#47695
11/13/2001 2:33 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 6,296 |
Ever think upon the soles as being the arch angels of inspiration? There's a lot of heavy weighted matter that rests upon their little pit-a-pats.
It might be fun to take a look at the words that arise from our most direct connection with terra firma as we attempt to ascend from them into the infinite.
I'll proffer some obvious, and not-so-obvious ones, and see whether any of you may enjoy following me, nelipot barefoot or not, down this rarely trodden word path:
podium podiatrist podiatry Added edit: chiropody; chiropodist pad (as a verb, it is immediately kinetic and onomatopeoic) pelmatogram hamble (why would anyone want to do this to a dog?) pigeon-toed slew-foot (not sure of spelling; too lazy to liu) flat-footed en pointe ............to get us started....or nowhere
Eager as always to read what you might shuffle up, WordWalk
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#47696
11/13/2001 5:26 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819 |
So, WW, if we join your exclusive club, will we be members of Club Foot?
Pseudopodia - does that count? Pedal Orthopaedic
Pedestrian
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#47697
11/13/2001 5:55 AM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Do phrases count? Don't walk on your toes or Walks on his/her toes. just don't ask Max if elephants have toenails, PUHLEASE! 
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#47698
11/13/2001 10:03 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Whitman, sure phrases count as long as we don't tiptoe around the subject.
And we should have some degree of decorum in not pointing out any heels here.
My favorite expression for being gay is "light in the heels"--hope that doesn't offend anyone. I just think the phrase is cute.
Then there are:
down in the heels at one's heels kick up one's heels
There's also a verb for fighting with one's feet that I've forgotten, but will look for it today unless someone else remembers it first.
Did I spell slew-foot correctly?
Best regards, WW
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#47699
11/13/2001 10:31 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 6,296 |
Geoff:
pseudopod/pseudopodium = a stretch, but good to include among these footnotes as a prime examaple of a foot-not. Does pronate mean to the stretch the foot? Need to check that today...Nope, I just checked it and pronate means to turn the arm or hand downwards.
Savate was the word I was thinking of for boxing, not only with the hands, but also with the feet.
Also: having itchy feet = wanderlust?
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#47700
11/13/2001 4:03 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I'll take us right into the gutter with Foot fetish
More as you may or may not know, the grey matter of you brain is folded.. think of a large sheet of newpaper fold again and again to fit into a smaller space. Since information tends to be mapped to a specific part of the brain, these fold can cause area of the body -- with no relationship to each other to be very close..
the face --especailly the cheek of the face-- lies next to the fingers.. and in people who have lost fingers, stroking their face "reads" like touching their fingers.. the finger area of the brain, since it no longer was recieving any input--tends to merge with the area next to it.. in this case the Face.
an other common cross over of "sensation" is the feet and the genitals. these mapped areas are very close, and for unknown reasons, there is often a cross over.. maybe because its common to play with babies feet, (this little piggy, and other games) maybe because both have some many nerve endings.. but for what ever reason, it is very common to have a cross over of sensation between the areas.. usually it is mild.. and we "play footsie" or enjoy a foot massage, or just find feet, or shoes to be attractive or if a bit more intense, enjoy having our toes kissed or sucked on.. in extreme cases, the foot becomes the center for stimulation.. and one has a foot fetish... for the same reason, there is the common myth that foot size is related to the size of other parts of the anatomy... Well that should keep us on our toes for today...
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#47701
11/13/2001 4:27 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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more pedestrian words: expedite, fetter, centipede, trivet, antipodes(!), and (of course) sesquipedalian and parallelepiped.
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#47702
11/13/2001 4:33 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Knock-kneed,goose-stepping,tip-toeing, jackboot clomping;,stomping,heel and toeing,pirouetting,flatfoot flooging,roller blading,skating,gumshoeing,tap-dancing,twinkle toeing
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#47703
11/13/2001 4:55 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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In looking up "pelmatogram"=footprint, I encountered alleged synonym "anichnogram" could find no confirmation
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#47704
11/13/2001 5:05 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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re:having itchy feet = wanderlust?
or being foot loose (and fancy-free)
working (or walking) heel to toe.. have we had High stepping? i am sure i saw Down trodden.. not from the same root.. but related.
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#47705
11/13/2001 5:09 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dr bill you got tip-toeing and tap-dancing but missed Toe tapping!
