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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1 |
Did Anu really mean to refer to "blindman's buff" in his introduction to this week's topic? His reference sounds like a handicapped version of Naked Twister. I expect he really meant to refer to blindman's bluff. Am I right?
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,773 |
Kal: Please provide a link as many tottering old codgers such as I otherwise find such a ref hard to find
dalehileman
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Welcome, JeffK.
If you google the term with and without the L, you'll find both are pretty common: I agree with you, though, that buff does sound funny. I'm sure one of our resident scholars will explain the metathesis or whatever is going on here linguistically.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
welcome, Jeff.
I would guess, like you, that it's a typo.
dale, it was the word of the day today (actually, busman's holiday was the "word" of the day, but it was in the first paragraph) that Anu sends out. do you get those in your email?
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 557
addict
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addict
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 557 |
FWIW, doing Google searches that exclude 3 of these 4 possibilities at a time:
blind man's bluff = 180,000
blind man's buff = 29,800
blindman's buff = 15,800
blindman's bluff = 12,200
Similarly:
billy goats gruff = 173,000
billy goats guff = 57
billygoats gruff = 2,320
billygoats guff = 0
I have no idea what that all means... I just have not enough to do. (^_^)
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
dale, it was the word of the day today (actually, busman's holiday was the "word" of the day, but it was in the first paragraph) that Anu sends out. do you get those in your email?
or, have you ever noticed the links at the very bottom of the page, Today's Word | Yesterday's Word - joe (still asking the tough ones) friday
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Wikipedia has an entry for Blind man's bluff, but suggests that Blind man's buff is more commonly used in the UK and Ireland. They do not come down for either version, suggesting the "bluff" may be a corruption or that it comes from an older meaning of "bluff" meaing to blindfold. Nine of one, half dozen of the other.
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
more commonly used in the UK
So, it's a case of bluff being some kind of pesky innovation that ought to be condemned and eschewed or that buff is an eggcorn. Either way, the usual suspects should be rounded up and dealt with. (<== Put that preposition somewhere else.)
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,773 |
eta, tsu: Yes I do but I'm embarrassed to admit I occasionally experience minor memory lapses
dalehileman
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