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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 67
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 67 |
Thanks etaoin, and all who have welcomed a 'stranger' like me, individually or on the behalf of the forum... I was pleasently surprised to receive the attention and welcome that I've been given, (and am sure others of my category are given too.) Great place to be in, and an encouraging, if rare, trend in the otherwise dog-eat-dog world...
Thanks again :)
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
Chopped liver, headed out, stage left ...
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,852 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,852 Likes: 2 |
Can anyone think of the term that I've forgotten? We generally applied it to those students who did not have any outstanding intellectual ability, but worked so hard in preparing for courses that they appeared to have more to work with mentally than they actually possessed in terms of original thinking.
May I present one more offering: the person who works so hard that s/he gets much further than one would have thought based solely on apparent inherent ability:
overachiever
And that should be a compliment !
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
Chopped liver
I was still trying to figure out: Gnothi seaton...
is that some of that funky Latin?
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
know thyself (to be human and follow the god)
-joe (medan agan) friday
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
Taking up tsuwm's implied challenge, a bit of Googling on 'medan agan' shows this expression, like 'gnothi seaton', to be an inscription on the walls of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi (and probably other places). If I have understood correctly, although it is commonly taken to mean 'nothing in excess' it is probably closer to 'moderation in all things', or 'follow the median path', recognising the human (or Dionysian) need for celebration of all there is to enjoy but calling for balance, not obsession.
How'd I do?
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
dxb - A classic case of overachievement... well done! 
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055 |
For the sake of completeness and just to confuse rav a little more, I might add that in England a common term for anyone who is highly involved in their hobby can be prefixed or suffixed with trainspotter. Trainspotting, i.e. the collecting of endless info on trains, is of course the archetypal nerd hobby, bar linguistics :-) So, for example, those who go to clubs and spend all night looking over the DJ's shoulder at the records played are called 'trainspotter clubbers' and someone who is obsessed with the Queen would be a 'Queen trainspotter'.
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Joined: Mar 2002
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
a common term for anyone who is highly involved in their hobby
To confuse still further, such people are also often termed 'Anaracks'.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Can anyone think of the term that I've forgotten? We generally applied it to those students who did not have any outstanding intellectual ability, but worked so hard in preparing for courses that they appeared to have more to work with mentally than they actually possessed in terms of original thinking. Old-fashioned, but I've read of that type of student being called a grind. I would say that Dr. Bill's Merriam-Webster's Dictionary offers the original definition of "a
carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes
biting the head off a live chicken or snake," and anchita's “a performer who engaged in bizarre acts, such as biting the head off a live chicken.” most definitely fit tsuwm's Originally, to be a "geek" was to have fallen so low as to be willing to do anything for a living, no matter how disgusting the task.  Thanks, anchita, for that info. on circuses.
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