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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
Jo quoth (her, again?): Myself, I’ll stick with 'din Eidyn' (Eidyn's Hill Fort), or is that a place in the land of the kiwi?Yes, and we have a lot to be defensive about there! 
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
>This is very mysterious to me--the idea of human beings looking at a turnip and thinking, "Oh, that would make such a great lantern, perfect for Halloween!" Bizarre. There's got to be a lot more to the story.
Well, I suppose that a group of parents got together, over a cup of tea and wondered how to amuse the children and decorate the house as the nights drew in. "We have nothing," said one peasant "how about giving the children a few sharp knives and vegetables to play with," said one, "those new fangled potatoes are a bit too precious," said another, "all we really have are a few old turnips, see what they can do with those ..."
Isn't necessity the mother of invention!
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 393
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 393 |
Never having encountered a water-heater designated a geyser, I've never had to get used to saying it. I think I'd say geezer, but embarrassed that it sounds just like geezer.
My problem is that I know how to pronounce the Icelandic geysir, from which it comes, so I call that a gay-seer. Perhaps other talk about all the hot geezers of Iceland, I don't know.
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Joined: Aug 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605 |
Jo says, Isn't necessity the mother of invention!Also, Jo: in the context of small children to be kept occupied, "Invention is the necessity of Mother!" 
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
This URL is to Washington Irving's Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which should be good reading for kids on Halloween. http://www.angelfire.com/wi2/legendwashington/
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
Re: Link
Thanks, I've only got as far as the squirrel-shooting bit, I'll file it away for when I have time.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
>Why turnips ... Ok Here is another version. I had ocurred to me that the item was featured in a 1780 edition of "Changing Rooms" but I couldn't find the website. I did find this though: The Origin of Jack O'Lanterns The tradition of making Jack O'Lanterns originated in Ireland. They were NOT carved from pumpkins, but from rutabagas, potatoes, turnips, beets and other vegetables. The Irish legend of 'Stingy Jack' tells of a man so evil and mean he was not allowed in heaven. In fact, he was so demented he played tricks on the devil, who then wouldn't even allow him to enter Hell. So, when Stingy Jack died he was doomed to roam the earth at night. He carried a turnip lantern with a hot, glowing coal inside, and he soon became known as 'Jack of the Lantern'... or Jack O'Lantern. Thus began the ritual of placing Jack O'Lanterns in windows and at doors to scare away Stingy Jack and other spooky spirits that are said to aimlessly walk the earth after dark. http://www.wagsouth.com/hdays/ween2.html
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Joined: Jul 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
My cars like that. I have maupassant me than I pass them
TEd
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460
addict
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addict
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460 |
I wonder how accurate were the Halloween sequences in the 1944 film Meet me in St Louis which was set in 1904?
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
JMH - you mentioned "rutabagas"....wassat???
BTW, are you US'ns on the Board aware we don't do Halloween in OZ? (Despite the ever increasing efforts of retailers to introduce it so as to sell more greeting cards, candies etc). Suspect it's only a recent phenomenon in other Commonwealth countries as well (excluding Canada).
stales
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