#41075
09/07/2001 6:04 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
Awhile ago I mentioned that my brain was "squiffy" from new meds the Doctor gave me.
Jackie asked where I got the word Hi Jackie.
Then Bingley noted : I associate squiffy with pre-WWII upper class slang, meaning drunk. Presumably wow means that any dimunition in the clarity and grace of her posts is to be attributed to side affects of medication.
He is correct as to the effects of new meds, now abated (or should I mention that and lose the excuse?)Thank you for the "clarity and grace" bit, Bingley.
Since I wasn't in England pre- WWII obviously I didn't pick it up there.
I've also used squiffy to describe things that are sort of soft or sort of mushy.
Back to the subject - what is your experience of and with "squiffy?"
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#41076
09/07/2001 6:19 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
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#41077
09/07/2001 6:33 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
Had forgotten that one, tsuwm, but.
My use of squiffy waaaay predates the post ... like childhood.
"My teddy (bear) got wet in the bathtub and now he's all squiffy."
The thread mention may have tucked the word into my brain and regurgitated it later, out of the blue, without my remembering reading it fairly recently.
That make sense? Or is my logic gone all squiffy?
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#41078
09/07/2001 6:51 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
My memory of the word goes back to the usage of "skew-whiff" - meaning not straight; whether for the hanging of a picture or the route taken to get somehwere. From that, it was applied to drunkeness (fairly obvious connection) and somewhere along the line became condensed to "squiffy." By the end of the War (WWII), it use was common, not just among the upper classes, where it almost certainly originated. It would be picked up (along with all sorts of other things!!!) by American Servicemen in the contacts with us Brits, and taken back "Stateside."
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#41079
09/07/2001 6:59 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
"My teddy (bear) got wet in the bathtub and now he's all squiffy."
you know, that usage seems a bit squiffy (askew) when compared with the UK slang sense (intoxicated). do you think it's directly connected?
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#41080
09/07/2001 10:31 PM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094 |
"My teddy (bear) got wet in the bathtub and now he's all squiffy."
you know, that usage seems a bit squiffy (askew) when compared with the UK slang sense (intoxicated). do you think it's directly connected?
She just said the bear fell in the bathtub. She didn't say what the bathtub was filled with.
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#41081
09/08/2001 12:47 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
She didn't say what the bathtub was filled with.
Good one, Jazz-O!  ========================================================== I suppose this ought to be in I & A, but I am posting it here, anyway. I got permission to do it this morning, but kind of had other things on my mind at the time. Besides preparing for some extended traveling and other things, belligerentyouth just got engaged!
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#41082
09/08/2001 1:28 PM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094 |
belligerentyouth just got engaged!
Who'dja hook him up with Jackie?
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#41083
09/08/2001 2:12 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
I plead innocent this time, Jazz-O!  But I will say he told me it's not the pretty young lady with him in the picture on Max's site.
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#41084
09/08/2001 10:36 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
In that case,from long experience, I can tell him that he needs to get that photo changed, one-time!
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