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#105092 06/08/03 11:05 PM
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The expression "scot free" usually means to escape payment or punishment. If it is derived from some notion about the frugality of the good people of Scotland, why isn't it capitalized? If it refers to the Dred Scott decision (in the sense that he escaped to freedom), why isn't it spelled with two t's?



#105093 06/08/03 11:29 PM
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It isn't capitalized because it has nothing to do with the Scottish people. It doesn't have two ts because it didn't have anything to do with Dred Scott (but then that wouldn't be a very likely source anyway if you remember the fate of the unlucky Mr. Scott).

Check here:
http://www.bartleby.com/61/73/S0157300.html


#105094 06/09/03 12:06 AM
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Thanks, chum. Could be a short thread.


#105095 06/09/03 12:08 AM
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but with many views...

I wonder about some of the statistics of the board: fewest replies/most views; highest percentage of views and replies, etc...



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#105096 06/09/03 12:13 AM
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etaoin~

WHAT do you "wonder about some of the statistics of the board: fewest replies/most views; highest percentage of views and replies, etc..."?




#105097 06/09/03 12:16 AM
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sorry, I guess it was an incomplete thought..

which particular thread has the highest number of views with the smallest number of replies, etc. that sort of thing. goofy, baseball-like statistics.




formerly known as etaoin...
#105098 06/09/03 12:26 AM
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>which particular thread has the highest number of views with the smallest number of replies, etc. that sort of thing. goofy, baseball-like statistics.


Aaargh, that's torn it! You mentioned the "B" word, now Juan will be all over this thread like a rash.


#105099 06/09/03 12:31 AM
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While listening to the Seattle Mariners win both games of their double header today, we heard the announcer claim "Baseball fans love all kinds of statistics." My darling bride replied, "No, baseball ANNOUNCERS love all kinds of statistics." Perhaps the whole of baseball fandom may be divided into two parts: those who care which left-handed third baseman with an Hispanic surname and a college degree stole the most bases during his second year in the major leagues ... and those who don't.




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>Perhaps the whole of baseball fandom may be divided into two parts: those who care which left-handed third baseman with an Hispanic surname and a college degree stole the most bases during his second year in the major leagues ... and those who don't.


A delightful obsession with such minutiae is the one thing that most closely unites baseball with the infinitely superior English game it devolved from. wyrd-sisters-e


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At the risk of contributing to a thread hijack, did baseball in fact "devolve" or evolve from cricket or was it conceived more or less on its own?


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