|
|
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
] And B-2, if I were to marry someone on the strength of a well-written love letter, AND the marriage succeeded, I would be applauding the operation of pure chance in my favour!
perhaps i should rephrase myself. i wasn't suggesting that a relationship could or should be predicated upon a single well-written love letter; you are discounting the fact that the two persons in question had (am i incorrectly presuming that this was a mutual attraction?) already established a rapport. i'm commenting more on the fact that--having developed an in-person affection for each other--societal tradition caused them to take the relationship first to an intellectual level before proceeding with social interaction.
and david [what's a better word for "cultivation?"]: perhaps "refinement"?
~b
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
Since the character that wrote the letter admits that he doesn't know much about the object of his affections, the use of the word is nothing but gross flattery - how would he know that she was artless?
And that is the letter writer's art -- to purchase it, the sender's.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
Having developed an in-person affection for each other--societal tradition caused them to take the relationship first to an intellectual level before proceeding with social interaction.I think that's a good point, Bridge. Truly. Still, these letters look more like florid term sheets than expressions of other compatibilities. and david [what's a better word for "cultivation?"]: perhaps "refinement"?It wasn't the one on the tip of my, um, tongue, but it is no doubt better than the one that was hanging from my uvula. 
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
So I guess strait-laced isn't a suitable feminine of "stuffed shirt" at all. Leaving us in dire straits..
On the oblique : in Victorian times women wore corsets with stays. The corsets were tightly laced up the back. So were the Vics strait laced (tightly confined) or straight laced to keep their spine stiffened?
Pondering this I find myself in need of a stiffiner!
wow
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819 |
blue]You may be more of a hopeless romantic than I am. The term, "hopeless romantic" is oxymoronic! Romantics are by nature hopeful, if a bit goofy. Another oxymoron is "near miss." That really grates on me. But then, in this case, the suitor was attempting to convert a near miss into a conjoined Mrs! 
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819 |
"stuffed shirt"
Isn't a female with a stuffed shirt wearing a padded bra?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
Another oxymoron is "near miss." If you think that, you have never seen me play darts! A near miss is a rare event for me, the phrase "missed by miles" is much more apt.  I truly do not think that "near miss" is either oxymoronic or tautological, as it is easily possible to miss by a degree other than "near". If I remember correctly, the aviation industry has an exact definition of "near miss", that whenever planes come within X feet of each other, it is defined as a "near miss".
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819 |
If I remember correctly, the aviation industry has an exact definition of "near miss", that whenever planes come
within X feet of each other, it is defined as a "near miss".Although I'm not in the aviation industry (used to have a private pilot's license, but nothing more) I suspect that the term, "near miss" was coined by a moronic - whether oxy or otherwise - journalist. If one comes near to missing, one has barely hit, according to my quite possibly warped way of being logical. BTW, is the opposite of tautology limpology? That's a logical "near miss," I think! If you think that, you have never seen me play darts! A near miss is a rare event for me, the phrase "missed by miles" is
much more apt.Well, Max, that's why I play darts indoors: I'm bound to hit one of the four walls.  I also play a wicked game of fiveis. It's only tennis when the ball goes back where it came from!
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,810
Members9,187
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
373
guests, and
1
robot. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
