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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
Anyone familiar with this phrase? A neighbour in a note cautioned me to be careful who I trust because there are "Paul Revere types" in the area. I think he's originally from Oz if that helps.
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Joined: Feb 2008
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067 |
Wasn't he the legendary character who rode around yelling "the British are coming, the British are coming!"? If it was an Aussie who said it, perhaps he was alluding to this impending tragedy - the British Medal Haul at the Games.
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Joined: Jun 2006
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year (obviously)  Seems like he was kind of a heroe: Paul Revere
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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And more than legendary, he existed IRL. While the legendary Paul Revere might have yelled, "The British are coming! The British are coming!" the real one would have more likely yelled, "The regulars are coming! The regulars are coming!"
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member
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member
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I don't believe I've heard “Paul Revere types.” I suspect the neighbor may have meant persons who are likely to raise an alarm, but not knowing the context I can only guess.
You (plural) don't have in the neighborhood any restive element(s) chafed by repression and exploitation, do you?
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Pooh-Bah
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OP
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
Probably, but I'm sure they don't have horses.
Oh well, I'm sure that he knew what he meant. well, fairly sure.
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Joined: Feb 2008
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
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And more than legendary, he existed IRL. While the legendary Paul Revere might have yelled, "The British are coming! The British are coming!" the real one would have more likely yelled, "The regulars are coming! The regulars are coming!" Well, yes, strictly speaking I should have applied the adjective to the ride or the cry rather than the person, quite right. Though it can be taken in the wider more modern sense of the word of course, as in the sentence "the coffee at that restaurant is legendary!" Or "his exploits at the last Olympic Games were legendary." That is, it can mean something like "larger than life."
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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