AWAD for 24th April: - Wordsmith.org

Wordsmith.org

Hello,

Today's mail `Maginot line' has the following lines

Maginot line (MAZH-uh-no lyn) noun

An ineffective line of defense that is relied upon with undue confidence.

[After Andr� Maginot (1877-1932), French Minister of War during World War II who proposed a line of defense along France's border with Germany. Believed to be impregnable, the barrier proved to be of little use when Germans attacked through Belgium in 1940.]

When did M. Maginot die?

Manoj

Bangalore India
12�58' N, 77�39' E

http://www.geocities.com/kummini/index.html

I'd say Anu Garg's finger slipped, and that he meant to put a 4 or a 5, in place of the 3.

jimthedog

Oh, Andre Maginot died in 1932 as Anu has stated.

But the French are a conservative lot, and they felt that, dead or alive, they couldn't do better in a Minister for War than good ol' Andre so they kept him at his post. Since he was obviously finding it difficult to move, they appointed a secretary to do the day-to-day work.

When war broke out, Maginot's energy, verve, flair and elan - oh, and his Line - were all that stood between the French and disaster. Certainly his Line wasn't all that strong and broke easily when the Germans took the bait and took a hook at it.

But the late Andre was clearly petrified at the outbreak of war. The rumour is that de Gaulle couldn't get anything useful out of him and that he found Maginot rather decomposed at the prospect of fighting. Also that he needed a wash. Eventually the President asked him if he wanted to be relieved of his post and took Maginot's silence as consent.

And so when the French government withdrew to Vichy they just propped Andre up in the corner of the Cabinet Room and closed the door.

For two years the Nazi occupiers thought he was a suit of armour until one unusually perspicacious officer noticed he was actually wearing a suit of Armani. So they took him out and shot him. It was rumoured that he didn't deign to reply when the officer in charge of the firing squad asked him if he wanted a blindfold. Three of the firing squad died of bullet wounds from the ricochets.

Hitler was rumoured to be furious when he heard what had happened, because he was looking for someone of Maginot's calibre to replace Rudoph Hess who'd taken French leave and a Messerschmidt 110 and gone on holiday in Britain.

just to provide a nodus, the dictator in Spain at this time was named Franco. Franco died in 1975, and is still dead.

p.s. - Maginot did die in 1932; he was French Minister of War from '29 - '31 and the wall was named after him, as its champion, when it was completed in the 30s. as noted, the Germans didn't test it, but rather outflanked it.

Dear CK: I think you do a bit of injustice to both Maginot and the Nazis. I remember reading about the Maginot line, and it was very strong, but not strong enough to withstand men as brave,well trained,and well led as the Nazis who exploited its few weaknesses.

I think you do a bit of injustice to both Maginot and the Nazis. I remember reading about the Maginot line, and it was very strong, but not strong enough to withstand men as brave,well trained,and well led as the Nazis who exploited its few weaknesses.

Sorry Bill, but you're w-a-a-a-y off the mark. The Maginot Line ran the length of the Belgian border. The "weakness" that the Germans exploited was that they could drive round the end of it. Which they did. It would have failed even if it had run from the sea to the Swiss border, however. It was built with the military technology and tactics of WWI in mind. For some strange reason the Germans were using more advanced technologies - like tanks and paratroops. It might have held them up for, oh, I dunno, five minutes?

Anyway, to show I'm not prejudiced, have a look at this Smithsonian Magazine revisionist article which disagrees with my view:

http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues97/jun97/maginot.html

I think someone's got carried away with the ability of the French to dig holes ...

just to provide a nodus, the dictator in Spain at this time was named Franco. Franco died in 1975, and is still dead.

And with a 400Kg tombstone over his grave.
Just in case...

just to provide a nodus, the dictator in Spain at this time was named Franco. Franco died in 1975, and is still dead

I'm confused as to the use of nodus here - it seems more like a nexus than a nodus (which is a difficult problem, from the Latin for "knot," is it not?).

tsuwm: illumination, por favor.

Afterthoughts on Franco:

1. When I lived in Madrid (late 80's), my landlady was always lamenting how things were so much safer and more orderly when she was young. It just astonished me that someone was expressing nostalgia for the good old days of fascism. People continue to be a source of wonder.

2. I learned, while studying in Spain, that most of the world's large oil companies refused to provide fuel for Franco during the Spanish Civil War. This was especially critical for his air force, which the Republican forces could not challenge, and which gave Franco a tremendous advantage in his pursuit of the war. Sadly, Texaco (known to USn's as "the star of the American road" in their ad copy) chose to sell him the fuel he needed, and was thus instrumental in securing 40 years of fascism for Spain. (Note: source on this tale was an extremely knowledgeable, but somewhat partisan, professor - so supplementary info would be appreciated.)

injustice to ... the Nazis

They got their justice at Nuremberg.

>I'm confused as to the use of nodus here - it seems more like a nexus than a nodus (which is a
difficult problem, from the Latin for "knot," is it not?).

mission accomplished; nodus - complication, difficulty (it seemed appropriate, after CK's contribution 8^)
if you saw a connection, it was entirely of your own making!!

Now, Hyla, don't get your knickers in a nodus!

Would you mind telling why you were living in Spain?
Studying, perhaps? My kids had each had nine years of Spanish before starting high school, and to my dismay, my
dau. wasn't put in Spanish her first year (though she is this year), and my son's high school doesn't even offer it.

CK, I laughed so loudly at your story, it's a wonder the
neighbors didn't come running...Oh, I love this place!
Has anyone checked Bush's pulse lately?

Ms. Jackie:

In a remarkable coincidence, I was in Spain working on the initial planning for Spain's own version of the Maginot line. Although there was little fear of an actual invasion by the French, the Spanish felt that the Pyrenees were insufficient defense against some of the more insidious aspects of French culture (they were particularly worried about the consumption of snails, and, eek, that dreaded gallic shrug - King Juan Carlos, the figurehead of state who engaged my services, had nightmares about the people of his fair land recklessly shrugging and snail-chomping their way into EU membership - and I won't even go into his fears of the power-mad Andorrans).

In any case, Juan Carlos had heard of my knack for creating elaborate, but ultimately futile, constructions, and devising grandiose plans that inevitably come to naught, and he felt I was just the hombre to create for him an impenetrable barrier against the foul designs of...

Wait a minute. That wasn't me.

I was studying in Spain. That's right. Studying. And hitchhiking. And drinking wine.

Thanks for asking. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Dang, you had me going there for a minute, H-man!

I do believe you are a man of multi-talent, however.

Hyla ... ya got me! But I take comfort in being in excellent company!

Does anyone know if the present King of Spain went to school in US? My brother went to school (Cranmore in Lenox, Mass., 1950s) with one of the Spanish Royals. Could it be?
wow