A.Word.A.Day -- AWADmail Issue 1151

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AWADmail Issue 1151

A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day and Other Tidbits about Words and Language

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From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
Subject: Interesting stories from the Net

A New York Accent in Ancient Rome? So What, It’s no Less Accurate Than RP
The Guardian
Permalink

A Wildly Obscene Term’s Path to Mainstream Usage
The New York Times
Permalink

From: Steve Fox (phixitphox gmail.com)
Subject: Chekhov’s gun

In the late 1970s, when Steve Martin was still doing stand-up comedy on tour, I saw him at the University of Illinois. The stage was bare, except for an ordinary stool with the obligatory bottle of water on top. On the rugs under the seat, though, was a gas pump handle, big enough for even the folks in the cheap seats to see clearly. It just sat there until almost the end of the show, when he picked it up and waved it around, asking rhetorically, “Would you believe that I only paid five bucks for this thing?” He put it down and never mentioned it again. Huge laughs.

Steve Fox, Bethesda, Maryland

From: Laura Burns (laurab12 sbcglobal.net)
Subject: Chekhov’s gun

Raymond Chandler had thoughts on this, I’m not sure whether derived from Chekhov:

When in doubt have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand. This could get to be pretty silly but somehow it didn’t seem to matter. A writer who is afraid to over-reach himself is as useless as a general who is afraid to be wrong. (Reference)

Laura Burns, Galveston, Texas

From: Eric Lester (eflester gmail.com)
Subject: Chekhov’s gun

One imagines a kind of Waiting for Godot script in which there is a (supposedly but not really) loaded rifle on the stage, over which the actors must step, though it never goes off.

Eric Lester, Marysville, Washington

From: Glenn Glazer (glenn.glazer gmail.com)
Subject: Chekhov’s gun

I am reminded of the following line from Jo Walton’s play, Three Shouts on a Hill:

I have an alchemical gun here, it was mentioned in Act 1 and it hasn’t been fired. I could use it to break the fourth wall.

One can read the whole thing here.

Glenn Glazer, Felton, California

From: Doug Raybeck (doug.raybeck gmail.com)
Subject: Another Chekhov

Unsurprisingly, I suspect that Chekov’s gun immediately led most readers to Phasers. Ooops, wrong Chekov.

Douglas Raybeck, Amherst, Massachusetts

From: David Mezzera (damezz comcast.net)
Subject: Mary’s Gone Crackers

When I first saw the introductory example of Mary’s Gone Crackers, I thought that the crackers were so delicious that soon after you bought them, they were “Gone!” and you’d have to buy another package to stock up and then those too would soon be “gone crackers”.

David Mezzera, Vallejo, California

From: Andrew Piziali (andy piziali.dv.org)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--Chekhov’s gun

Another potential meaning of “Mary’s Gone Crackers” is revealed when “Mary’s Gone” is considered an adjective. Maybe this cracker recipe was created to celebrate either her passing 🙁 or her life 😁. Another example would be “Andy’s Home Bread”.

Andrew Piziali, Prescott Valley, Arizona

From: Ockie Ditchbank (via website comments)
Subject: Mary’s Home Cooking

A truck driver always stopped at a diner called Mary’s Home Cooking. After many years of being a faithful patron, he asked the server why he had never seen Mary. Her reply: “Like the sign says, she’s home cooking.”

Ockie Ditchbank

From: C.H. Fenton (c.h.fenton gmail.com)
Subject: Mary’s Gone Crackers

Mary’s Gone Crackers reminds me of the old hipster joke.

A beatnik walks into a diner.
Beatnik: Hey, lady, can I have a slice of apple pie?
Waitress: The apple pie is gone.
Beatnik: Oh, that crazy pie!

C.H. Fenton, Avon Lake, Ohio

From: John Nugée (john nugee.org.uk)
Subject: bicycles

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart. -Iris Murdoch, writer (15 Jul 1919-1999)

Iris Murdoch did not live to see the electric bike -- silent, heavy, and deadly when ridden dangerously on pavements (sidewalks, to our US cousins). Or the fools who ride them with total indifference to the rules of the road (red lights are for losers and so on) or the safety of others.

