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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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And this year's tree felling competition was won by t'ree fellers from Connemara
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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and vocabulary--In the valise thread-- you said you were too mean to by food and beer on a train-- I take it you find the prices too dear?
In US mean could be used in a mathematical sense--(mid point-- not "average of a set of values"-- but the midpoint of a set of values (mean salaries in NYC are 40% higher than national average*) or else:
To have in mind, (what do you mean by that remark?) and
Harsh or negative (Mean streets, or mean task master)
but almost never in the sense of frugal--
like wise, expensive things are never dear-- (sweet hearts are dear-- and some times expensive, too)
*a statement i recently read-- proving Twain's axiom-- "There are 3 kinds of lies-- lies, damn lies and statistics."
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Joined: Dec 2000
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old hand
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old hand
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The 'mean' you wrote of Helen, is short for 'mean with money' as I see it (i.e. miserly, tight mingy), but if someone says 'He's a mean old man!' without much other information, most would probably think it implies two meanings in one, stingy (lack of means) and hateful.
Conversation:
Girl: What's that old man doing?
Boy: That mean man means to steal that mean man's mean wallet content daily, as a means to live. Know wot I mean luv?
Girl: By all means.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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were too mean to by food and beer on a train--
------- (various US meanings of mean) but almost never in the sense of frugal--No, not frugal, but as b-y rightly says - miserly.  If I had meant "frugal" I would probably have used, "careful," "shrewd" or the good old Scots phrase, "canny." In the UK, we use all of the other meanings of "mean" as well, though. *a statement i recently read-- proving Twain's axiom-- "There are 3 kinds of lies-- lies, damn lies and statistics."Surely this famous remark is attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, English Prime Minister at end of C19, not the celebrated Mr Clements?
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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Rhuby comments, about the attribution of the lies, damned lies and statistics quote: Surely this famous remark is attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, English Prime Minister at end of C19, not the celebrated Mr Clements?From the Mark Twain quote finder: http://www.boondocksnet.com/twainwww/quotefinder.htmlThere are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. --Mark Twain attributed this to Disraeli
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Thanks Faldage-- I did remember hearing Twains name with the quote... Its is such a wonderful one... I love how statistics are bandied about.. and mangled.. and how they can be used intentionaly to confuse-- or even lie..
and Rhu-- i was being kind-- I used frugal as syn. with mean-- rather than the harsher word --cheap which is what i was thinking-- rather than miserly-- to cheap pay what the railroad charge-- as in a cheapstake-- I frequently define my self as cheap, (not in the sense inexpensive) but with a sense of miserly-- a word i rarely use--
Is that me? or general in US? (any one care to comment?
Cheap=tight with money-- i am too cheap to buy bottled water-- I just refill water bottles with water from the tap.
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Joined: Jan 2001
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old hand
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old hand
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cheapstake
Spelling mistake, or is this the word you meant? I use cheapskate.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
Yes-- a misspelling-- I was actually required to do some work (Heavens!) when the boss call, the forum is forgotten..
crossing thread-- I have AWAD forward any responce to my post to my email account-- so i am always moving in and out of Awad and work....
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Joined: Aug 2000
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
I just refill water bottles with water from the tap.Oooh!! I do envy you (or, possibly, I'm jealous of you  ) The tap water round here is so vile that even I can't bring myself to do that - it tastes as though it has dripped from Lucifer's boots. The best I can manage is to buy the 5 litre bottles of water and refill my small bottle from that. I saves quite a lot of cash, that way, even allowing for my shaking hand causing spillage.
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Joined: Feb 2001
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addict
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addict
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609 |
The pilot had passed all the exams to become an officer in the Royal Air Force and was being congratulated by his commanding officer. "Now all you need to know is the secret greeting between officers. It's quite easy to remember. The fisrt part is.. oh that thin transparent stuff planes fly through" "Air?" "That's right. And the second is the fuzzy stuff that grows out of your head" "Hair?" "Just so. And the third is the cave that bears live in" "Lair?" "Exactly. Now just string them together" "Air Hair Lair" "Perfect".   Rod
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