Grrrrr
You all have heard of the stales passion for quiz nights - well you have now.
A couple of weeks ago our team were relegated to third place on a count back after we tied for second. One question we got wrong (even with a choice of four answers) was what do arctophiles collect? If we'd known the answer we'd have got second place.
Well, bugger me, went to another quiz night last night and there was the same bloody question - but without the benefit of multiple choice answers!! Do you think I could remember the answer - no way!! Even though we won the night, the glory of the prize (a packet of M&M's - well it was only a little quiz night!!) was dulled by not being able to remember the goods on arctophiles.
For the record, for once and for all, for now and for ever, stales hereby states he will always remember that arctophiles collect teddy bears.
Now I want to know why - any helpers?
stales
Why do people collect teddy bears? Beats me.
Possibly because they are easier to control and cheaper to feed than the real thing?
I heard on the radio the other night, advice to tourists to US National Parks on how to deal with the danger of bears:
"People walking in the woods should wear something that will warn the bears that you are coming, without startling them: for instance, little bells. A pepper spray should also be carriedincase of close encounters.
You should learn to distinguish between the droppings of black bears and Grizzly bears. TYhis is not difficult; Balck bear droppings are small, black and contain fruit, berries and occasinally squirrel fur: Grizzly droppings contain little bells and smell of pepper"
Possibly because they are easier to control and cheaper to feed than the real thing?
I heard on the radio the other night, advice to tourists to US National Parks on how to deal with the danger of bears:
"People walking in the woods should wear something that will warn the bears that you are coming, without startling them: for instance, little bells. A pepper spray should also be carried in case of close encounters.
You should also learn to distinguish between the droppings of black bears and Grizzly bears. This is not difficult; Black bear droppings are small and contain fruit, berries and occasionally squirrel fur: Grizzly droppings contain little bells and smell of pepper"
Jackie's correct here, I think.
What I'd like to know is, to what extent did children play with stuffed bears before the Teddy Bear named after Theodore Roosevelt, our 26th prez? Were stuffed bears part of the children's panoply of toys prior to T.R.Bear?
Arcturus (...). Astr. Also 4 arthurus, arturis; arture, ariture, arctour. [L. arctrus a Gr. ..., f. ... the Bear + ...
guardian, ward (from its situation at the tail of the Bear); the forms arture, etc. were from Fr.] The brightest star in the constellation Bootes; formerly, also, the whole constellation, and sometimes the Great Bear itself. (OED
http://www.geocities.com/~dubricius/arthur.html about name "Arthur" and relationship to Arcturus
http://www.arts.unimelb.edu.au/amu/ucr/student/1997/chiba/tbh.htmThis link gives you a potted history, in alternative versions. I incline to the Stieff version, as original Stieff bears are the most collectable of them all, some fetching thousands of pounds, sterling.
Jackie's correct hereYes, she is, if not very educational.
The root
arcto means bear, not northern region. See
http://www.bartleby.com/61/11/A0411100.html and
http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE437.html.
The northern region seems to have gotten its name from Ursa Major and possibly from the fact that there were bears in the north.
to what extent did children play with stuffed bears before the Teddy Bear named after Theodore Rooseveltapparently there had been earlier toy bears:
http://www.westorange.k12.nj.us/Roosevelt/Teddy Bear.htm:
after this famous cartoon appeared in the papers, a shopkeeper, Morris Michtom from Brooklyn, NY, took two stuffed toy bears which his wife had made and put them in his shop window purely as a window display. To make them even more attractive,, Mr. Michtom asked for permission from President Theodore Roosevelt to call these toy bears "Teddy's bears". He was soon swamped with orders from customers who wanted to purchase their own "teddy bears." Michtom's store eventually became the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company (today still known as the Ideal Toy Company). (IMHO, Gilbert created the term "pooh-bah" to echo a toddler's lisping name for his stuffed bear)but the teddy bear became an overwhelming craze:
http://www.ibiblio.org/stayfree/archives/13/teddy.html:
By 1905 mass-produced Teddy Bears were a full-blown craze. ... The fad persisted for three years. And worried people. A priest claimed that bearmania among little girls, who had all but abandoned dolls, destroyed the very instincts of motherhood, threatening the extinction of the species.