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#47706
11/13/2001 6:57 PM
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Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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The metrical foot is the basic unit of meter. The most common metrical feet and their patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables are as follows: iamb: X / trochee: / X anapest: X X / dactyl: / X X spondee: / / pyrrhic: X X The meter of a poem is determined by the predominant metrical foot, and by the number of feet per line that predominates in the poem. The following terms indicate the number of feet per line: monometer: one foot per line dimeter: two feet per line trimeter: three feet per line tetrameter: four feet per line pentameter: five feet per line hexameter: six feet per line heptameter: seven feet per line octameter: eight feet per line Although there are terms for longer lines, the fact is that if a line gets much beyond eight feet (and even if it approaches eight feet), it tends to break into two shorter lines, simply because the speaker must pause for breath. http://nv.essortment.com/metricalfoot_rxjm.htmofTroy: Your whitewashed observations were most edifying. Sounds as though our brains hold a contortionist version of ourselves. Best regards, Westwords-Ho!
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#47707
11/13/2001 7:36 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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a little bit of foot work here-- (i looked at the Engrish site again-- hadn't in months and notices the sign on the door "Emergency Trap"-- it wa pointed out that Trap means stairs in dutch--and i realized, of course-- the Palisades of NJ use to be mined-- for Trap rock-- kind of fine basalt that forms steps...) i wanted to see if there was an other meaning of trap in English meaning stairs. i was thinking about a trap door, but while on the page of my M-W 10th, i tripped over trapezium-- and found a four footed table.. who'd a thought! trapeze and trapizoid come from the same roots..
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#47708
11/13/2001 7:39 PM
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Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Bravo, tsuwm, on parallelepiped Till looking it up, I imagined parallel lines of flautists padding away while tooting...
Hoof and mouth disease Hoofed it out of there Gait Guccis Mocassins Sneakers Slippers
If a woman's second toe is the longest, she will dominate any romantic relationship (Just thought I'd throw that little bit of folk wisdom on board...)
Sticking one's foot into one's mouth (I am gifted at this) Marching orders Shuffle off to Buffalo Time step Pitter-patter of little feet Toe in the door Foot in the door "Your mother wears army boots!" (This is just for Jackie, whom I quote from the insult thread...) Shoe store "We're going to have a really big shoe!" Ed Sullivan "There was an old woman who lived in a shoe." Silk stockings Socks Anklets Seamless stockings
Trod, plod, shod, hop, skip, jump, spring, spin, twist, sprint, ramble, scramble, jaunter, lollygag, loiter, break away...
And there's got to be a verb for the musician who keeps time by beating his toe inside his shoe...
Then there's relevé and jeté...and probably lots of others like these.
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#47709
11/13/2001 7:57 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Oh dub dubya, i go one better than sticking my foot in my mouth-- i have been know to open my mouth only to change feet!
and you missed Blue Stocking.
and trapped in an other way we have an impediment..
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#47710
11/13/2001 8:23 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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So, ofTroy, if we think deeply about roots, a speech impediment is really a veiled way of saying one has put one's foot into one's mouth? And also something could be expedient--so maybe a speech expedient would be one's ability to ameliorate our speech impediments, hmmm?
And, to add to tsuwm's centipede, can't overlook the millipede... Oedipus (It means something like crippled or wounded foot) Now what about octopus? 8-what? And paddleboats... And pedal-pushers... And pedestals... "Put the pedal to the metal." "Walk a mile for a Camel." "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" "Shoe" by Jeff MacNelly Santa fills stockings, and in some places, shoes... Then there's the great Romantic composer, Franz Shoebert... Shoe horns are blown by heels. Athlete's foot Foot - length of 12 inches "Deadman walking" (very sad to consider, really)
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#47711
11/13/2001 8:24 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear of troy: your trap rock is found in many places where successively smaller outpourings of basalt made like giant steps for which apparently Norwegian word is trap, like German Treppen meaning stairs. Like in Treppenwitz, the clever retort that comes to you too late on the stairs going out. And did anybody trip the light fantastic?
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#47712
11/13/2001 8:29 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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wwh: On the trap, is this the rock of which the Giant's Causeway has been formed?
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#47713
11/13/2001 8:38 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I think the Giant's Causeway is different. The thing about it that is spectacular is that the magma cooled in such way as to form long vertical prisms with small hexagonal cross section. I read article about it in Scientific American a few years ago but can't remember details. I found several sites about traps, but they were so long I doubted they would be enjoyed.
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#47714
11/13/2001 8:48 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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'Treppenwitz' is an expression for the case when a joke comes to your mind too late, when you're already descending the staircase.
bill, you don't know how long I looked for a word/phrase for this concept, until discovering about a year ago the F. phrase l'esprit d'escalier; the wit of the staircase.
