#91778
01/13/2003 6:55 PM
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
Hope this ain't a reinyartnation, though I fear it may be....
My uncle sent my mother a list of what he calls "some traditional English names for a group of animals or birds" (though birds ARE animals, yes? perhaps he was thinking "mammals"....). Some seem rather odd to me (foxes and boars in particular, though I find most of them rather peculiar) and I wonder if anyone here is familiar with them? are they *really "traditional"? The only ones I thought I remembered hearing/seeing before were the larks and the crows.
A deceit of lapwings
A sort of mallards
A business of ferrets
An exultation of larks
A murder of crows
A murmuration of starlings
A leash of foxes
A bale of turtles
A cast of hawks
A chattering of choughs
A singular of boars
A congregation of plovers
A convocation of eagles
A dule of doves
A pace of asses
A richness of martens
A sedge of cranes
A stuck of jellyfish
A tidings of magpies
Please feel free to add to this list, too. The only extra ones I can think of are
A pride of lions
A crash (or is it clash?!) of rhinos
A parliament of owls
A pod of whales
A school of fish (but Lord knows what gatherings of different species of fish might be - this could be fun!)
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#91779
01/13/2003 7:06 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Hope this ain't a reinyartnation[sic]
A) They ain' no such thang
2) Yes, it is but
Þ) Who cares?
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#91780
01/13/2003 8:07 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
Who cares?
Nobody, but a number of us care about that extra "n".
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#91781
01/13/2003 8:15 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
that extra "n".
Mebbe we could compromise. Call it reinyarnation cause we're spinning the same old thread again.
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#91782
01/13/2003 8:19 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 6,511 |
I've got a book around here, somewhere, called An Exultation of Larks by James Lipton. As I recall, he documents all the above usages, but most of them apparently were used for the nonce in one literary work or the other. Maybe someone can offer more detail.
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#91783
01/13/2003 8:47 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
...we're spinning the same old thread again.
There's a word for this. . .
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#91784
01/13/2003 9:10 PM
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
Þ) Who cares?
I love these. think they're cool.
formerly known as etaoin...
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#91785
01/13/2003 9:14 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
2) Yes, it is (a reinyartation) but
Þ) Who cares (that it's a reinyartation)?
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#91786
01/13/2003 9:23 PM
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
<various colours>Þ) Who cares (that it's a reinyartation)?</various colours>
ah. my bad. sorry.
a plethora of sorries.
formerly known as etaoin...
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#91787
01/13/2003 9:24 PM
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
grouping name suggestion:
A belabouring of belinguaphiles.
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#91788
01/14/2003 9:51 AM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
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#91789
01/14/2003 7:42 PM
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
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#91790
01/14/2003 9:33 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Here's a URL with some mildly interesting comments on the subject: http://www.kith.org/logos/words/upper/V.htmlMaking up those names used to be a parlor game, and most of them don't stand close scrutiny, as many animals just don't come in groups, except as pairs.Only a few have been used as standard, such as pride of lions, pod of whales, etc.
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#91791
01/15/2003 1:39 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
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Posts: 1,156 |
pod of whales is especially funny because they have no feet! 
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#91792
01/15/2003 5:36 PM
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
because they have no feet!
yes, why DO we have "pod of whales," I suddenly wonder? I was thinking it's because each individual whale *could* be seen as being rather pod-shaped (like a pod of peas), but a group of them ain't....
And why a "school of fish"?
And does anyone else think any of the ones I originally listed are a bit strange? "A leash of foxes" - since when did foxes ever come on leashes? and many more struck me as peculiar - didn't they strike anyone else so?!
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#91793
01/15/2003 5:57 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Yes, I was struck peculiar and I mentioned it earlier: according to Lipton, many of these are nonce-words.
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#91794
01/16/2003 12:36 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
For a general discusssion for collective nouns, there is a very good article at Julian Burnside's site: http://www.users.bigpond.com/burnside/collective.htmThe site is quite large, and if you don't already know it, it is good for quite a few hours of very pleasant browsing.
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#91795
01/16/2003 12:53 AM
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 7,210 |
And does anyone else think any of the ones I originally listed are a bit strange? "A leash of foxes" - since when did foxes ever come on leashes? and many more struck me as peculiar - didn't they strike anyone else so?!
doncha know poetree when ya see it? sheesh, all that purty langage gwine to waste...
formerly known as etaoin...
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#91796
01/17/2003 11:41 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819 |
a body of pathologists
a strut of surgeons
a film of radiologists...