John Nugée, London, UK

I’m somewhat sympathetic to battery-powered bicycles, used responsibly, especially by older folks or those living in hilly areas who would otherwise have to rely on less eco-friendly forms of transportation. But there’s no excuse for a gas-powered bicycle.
-Anu Garg

From: Michele Ankuda (Pancakesisters9 msn.com)
Subject: Bicycles - JFK

Apropos of bicycle quotes, I was surprised to find this one by JFK in English, in downtown Brussels, Belgium earlier this year.

“Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of riding a bike."

Michele Ankuda, Hastings on Hudson, New York

From: Marty Born (marty.born gmail.com)
Subject: Iris Murdoch

With the advent of e-bikes I regularly witness adolescent boys (usually) flying down the streets of my community, ignoring the basic traffic rules. The most terrifying observance was a young adult holding a toddler in front of him as he sped down my neighborhood street -- neither of them wearing a helmet. Helmets are required for teen riders, and children must be 15 years old to legally ride an e-bike on Oahu. Several riders have hit cars, or have been hit by cars, leaving the riders in serious condition.

Marty Born, Kapolei, Hawaii

From: Topi Linkala (nes iki.fi)
Subject: Bicycles

Bicycles are a scourge of sidewalks. There’s no civility about them. The amount of bicycles on sidewalks, when there’s a bikeway nearby, is astounding in Helsinki, Finland. One cyclist ran into me from behind on a narrow, about 1 m, sidewalk when on the other side of the road was a bikeway. Told me that he needed to turn left from the next intersection and that’s why he broke the traffic law. I asked him if motorists are allowed to do the same and he looked at me like I’m crazy.

Topi Linkala, Helsinki, Finland

From: Eric F Plumlee (ericfplumlee hotmail.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--Parkinson’s law

Parkinson’s law about work filling the available time reminds me of the Kinetic Molecular Theory of gases which is about gases expanding to fill the shape and volume of their container.

Work is a gas! ;-)

Eric Plumlee, Niederlenz, Switzerland

Email of the Week -- Brought to you buy OLD’S COOL -- Wit you can wear.

From: Jerry Lesch (uselesch yahoo.com)
Subject: Teachers

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Every student needs someone who says, simply, “You mean something. You count.” -Tony Kushner, playwright (b. 16 Jul 1956)

I was a high school Drama teacher for 30 years. One morning one of my students didn’t show up to class. I saw her later that afternoon leaving school. As she was going out the door, I said to her, “Where were you? We missed you in class.” Those simple words of “We missed you” evidently made an impression on her because years later she told me she had been so depressed that she was going home to kill herself. Those words of “we missed you” let her know that I cared about her. Forty years later we are still in touch. She’s now a wonderful, creative actor and director, sharing with others how each of her cast members are special to her. I’m sure she makes a difference in their lives.

Jerry Lesch, Portland, Oregon

From: Janet Rizvi (janetrizvi gmail.com)
Subject: John Thomson’s man

Reminded me of the rousing Scottish song, Jock Tamson’s Bairns (children) which, in contrast to the definition of John Thomson’s man, is a reminder that all humanity is in it together.

We’re a’ Jock Tamson’s bairns [bis]
There’ll never be peace in the warld again
Till a’body’s singin’ wi’ might & main
‘We’re a’ Jock Tamson ‘s bairns’

There are various stories as to the protagonist’s identity , but I prefer to think of Jock Tamson not as a person, but as the very principle of humanity.