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#47715
11/13/2001 8:56 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear tsuwm: I can't remember where I first found mention of "l'ésprit de l'escalier" It took me a long time to find it in Internet, and then in was buried in series of sites about music groups. It was a couple months later that I found Treppenwitz, can't remember where. It interests me in a way because it is one of the few phrases where German in more succinct than the French.
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#47716
11/13/2001 8:59 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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wwh: I performed a search on Google and entered the search like this: "Giant's Causeway" trap With what came up, I found the following information about the trap, a type of volcanic rock, of which the causeway, it turns out, is formed: PHYSICAL FEATURES As regards minerals in the county, the sub-soil is basalt or trap, which forms the Giant's causesway on the north coast, clay-slate and limestone; there was coal at Ballycastle, and salt mines near Carrickfergus; and iron ore in the hill region extending from Larne to Cushendall <../Glimpses.htm>. The ore was shipped from Larne, Glenarm, Carnlough and Red Bay to the ports of Cumberland, Wales and Clyde. There are numerous large bogs in the county. http://www.from-ireland.net/descrs/antrimdescr.htmBest regards, WordFriend
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#47717
11/13/2001 9:08 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear WW: I guess the magma is the same, but the outpourings were much more massive in the Siberian, Decccan and other traps, which are really huge, thousands of square miles iin area. So perhaps the big places got noticed and named first, and then it was noticed that the composition of other smaller formations was the same.
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#47718
11/13/2001 9:18 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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the west bank of the Hudson (north river inside of NYC, and this area is) is called the Palisades-- (some old timers will remember an early 1960's R & R hit Palisades Park, named for the same) is a basalt layer that was layed down long, long ago(help me whitman, back in the days of tex rex i think) .. and Up ended -- so it is now perpendicular. it too has the same hexogon crystaization-- but not as regualar as the giants causeway.
the Palisades were being mined for trap rock, and the Rockefellers bought up most of the land, and donated to the state- provide it was made it into parks--there is a Palisades parkway, and rugged trails between the two main parts of the park, Apline landing and Stateline park (the state line of NY/NJ. Most of the park is in NJ. the there is an other out cropping up state.. (a german/dutch name, skrunks? for short?) famous place for rock climbing...
what is nice is they are not quite perpendicular-- but off by 10 to 15 degrees or so.. (not 90, but 80 to 75 degrees. just enough of a slope that you can climb them.. (well i could and did in my youth.. now i am way to much out of shape.) but steep enough to seem almost straight up!
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#47719
11/13/2001 10:09 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819 |
Also: having itchy feet = wanderlust?
More likely tinea pedis, or athlete's foot.
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#47720
11/13/2001 11:02 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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And we should have some degree of decorum in not pointing out any heels here.Aw, shucks!...and I was going to wax interthreadual and offer Achilles heel. (Words from Greek Mythology). foot-and-mouth disease
And don't forget the formidable foot-in-mouth disease. It's horribly contagious, and there always seems to be outbreaks of varying degrees right on this board! 
basalt Basalt is an igneous rock, of troy (as opposed to metamorphic or sedimentary), the oldest and most basic rock formations on the planet, formed by volcanic lava flows. These rocks can date back to the dawn of time and can actually be billions of years old. They're solid and massive, and their upheavals are due to erosion and seismic activity. Fossils are rarely, if ever, found, in this type of rock, because the process of their formation destroys any organic remains. Except, a few years back, some paleomicrobiologists claimed to have found the fossils of microbes in some igneous formations that were 2 billion years old!...however, the jury is still out on that one. [edit: I should have mentioned that the ancient microbial fossils were deemed to be algae]
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#47721
11/13/2001 11:06 PM
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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One of my personal favorites "Jump in feet first." Geronimo!
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#47722
11/13/2001 11:15 PM
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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And thinking about Geronimo reminded me of "The Long Walk" and "The Trail of Tears".
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#47723
11/13/2001 11:24 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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My little wading pool is going dry...
Let's see: There are "feet of clay" And a Labrador retriever has webbed toes...but can't recall the exact term...
There must be a wealth of terms to describe various birds' feet. Do we have a resident ornithologist on board?
There are toenails, toenail clippers and a pedicure... And a football, but that's a sport... Up north there are the Finger Lakes--are there any Toe Lakes? Well, at least there's Toelstoi and Toelkein... And pickled pigs' feet, foot stools, and fallen arches... And what do you call those clamps you put on your shoes to aerate the lawn? Cowboy boots, and thigh-boots, and rubber boots, and snakeskin boots and wading boots... Wooden shoes and clogs, high-heeled sneakers and jogging shoes...flip-flops, mules, ruby slippers...Oxfords, spectator shoes, and Cinderella's glass slippers...
