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#117714 12/14/2003 11:47 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
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wwh
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Carpal Tunnel
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O.Henry gives the name "Loris" to a young lady,last name Sherman. Often his choices of names conceal a jest. I don't get this one if it is a joke. A loris is a small primate.

"We knew to the tenth part of a revolution the speed of every electric fan in Gotham, and we followed the swiftest as they varied. Hollis's fiancee. Miss Loris Sherman, had been in the Adirondacks, at Lower Saranac Lake, for a month. "

Collins English Dictionary © 2000 HarperCollins Publishers:

loris ['lɔːrıs]
noun
(plural: -ris)
any of several omnivorous nocturnal slow-moving prosimian primates of the family Lorisidae, of S and SE Asia, esp. Loris tardigradus (slow loris) and Nycticebus coucang (slender loris), having vestigial digits and no tails
[ETYMOLOGY: 18th Century: from French; of uncertain origin]




#117715 12/16/2003 4:20 AM
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Carpal Tunnel
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Was she slow? It's my immediate association for loris. Although they are an endangered species, they're quite popular here as pets. They are cute.

Bingley


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