Dr Janet Rizvi, Gurgaon, India

Anagrams


This week’s theme: Whose what? 1. Chekhov’s gun 2. Parkinson’s law 3. Barney’s bull 4. John Thomson’s man 5. Collier’s faith	=	1. All shown objects have use 2. More time allows more tasks 3. When horns chop in half 4. He’s a shy twink 5. Thing’s bunk
		-Josiah Winslow, Franklin, Wisconsin (winslowjosiah gmail.com)

=	1. Enhances story 2. Hah, we all know, this job fills time 3. Shows no vigor 4. Man whom she henpecks 5. Unshakable trust	=	1. Use object in story 2. When she asks how work fills time 3. Kine halt 4. Hmm, hen nags puss: Shh! 5. Brave? Ah no not, callow
	-Dharam Khalsa, Burlington, North Carolina (dharamkk2 gmail.com)		-Julian Lofts, Auckland, New Zealand (jalofts xtra.co.nz)

Make your own anagrams and animations.

Limericks

Chekhov’s gun

A prop in a prominent spot
Will figure somehow in the plot.
So if in scene one,
You see Chekhov’s gun,
Be ready for it to be shot.
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

When a girl on TV has had fun,
There’s a frequently used Chekhov’s gun.
I have seen it a bunch:
If she loses her lunch,
In her oven, there’s surely a bun.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

Parkinson’s law

If you have a job you must do,
How long will it take to get through?
It’s Parkinson’s Law,
What Parkinson saw:
Tasks fill time allotted, it’s true.
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

When I want to make people guffaw,
I’m a captive of Parkinson’s law.
My lim’ricks I tweak
Overnight and all week;
But on Fridays, I’m Quick Draw McGraw.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

Barney’s bull

My mother just loved a buffet,
And piled up her plate on her way.
And then over-full,
A real Barney’s bull,
She’d loudly be groaning, “Oy vey!”
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

My sweater’s a poor Barney’s bull,
For a moth’s gotten into the wool.
Politicians may quake
At the verses I make,
But with insects, it seems I’ve no pull.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

John Thomson’s man

A John Thomson’s man always was he --
Chicken-livered and henpecked, you see.
He wanted, of course,
To get a divorce;
But his wife would not let him go free.
-Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com)

A John Thomson’s man, ever so meek,
Would say, “Yes, dear,” whenever he’d speak.
He was henpecked, he knew --
“But I do what I do,
Since a household that’s peaceful I seek.”
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

Have you heard of a John Thomson’s man?
I hadn’t but these days I can
Describe one to you
He’s that sweet neighbor who
Let’s his wife run him ragged -- poor Stan!
-Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com)

Said Nancy, a huge Reagan fan,
“I shall make him a John Thomson’s man.
My astrologer says
I can tell him, when Prez,
Even when he may go to the can.”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

Collier’s faith

I believe, and it fills me with mirth,
That soon we will have peace on Earth.
I may be deluded.
This has been alluded:
Of collier’s faith I have no dearth.
-Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com)

With true collier’s faith he proceeds,
Engaging in perilous deeds.
I do not know why
He’d dive from the sky --
Perhaps some excitement he needs.
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

“In Donald I have collier’s faith;
He’ll chop heads off like Henry the Eighth!”
said the MAGA supporter.
“And down at the border,
He’ll scare ‘em all off like a wraith!”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

Puns

Mr. Chekhov’s gun-ning of the engines helped the Enterprise escape the Klingon threat.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“I bet Ensign Chekhov’s gun-na lose that fake Russian accent one of these days,” mused Captain Kirk.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

The Korean lawyer hired his newly-graduated offspring and proudly hung out his Parkinson’s Law Firm shingle.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“He’ll circle the block for hours rather than pay for a garage. It’s my parkinson’s law,” sighed the dad awaiting a visit from his cheapskate progeny.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

“I know how much you love to dance, but after working out at a balance barney’s bull-long in an icepack to avoid meniscus inflammation,” the physical therapist advised the ballerina.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

Barney’s bull-y was quickly defeated by his good friend Fred Flintstone.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“The best way to learn it is by using John Thomson’s man-y books on the subject,” said the piano teacher.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

John Thomson’s man-or was a stately home on the tour.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“My arguments are scientific! I collier’s faith-based!” shouted Clarence Darrow at William Jennings Bryan.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice. Ironically, their virtues make them vulnerable; they are often wounded, sometimes destroyed. -Ernest Hemingway, author and journalist, Nobel laureate (21 Jul 1899-1961)

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