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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
this board is about language, not comparative religion, or history
I agree, shanks - but oftimes these matters (and much more) are nigh on impossible to separate. Meaning is defined by context at least as much as content. "Suffice it to say"s like yours are meat and drink, as far as I'm concerned!
The word - or name, or finger pointing at the Moon - in this case was, of course, "God"; and its meaning went through an almost complete enantiodroma (any excuse!) in the time between the Old and the New Testaments.
I always liked Alan Watts' suggestion that "God" should be seen as an exclamation rather than a name.
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
Be prepared for the brilliant language of propaganda in all things related to India. My favourite is this: in 1857, as is well known, there was a great deal of armed conflict all over India, primarily between native Indians, and their White/British 'overlords'.
In the UK, this conflict has always been called The Great Indian Mutiny.
In Indian history textbooks, it is only ever referred to as The First War of Indian Independence.
Here's another name for the same event - The Sepoy Mutiny. The insurrection (neutral enough?) is of considerable interest to me, as it started in Meerut, the same city, where, 76 years later, my father was born. His grandfather came out with the British Army in 1859, so he may well have been part of a deployment in response to the "incident". I can't get away from the Raj, as the town where I live, Hastings, was settled around that time, and there are many street and town names redolent of that era - Simla (my Dad's father was fond of saying that in summer, a cigarette paper separated Simla from Hell), Lucknow, Warren, Clive, etc. With the passage of time, I have come to believe that my father's duskiness(the word seems to have a lovely Kiplingesque quality about it), and physiognomy cast grave doubt on his assertion that he has no ethnic ties to the Indian subcontinent - I suspect that all was not pukka in his family tree!
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
Wow, reading about Carrom made me think of skully, a street gave in NY (sadly, like ringalevio, no longer played)
The playing field was chalked into a concrete slab of sidewalk, (about 4' x 4') and it had target areas (9 total), at each corner, center side edge, and final in dead center. Often the targets where subdivided. Each was numbered, and 1 was diagonally opposite 2, 3 in another corner, 4 opposite that. The target area was about 2 inches square.
It was played with bottle caps, preferable made heaver by melting in a wax crayon--which also made it easer to keep track of who belongs to which game piece. Adding washer or lead before melting the wax made your "man" heavier, and harder to knock out of bounds, but it also made it harder to control.
You scored by landing your game piece inside a target area in strict order--but you improved your odd at wining if, along the way you managed to knock your opponents markers out of bounds... since marker put out of bounds had to start over again.
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 347
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 347 |
I've never played carrom or skully, but carrom reminded me of a very simple game that we used to play at school - "push-penny". Two or more players had a coin each (same denomination for fairness) and the object was to push other players' coins off the edge of the table by flicking your own at it. A sliding form of marbles, if you like. Was/is this a common game, and does anyone know if it originated from carrom?
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004 |
I suspect that all was not pukka in his family tree!
Funny that. I've always suspected that my family swung the 'other' way - too many hazel eyed cousins, etc! My own skin being too light to be properly Dravidian. Who were my grandmothers seeing on the side - that's what I want to know!
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004 |
Push-penny = Shove ha'penny?
Anybody know?
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
I've always suspected that my family swung the 'other' way
Oooo shanks. You don't want to say that here. Here, if your family had "swung the other way" you would not have made any babies at all. An important phrase to avoid if you ever come on a visit and you don't want to lead any gentlemen on.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Who were my grandmothers seeing on the side
I am part Cherokee Indian (sorry, but it just sounds too silly to me to say "Cherokee native American")--definitely Caucasian in appearance, but somewhat in the darker skin range of this group. My son is really dark.
About grandmothers--my husband explains this part of my heritage by saying that one of my ancestors couldn't run fast enough!
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
Carrom is also played here in Indonesia, where it's known as karombol . I've never played it but I've seen sets in shops. I'm told it's very popular among students and the underemployed.
Bingley
Bingley
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
>underemployed
Potential awadeers then!
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