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#91797
01/17/2003 4:36 PM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 3,467 |
NO!
A corps of pathologists.
TEd
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#91798
01/17/2003 7:22 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819 |
I like corps of pathologists! For "body" I must give credit to the television show Inspector Morse.
a mass of oncologists
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#91799
01/17/2003 11:46 PM
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
a score of composers... a chorus of tenors... (I know, I know, these cross the line a bit...  )
formerly known as etaoin...
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#91800
01/18/2003 12:10 AM
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742 |
But TEd, a "body" of pathologists works as an aural pun, "corps" only works when read, not so well when heard.At least, IMO
Yours hubristically,
sjm
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#91801
01/18/2003 1:09 AM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 3,467 |
Of corpse you're correct.
TEd
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#91802
01/18/2003 1:14 AM
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742
old hand
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old hand
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>Of corpse you're correct.
You mean I'm dead right? Excellent!
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#91803
01/18/2003 1:19 AM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
Stiffed again, morgues the pity. How I cadaver have missed that one! I'll just have to undertake to be better.
TEd (crying in bier -e)
TEd
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#91804
01/18/2003 1:20 AM
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 7,210 |
those are pretty cryptic, TEd.
formerly known as etaoin...
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#91805
01/18/2003 2:13 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819 |
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#91806
01/18/2003 2:41 AM
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
a bake of clams
a scream of lobsters*
a flex of mussels....or not!
and for the Aussies in the crowd:
a plash of platypus
a bounce of kangaroos
a clamp of crocodiles (is it true one et a German tourist recently? a friend of mine in Darwin sez so....geez, you'd think that would make the news Up Over as well)
(*don't they scream when boiled? I've never witnessed it, I'm a coward about killing my own food)
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#91807
01/18/2003 3:45 AM
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742
old hand
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old hand
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>(*don't they scream when boiled? I've never witnessed it, I'm a coward about killing my own food)
I have heard crayfish (our lobsters) screaming when on a barbecue - a truly hideous sound, but insufficiently so to stop me eating them.
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#91808
01/18/2003 11:01 AM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
In reply to:
a clamp of crocodiles (is it true one et a German tourist recently? a friend of mine in Darwin sez so....geez, you'd think that would make the news Up Over as well)
I heard about this tourist as well -- and that she'd just fled from Bali after the bombing there. Mark you, apparently she went swimming in a river after being told by the tour guide don't because there are crocs in the river.
Bingley
Bingley
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#91809
01/18/2003 5:08 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,074 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,074 Likes: 2 |
Just ro resurrect an old post -
A proposition from an assembly of "ladies of the evening" is, variously,
a flurry of strumpets
a jam of tarts
an essay of trollops
an anthology of pros
a feathering of 'ores
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#91810
01/18/2003 9:04 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear wofahulicodoc: and only those who have sculled are likely to know what "feathering" meant.
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#91811
01/18/2003 10:23 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,074 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 11,074 Likes: 2 |
those who have sculled are likely to know what "feathering" meant
Well, yes, but isn't the Board supposed to expose us to words we aren't familiar with every now and then? :-)
From Onelook.com:
"Quick definitions (feathering)
noun: turning an oar parallel to the water between pulls"
(Actually, I would consider it a verb participle myself)
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#91812
01/18/2003 10:38 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 171
member
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member
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Posts: 171 |
Feathering, to the aviators in the crowd, refers to shutting down the engine and rotating the prop to a position of least wind resistance.
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#91813
01/18/2003 11:37 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,074 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 11,074 Likes: 2 |
Same thing with the oars: you rotate them so the blades are parallel to the water as you reach for the next stroke, and they minimize your wasted energy by not needing to be lifted, help keep your balance, and minimize the drag as they just barely skim over the surface.
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#91814
01/19/2003 3:03 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819 |
In sculling you can catch a crab if you aren't careful, but amongst a feathering of 'ores you might catch many crabs.
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#91815
01/19/2003 3:11 AM
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 7,210 |
formerly known as etaoin...
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#91816
01/19/2003 3:32 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
<applause> Yes, you could catch the applause, too... (eta, that was a good one!)
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#91817
01/19/2003 3:58 AM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 4,189 |
Hope this ain't a reinyartnation
A) They ain' no such thangYes there is: A Reinyartnation® of AWADers......see? And Faldage, you owe me for a ®...but I ain't chargin' mg 'cause she's special. A Phalanx of Faldages...(now there's a scary thought!  ) so you wanna be an "n" thief, do ya? 
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