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Dear Geoff: What is the difference between a rooster and a bimbo?
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old hand
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old hand
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Carpal Tunnel
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A rooster says "cock-a-doodle-do". A bimbo says any cock'll do.
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old hand
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old hand
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What a combination of definitions it seems to have--"a coarsely ruddy bloated appearance", but also "disheveled", "umkempt", "frowsy"...
ewein, now I'm so sad! (and everyone else who added to this definition!) - I always thought it was a GOOD thing to be "blowsy" - perhaps from reading poetry, in which "blowsy flowers" or "blooms" are referred to - cannot now think of an instance....But I never picked up that it meant dishevelled, etc. I always equated "blowsy" with a kind of charming disarray.
Sigh. Another dream dismantled.
Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Blowsy, charming disarray? no, a blowsy blonde is the kind found coming out of a bar, not a drunk, but tipsy, and a bit flushed from a pint or two, or pehaps a bit of spirit.
and somehow, along the way, a button on her blouse has come undone, and her hair or two was gone astray...but she is not a hussy, she is going home alone.. but mind you, she fancied that bloke with the eyes as black as coals, and before she left, she gave him a kiss..& he hardly knew what to do!
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veteran
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..and somehow, along the way, a button on her blouse has come undone, and a hair or two has gone astray..Absolutely spot on my own understanding of the word, Helen.  And beautifully described.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Absolutely spot on my own understanding of the word, Helen. And beautifully described.
The lady has a way with words. Indubitably.
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Bill, I've come to this rather late, and what I find in OED is rather unhelpful as to etymology: f. blowze [Of unknown origin: cf. various Du. and LG. words with the sense of ‘red’ or ‘flushed’ under blush; but some of the uses appear to be influenced by blow] blush: [Evidently related to a series of words found in Old Norse and Low German, but not known in OHG. or Gothic, pointing back to a stem *blHsi- from verbal root *blHs- in sense of ‘burn, glow, be red’. Cf. OE. *blysian in ablisian to blush, ablysung, ablys¼ung ‘redness of confusion, shame’, with MDu. blZzen, blözen (from earlier bleuzen), Du. blozen to blush, blos (formerly bleus) blush, MLG. blosen, bloschen; also OE. blysa wk. masc., blysi¼e wk. fem., ON. blys neut. ‘torch’ (Sw. bloss torch, blossa to blaze, Da. blus torch, blusse to blaze, to blush), LG. blüse flame, blüsen to set on fire, bleusteren to inflame, glow, become red. The nearest relatives of ME. blusche, blosche, blysche, are app. MLG. bloschen, LG. blüsken (Brem. Wb. I. 105): and its antecedent form is perhaps to be found in OE. blyscan, bliscan ‘rutilare’ (in the Aldhelm Glosses, Mone Q. und F. 355): but its comparatively late appearance in ME., apparently first in the north, its various vowel-forms, and the doubtful relations of the senses, esp. sense 2, all combine to leave the history of the word very obscure. OE. blyscan, bliscan, has also been conjectured to be for *blicsian, from root *blik- to shine, in which case it would not be related to the blHsi- words, nor to ME. blusche. (The Da. deponent blues to blush, may also be compared.)] all of which boils down to what you found.
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Tsuwm : all of which boils down to what you (wwh) found.
But what a wonderous labyrinthine path to that same conclusion! Bravo!
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veteran
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'lo nuncle!
which boils down to what you found
Not quite what Bill found, though. I have no problem with the ruddy, blushy, shiny, rosy-cheeked bit. I do however, struggle a lot with blowsy as :
coarse-complexioned, as well as unkempt, slatternly, disheveled
This is primarily based on my feelings, but I've always understood blowsy as depicting a lovable middle-aged barmaid/landlady type rather than a slattern.
Helen's description fit the bill quite nicely, too.
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