How 'bout the pedal-operated sewing machine? Does it have a special name? And what do you call it when you pace back and forth like a tiger in a cage? Charleston, Big Apple, Watusi, and the bop... Tango, calypso, rhumba, samba, and mambo... Hula and hip-hop, polka and waltz, Bunny Hop and Macarena, and the Electric Slide... There are catwalks and ballhooters and spingboards and trampolines... There are bunions and callouses and blisters... There's walking down the Primrose Path...
I still would like to know why dogs are hambled... Oh, my achin' feet!
And speaking of going in feet first in a post above, what about the canonball!!
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#47724
11/14/2001 12:20 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 328
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 328 |
My little wading pool is going dry...
Judging by the number of topics you brought up after this sentence, I would say it's closer to overflowing than drying up!
Anyway, to my point. I came across a foot reference while listening to Prokofiev's stunning film score for Alexander Nevsky. There is a Latin phrase used as a refrain several times: Peregrinus expectavi pedes meos in cymbalis est. The translation (according to the liner notes) is as follows: "As a wanderer, I expected my feet to be shod in cymbals."
Does anyone recognize this phrase? Is it a quote from somewhere? I'm curious as to its precise meaning and derivation.
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#47725
11/14/2001 12:33 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Rapunzel: I hope you receive or find the answer to your question. I was about to go to bed, but wanted to read the last post, which was yours. It reminded me of the nursery rhyme:
Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross, To see a fine lady upon a white horse; With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes She shall have music wherever she goes.
...just a tangent, but thought you might enjoy this while thinking about cymbals on a traveler's feet, whether symbolic or otherwise...
Oh, and another footnote from Mrs. Byrne:
rasorial adj. -- habitually scratching the ground in search of food.
Bon soir, DubDub
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#47726
11/14/2001 2:53 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
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The columns at The Devils Causeway in Ireland (and elsewhere basaltic flows are found) are a product of the lava's cooling. The cracks occur at right angles to the top and bottom of the flow and form columns that are inevitably six sided. The hexagonal cross-section reflects the fact the dominant stresses in the cooling rock are planar, parallel with the flow's surface.
The columns in the cliffs behind Bombo beach at Kiama on the New South Wales south coast occur in a rock unit with the charming name of the "Bumbo Latite"! Latite is a cousin-brother of basalt. A little further south, one of the columns has fallen out of a flow that protrudes into the sea. This forms "The Little Blowhole" - lots of fun to drop things into just as the swell rushes up the underside of the flow!!
stales
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#47727
11/14/2001 2:56 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
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Posts: 866 |
howsabout the CRS version: "plates" (of meat).
stales
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#47728
11/14/2001 3:12 AM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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ruby slippersNo...that's Rhuby Slippers around here! 
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#47729
11/14/2001 4:22 AM
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Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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If you don't toe the line you'll get the boot.
Bingley
Bingley
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#47730
11/14/2001 12:49 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Now, if something's useless, it's bootless..
And I just learned something: We're familiar with a pirate's booty, but I didn't realize that the baby slipper was spelled differently: bootee or bootie. So, three spellings for the cost of one on the Scrabble board!
And, since we're got the Achilles' heel mentioned in a post above, we can't forget the elevator boots used in Greek theatre: kothurnos--but my spelling is incorrect here. Can anyone help?
WW
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#47731
11/14/2001 2:02 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Rhuby Slippers Personally, being a Londoner, I wear daisy roots  And, at the end of a long day, standing beside at me barrer, me dogs really kill me, and I'm glad to put me feet up!
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#47732
11/14/2001 2:44 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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bill, I'd forgotten(!) that there is an english word that's sort of related to those 'wit of the staircase' words. afterwit is given by Mrs. Byrne as the locking of the barn door after the cows have gone or, less prosaically, knowledge that is gained too late to do any good.
this seems like a perfectly good word to bring out of obs. and apply to our concept.
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#47733
11/14/2001 3:57 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear tsuwm: Afterwit has merit of compactness. Latewit might be possible. Josepha was having a bad day with the locking the barn after the cows are gone . Cows are put in stanchions, which close comfortably behind their heads, allowing them to eat the grain that is the enticement to submit to the restraint, while awaiting milking. Reminds me of joke of farmer who was refused marital privileges during spat with wife. One of the cows had stanchion closure defective. Farmer started to urinate in manure trough behind that cow. The sudden noise startled the cow, so she started to back out of stall. Farmer grasped her tail to prevent this. Just then the wife entered barn, and would never accept farmer's explanation of what his two hands were doing.
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#47734
11/15/2001 1:46 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Smart too late...
What do you call the sum of a long column of figures?
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