. It's more pale than English beer (hereafter called "ale" and assumed to be cask-conditioned stuff rather than the 'orrible "keg beers" that used to be prevalent), amber coloured at the darkest. It's also always been mechanically chilled, whereas ale is cellar temperature, coolish but definitely not chilled. Lagers always have gas (nitrogen I think) added as they're piped up from the cellar, and thus a definite "head"; ale has a natural gental froth produced by the yeast.

You may just detect some bias here.
I think real ale is the best drink on the planet. I also happen to think that Harvey's, my locally brewed ale, is the best real ale ever - but all real ale afficiandos (sp?) love the local stuff best, as it's a living product and doesn't always travel well.

Actually there are some continental beers that are a cut above the rest, with no nasty chemical additives etc. The German "purity law" lagers such as Beck's, and (especially) the Czech Budwar (original Budweiser) spring to mind. You can drink loads of them without getting a hangover, which ain't bad really! You should always drink these bottled, never the draught versions.

DrinkonaBike


Hmmm. It used to be that all threads eventually turned into food threads; but recently (for some strange reason) they've started turning into drink threads. Curious. [innocence]






#75830 07/12/02 09:41 AM
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Hmmm. It used to be that all threads eventually turned into food threads; but recently (for some strange reason)
they've started turning into drink threads. Curious.


Ah'llll that to dhrink!


#75831 07/12/02 03:21 PM
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Leucothea [White Goddess]. So Ino was called after she became a seanymph. Her son Palæmon, called
by the Romans Portunus, or Portumnus, was the protecting genius of harbours.

No to be confused with leucorrhea, often a harbinger of gono rrhea.


#75832 07/12/02 03:29 PM
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The Queen's Levée. It was customary for the queens of France to receive at the hour of their levé - i.e.
while making their toilet- the visits of certain noblemen. This custom was afterwards demanded as a right
by the court physicians, messengers from the king, the queen's secretary, and some few other gentlemen,
so that ten or more persons were often in the dressing-room while the queen was making her toilet and
sipping her coffee. The word is now used to express that concourse of gentlemen who wait on the queen
on mornings appointed. No ladies except those attached to the court are present on these occasions.
Kings and some nobles have their levées sometimes of an evening.

Not to be confused with levee meaning an embankment to prevent river flooding.


#75833 07/12/02 03:33 PM
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Level Best To do one's level best. To exert oneself to the utmost.

Firmly entrenched but seems to me poorly chosen.


#75834 07/12/02 03:35 PM
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Lewd (Anglo-Saxon, leóde) simply means folk in general, verb leod-an. The present meaning refers to
the celibacy of the clergy.

How the meaning has changed.


#75835 07/12/02 03:39 PM
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Lewkner's Lane Now called “Charles Street,” Drury Lane, London, always noted for ladies of the
pavement.

Not the protégées of the the Muffin Man of Drury Lane, Oh.


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