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Joined:  Aug 2010 Posts: 3 stranger |  
| stranger Joined:  Aug 2010 Posts: 3 | 
Hello fellow Word afficianados.
 This is my first posting here.  hope you can help me shed some light on this phrase.
 
 A dear friend used this description for me and it has perplexed me. I understand that boorish means rude, crude and is negative in general.
 
 But cant figure out the meaning of this combination.
 
 And help with this boggling matter would be a ppreciated.
 
 Thanks,
 
 D
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Joined:  Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 | 
boorish charmerWhile I cannot be 100% sure about it, it might be in reference to a sentence in Dryden, cited in the OED entry for boorish : 1697 DRYDEN Virg. Ded., The Boorish Dialect of Theocritus has a secret Charm in it. It (link ) comes from Dryden's translation of Virgil's Eclogues , in the dedicatory preface. Theocritus was the inventor of bucolic poetry, of which the Eclogues  are an example. 
 Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined:  Jun 2008 Posts: 9,971 Likes: 3 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Jun 2008 Posts: 9,971 Likes: 3 | 
 ----please, draw me a sheep----
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Joined:  Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 | 
I googled around on various permutations of "boorish charmer" (e.g., "boorish charm", "charming boor", etc.) and one gets hits: my favorite was a reference to the cartoon character Bender (the robot) from Futurama. It's almost an oxymoron, but not quite. 
 Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined:  Aug 2010 Posts: 3 stranger |  
| stranger Joined:  Aug 2010 Posts: 3 | 
Maybe in this case it means Im old or ancient like Virgil. |  |  |  
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Joined:  Aug 2010 Posts: 3 stranger |  
| stranger Joined:  Aug 2010 Posts: 3 | 
Its also been used on the web to describe Bob Hope and Seth Rogen in "Knocked Up". Does it mean "schticky"? or "hairy"? |  |  |  
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Joined:  Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 | 
Is there absolutely no way to suppose something more flattering or positive?    |  |  |  
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Joined:  Feb 2010 Posts: 655 addict |  
|   addict Joined:  Feb 2010 Posts: 655 | 
I think some people are easily both.  We've all met workmen or neighbors or classmates who lack manners or refinement or grace but are naturally charming, nonetheless.  The clumsy oaf who is friendly and self-effacing; the country bumpkin with the irresistible smile; etc.  They're out there. 
 "I don't know which is worse: ignorance or apathy. And, frankly, I don't care." - Anonymous
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Joined:  Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 | 
Boor originally just meant farmer.  The negative connotations came from the lack of a city-dweller's manners.  Poetically it could simply mean that your friend considers you to be an unstudied charmer, one who charms without the guile that might be expected of a more sophisticated person.  Honestly charming rather than one who is being charming with an eye towards benefiting from the feelings invoked in the person charmed. |  |  |  
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Joined:  Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 | 
The phrase makes me think of someone who, for example, breaks into an established group at a party and begins talking loudly about something on his own agenda, either not thinking or not caring that the group had been carrying on an enjoyable conversation; yet is so, well, charming in relating his tale that they put aside any initial annoyance. |  |  |  
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Joined:  Jun 2010 Posts: 1,554 veteran |  
|   veteran Joined:  Jun 2010 Posts: 1,554 | 
Dog dung doodle, Jackie, have we met?    |  |  |  
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Joined:  Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 | 
Em...perhaps we have met the same person(s), eh?   |  |  |  
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Joined:  Feb 2010 Posts: 655 addict |  
|   addict Joined:  Feb 2010 Posts: 655 | 
Hey, you two, let me tell you a ... oops, sorry for interrupting. 
 "I don't know which is worse: ignorance or apathy. And, frankly, I don't care." - Anonymous
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Joined:  Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 | 
   I also liked your...what was it?  tw or yw, maybe--in the other thread. |  |  |  
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Joined:  Feb 2010 Posts: 655 addict |  
|   addict Joined:  Feb 2010 Posts: 655 | 
Thank yw.  I believe hwmor facilitates learning. 
 "I don't know which is worse: ignorance or apathy. And, frankly, I don't care." - Anonymous
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Joined:  Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 | 
Thank yw.
 In Middle Welsh orthography there are dotted ys (ẏ). In modern Welsh, there are plain y and w vowels and versions with circumflexes, ŷ and ŵ.
 
 Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined:  Feb 2010 Posts: 655 addict |  
|   addict Joined:  Feb 2010 Posts: 655 | 
What sounds do each make? 
 "I don't know which is worse: ignorance or apathy. And, frankly, I don't care." - Anonymous
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Joined:  Aug 2010 Posts: 12 stranger |  
|   stranger Joined:  Aug 2010 Posts: 12 | 
Please pardon my boorish interruption of your stream of conversation, but I've a question regarding "boor," as meaning farmer:  Is it the same word as the Dutch "Boer?"  Is there any connection with "boar," a male swine?
 If I've committed a faux pas, please forgive this first time poster.
 