Thanks, Keiva. That question, now answered, is no longer unbearable.
So, to add to the phobia list, arctophobia would be fear of teddy bears? I mean, in case it comes up on Quiz Night...
WW
>arctophobia would be fear of teddy bears?
I'd think that would be reserved for use in cases where real bears need be feared -- we have to try to maintain a semblance of context in these things, afterall.
arctophile : cute and cuddly; arctophobe : big and grizzly
Dear tsuwm: As always, thanks for the clarification.
I checked my collection of phobias and found some related to bears in the woods, especially at night:
Agrizoophobia- Fear of wild animals...particularly the big and grizzooly ones;
Dipsophobia- Fear of drinking--belongs on the anti-fuzzle thread
Hylophobia- Fear of forests.
Noctiphobia- Fear of the night.
Walloonphobia- Fear of the Walloons. Threw this one in because I have no idea what a Walloon is.
In the spirit of contributing to Quiz Nights,
WW
No anemophobes out there?
WW, you are a nice person and all
but have you noticed how you're monopolizing this place?
Pretty soon, you'll achieve the 'fastest climb to pooh-bahdom' .... is that a good thing?
WW, I kin bear it and so can minnie of the rest. Don't let this Creepers make you cry.
Dear Max: I'm fairly confident that the Walloons below are not the Walloons you're holding in the bag...and this probably belongs on the mill thread. But in the spirit of the Great Steel Bearings, here 'tis a bit of trivia:
The iron-ore was the base of the Swedish steel industry during the 1600-1700s. The father of Swedish industry, Louis De Geer, brought his skilled workforce to Sweden from the Netherlands, Walloons to be precise. That is why the factories came to be known as Walloon mills. The Walloon steel soon became famous for its "sound" and "body". The English blacksmiths chose Walloon steel when high quality was required.
Beast regards,
WordWalloon
Remembering of course that a phobia is an irrational fear...
Thanks to Jackie, WWH & Jackie.
Was still a bit confused on the "arcturus" thing so took a squiz at Chambers....
They say that the word came from the greek for bear - Arktos.
Call me a hair splitter (been around you guys too long), but there4 doesn't arctophile simply translate as a lover of bears - ALL bears???
Wouldn't a Teddy Bear lover more correctly be referred to as a "Theodophinous arctophile"?
stales
(IMHO, Gilbert created the term "pooh-bah" to echo a toddler's lisping name for his stuffed bear)
Not so, Keiva. I wouldn't be surprised if WS Gilbert's opinion of chidren equalled that of W.Fields. Pooh and bah were common Victorian expressions of contempt. If you wished to rubbish someone else's opinions, you might well say, "Pooh to that, Sir." Bah was a rather more irate response in the same vein. Using the two epithets as a name, apart from being a crude pastiche on Japanese names, gave a clue to Pooh-Bah's contempt for the rest of the human race, who were so much more lowly bred than he.
To she of the Airy Words, Walloons are, indeed, inhabitants of Belgium - the name is also used for the language that they speak, which is very similar to French. They are cordially hated by the Flemish-speaking population of Belgium, I gather. Certainly, I have found that I get better service in Zeebrugge if I speak English than if I use French!
Dear Boby
I yam absolutely shocken at yer attitude! Do the words cute, cuddly, intilligint, intertainen, wordy, holesome mean anythin ta ya?
It beats ya does it? Well, as a Teddy Bear I bets I could beat ya at anythin. Name yer game and we'll see then who'll be collictablen the prizes.
And fer those of ye what were referren ta "stuffen bears" - I'd be very careful with yer choice of words! What sort of a bear do ye think I yam?
GallentTed
WW, you are a nice person and all but have you noticed how you're monopolizing this place?
Well jeepers, Creepers, didn't you realize that Dub-dub's e-mail name is 5jete?
You confuse the jete with a different ballet leap, thinking her to be jumping to entre-chat.
and btw, why did you choose to post under a newly-created and unidentifieable identity? The jete is a straight leap, but yours is more the enrechat -- a flutter-kick of a tac-tic. Tickie tackie?
The local Rhube quoth:
Certainly, I have found that I get better service in Zeebrugge if I speak English than if I use French!Same here. My French is totally un-understandable ...