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addict
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it was caught up quite high at the bottom
To the esteemed Mr. liver, or any who can assist in this matter: What does the above mean? The words do not bring a clear image to mind. If this description means that this is a short tunic that exposes the ankle, heaven forfend, then it seems that the sense of "man-killer" as being rather racy also applies here, even if Widow Bedott does not don it with that intent.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Yes, Mr c.liver, Ovid and his ilk wore tunics. I don't think they did in Victorian England. I'm still confused. And etaoin, you are adding to my general confusion. 
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what I think I'm suggesting, and I can't be sure of this as I'm feeling a bit spotty and contemptible these days, is that the Widow Bedott donned a cloak cut in the style of a classic tunic.
-jcl
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Allo all... I think you've hit the nail right on the head with the ridicule / reticule / reticle connection since she reached into it to get a poem. Based on the rest of the dialogue in the book it seems quite appropriate that she would mispronounce the word as ridicule. She fairly butchers several other words...i.e. she often uses the word consarn. It took me several different sentences in which she used it to realize she was saying concern. Some I never figured out. There is a lot of regional dialect used which made the characters seem all the more real. I really liked the book - it created a vivid verbal picture of life in the era, warts and all. The man-killer description from 1925 would seem to fit the bill. It is only some 75 years after she wrote the stories so the word could still have been in use at the time. Also, what with all the layers a woman had to put on at that time, one where you could see a woman's legs or ankles would certainly have been considered daring. ___________________________________________________ of Troy...what a poetical description of my, um, personality . Don't worry about it etaoin, the moniker does seem to give the impression of masculinity though a visual inspection - even from afar - would quickly dispel that notion.
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Carpal Tunnel
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dearest bel, your personality is a human, (and very humanistic) but i was describing your anatomy! -- clearly, if you met etaoin, (or he/she met you) there would be no question about which pronoun to use! the dress described would fit about a US size 12.. (you're a size 12 i think) but it might be a bit tight on top... still if it were strapless, and shouldless, i expect you'd fit, and fill it out nicely-- and would easily make the garment live up it its name.. man-killer.. any many would kill to go out with you once they saw you in it!
and yes, i suspect it is not really your type dress, but i expect you could play the vamp, even if you don't normally do so!
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Carpal Tunnel
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again, bel(I should have figured it out from that!), my sincerest apologies. in this case, it sounds like a picture would have sorted it all out! someday perhaps, these forums will be little videos, with captions, of course! then there won't be any hiding behind our monikers...
which brings me to AnnaStro: etaoin shrdlu is the order of letters, sorted by frequency, of use in English. I have to admit I was surprised to find it still available as a nickname when I signed on. anyway, I am a man, who's real name is roger. and as a man, thanks to you Helen, I now have a very vivid picture of bel in my head!
formerly known as etaoin...
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
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, I now have a very vivid picture of bel in my head!
... and so have all of us who have met her!  I'll certainly take you out, bel, if you wear a dress like Bill has advertised! (I wonder when he wore it?)
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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etaoin shrdlu is the order of letters, sorted by frequency, of use in English.
Well, thank you for that! I was going crazy trying to work it out. Now I can appear on "Wheel of Fortune" with confidence.
BTW I see from your bio you're a music kind of guy. Lots of us here!
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Joined: Nov 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Actually, etaoin shrdlu is the order of keys of the first two columns on the linotype keyboard ... etaoin and sh were tapped with the left hand, the rest with the right.
The reason they are so well known is that they used to frequently appear in error in newspapers when the operator filled a line out by running the forefinger of his left hand down those two columns on the keyboard.
I have an Advanced Trade Certificate in the use of the linotype machine. I last used on in anger in 1975, when computers displaced all our hard-won skills. Talk about ancient history!
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Yes, CapK - it was a sad day when the genus Compositor was replaced by the daisy wheel (I can afford to laugh - I prgrammed one of the first phot-typesetting machines, the Lumizip (!) and had to become a member of the NGA to do so!)
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