 Hal
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Joined:  Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 | 
No faux pas.  We wander all over the map in many of these threads.  And they're both good questions.  I know the first one is "yes".  In fact, we stole boor from Dutch, according to AHD4.  It's also the same word as the German Bauer.  According to AHD4, they're also related to the English word bower if you go back far enough.  They're not related to boar, which is from Old English. |  |  |  
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Joined:  Jun 2008 Posts: 9,971 Likes: 3 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Jun 2008 Posts: 9,971 Likes: 3 | 
WELCOMEPlease pardon my boorish interruption of your stream of conversation, but I've a question regarding "boor," as meaning farmer:  Is it the same word as the Dutch "Boer?"  Is there any connection with "boar," a male swine?
 If I've committed a faux pas, please forgive this first time poster.
 
 Hal
 
 ----please, draw me a sheep----
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Joined:  Feb 2010 Posts: 655 addict |  
|   addict Joined:  Feb 2010 Posts: 655 | 
Yes, welcome aboard.  Maybe you know what the vowels ẏ, y, ŷ and ŵ sound like in Welsh.  "w" apparently has an "oo" sound. 
 "I don't know which is worse: ignorance or apathy. And, frankly, I don't care." - Anonymous
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Joined:  Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 | 
Fẏr thŷm thŷt reallý ŵant to knoŵ.link |  |  |  
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Joined:  Feb 2010 Posts: 655 addict |  
|   addict Joined:  Feb 2010 Posts: 655 | 
 "I don't know which is worse: ignorance or apathy. And, frankly, I don't care." - Anonymous
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Joined:  Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 | 
 we stole boor from Dutch   Ssh!  They might want it back. |  |  |  
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Joined:  Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 | 
Tough.  It was their bad luck to meet up with us in a dark alley.  They have to live with the consequences. |  |  |  
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Joined:  Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 | 
we stole boor from Dutch
 Not necessarily. The origin of English boor is not so cut and dried. It might have come down via Middle and Old English from Proto-Germanic. Old English had gebūr 'dweller; farmer' and neāhbūr 'neighbor'.
 
 Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined:  Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 | 
Clark-Hall has ±būr, freeholder of the lowest class, peasant, farmer , where the ± signifies that it is found with and without the prefix ge- . |  |  |  
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Joined:  Jun 2000 Posts: 724 old hand |  
|   old hand Joined:  Jun 2000 Posts: 724 | 
 where the ± signifies that it is found with and without the prefix ge-. What is the ASCII code to get that plus and minus sign? |  |  |  
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Joined:  Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 | 
one way to get it (and many other special characters) is to copy/paste it from the (Windows) Character Map: ±
 Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Character Map
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Joined:  Jun 2000 Posts: 724 old hand |  
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Joined:  Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 | 
What is the ASCII code to get that plus and minus sign?
 The Unicode hex value for xB1; is 0x00B1.
 
 Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined:  Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 | 
What is the ASCII code to get that plus and minus sign?
 The Unicode hex value for ± is 0x00B1.
 
 Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined:  Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 | 
I got it from OpenOffice's Insert > Special Character function. |  |  |  
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Joined:  Jun 2000 Posts: 724 old hand |  
|   old hand Joined:  Jun 2000 Posts: 724 | 
I guess Abulafia will have a similar option. |  |  |  
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Joined:  Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 | 
If you're using the Windows OS, you can enter the (decimal)number on the numpad while holding down the Alt key. Hex 0xB1 = Decimal 177. 
 Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined:  Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 | 
If you're using the Windows OS, you can enter the (decimal)number on the numpad while holding down the Alt key. Hex 0xB1 = Decimal 177. And if that doesn't work enter 0177. |  |  |  
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Joined:  Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 | 
If you're using the Windows OS, you can enter the (decimal)number on the numpad while holding down the Alt key. Hex 0xB1 = Decimal 177. And if that doesn't work enter 0177. which makes no sense at all, for a decimal no. (but that's how I first learned to do it, too.) |  |  |  
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Joined:  Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 | 
which makes no sense at all
 It's been a while since I've used Windows, so I forgot the leading zero.
 
 Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined:  Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 | 
If you're using the Windows OS, you can enter the (decimal)number on the numpad while holding down the Alt key. Hex 0xB1 = Decimal 177. And if that doesn't work enter 0177. which makes no sense at all, for a decimal no. (but that's how I first learned to do it, too.) okay, so why did I say 0177, as an entry for a decimal no., makes no sense at all? because in programming languages, octal literals are typically identified with a variety of prefixes, including the digit 0 . that's why. (esp. when the decimal number, in context, is extremely ambiguous; i.e. 0177 could  be octal or hex or decimal.) |  |  |  
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Joined:  Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 | 
If you're using the Windows OS, you can enter the (decimal)number on the numpad while holding down the Alt key. Hex 0xB1 = Decimal 177. And if that doesn't work enter 0177. which makes no sense at all, for a decimal no. (but that's how I first learned to do it, too.) okay, so why did I say 0177, as an entry for a decimal no., makes no sense at all? because in programming languages, octal literals are typically identified with a variety of prefixes, including the digit 0 . that's why. (esp. when the decimal number, in context, is extremely ambiguous; i.e. 0177 could  be octal or hex or decimal.) My understanding (completely self-generated, but based on some knowledge of basic computer programming) is that the routine that handles the input is looking for four digits and if it doesn't get them it's not going to work. |  |  |  
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