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#113696 10/15/03 01:30 AM
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I have only skimmed through the past 500 threads, but could not find something addressing a question put to me. I hope I haven't been too shortsighted and thus am reopening a topic that has already been posted to death (a horrible way to go, by the way).

An etymology not on a word, but rather the phrase, "the tables have turned".

Also, somewhat off the subject, but I'm new here and was wondering why Jackie's name is the only one in red, and why is it?


The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence that it is not utterly absurd

#113697 10/15/03 04:12 AM
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Our first poster from the next world. Greetings. As you will no doubt know, Victorian mediums went in for table-turning, but I suspect the phrase is somewhat older than that.

Bingley


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#113698 10/15/03 10:07 AM
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welcome Arge, Jackie is special, and pretty in pink.

from brewers

Table-turning.The turning of tables without the application of mechanical force, which in the early days of spiritualism was commonly practised at seances and sank to the level of a parlour trick. it was said by some to be the work of departed spirits, and by others due to a force akin to MESMERISM.
Turn the tables, To. To reverse the conditions or relations, as, for instance, to rebut a charge by bringing forth a counter-charge. The phrase comes from the old custom of reversing the table or board, in games such as CHESS or DRAUGHTS, so that the opponents relative position is altogether changed.

from brewers 1894 hypertext ed

Turning the tables. Rebutting a charge by bringing forth a counter-charge. Thus, if a husband accuses his wife of extravagance in dress, she “turns the tables upon him” by accusing him of extravagance in his, club. The Romans prided themselves on their tables made of citron wood from Mauritania, inlaid with ivory, and sold at a most extravagant price- some equal to a senator's income. When the gentlemen accused the ladies of extravagance, the ladies retorted by reminding the gentlemen of what they spent in tables. Pliny calls this taste of the Romans mensarum insania.
It is also used for “audi alteram partem,” and the allusion is then slightly modified- “We have considered the wife's extravagance; let us now look to the husband's.”

“We will now turn the tables, and show the hexameters in all their vigour.”- The Times.



#113699 10/15/03 12:35 PM
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Thank you so very much, dodyskin. I have been asked that question before, and never could come up with something authentic in answer aside from the failsafe "I don't know".

Uhm... at the risk of exposing more of my profound ignorance... uh... who's "Arge"?



"The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence that it is not utterly absurd."

#113700 10/15/03 12:48 PM
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uh... who's "Arge"?
it's a nickname for Andrew, you'll receive a few more until an unspoken consensus is reached and then you're stuck with it.
dody


#113701 10/15/03 12:57 PM
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*if it weren't for his present state of being, the anticipation of seeing what the eventual results of this are would be killing him*

"Greater indeed are pleasures that are shared."

#113702 10/15/03 01:40 PM
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"why Jackie's name is the only one in red"
Why don't you write and ask me?


#113703 10/15/03 05:13 PM
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Jackie, are you back to flirting with the new comer's again?

Don't mind her, Andy, pretty, smart, personable girls like her are common as hens teeth! oh, and modest, did i forgt modest? next thing you know, she'll be telling you she is the mother of teen-agers, and all sorts of other malarky!

Jackie's name is in red, cause she makes every day a red letter day around here! Thats reason enough!
feeling miscievous today, i couldn't help myself!


#113704 10/15/03 09:55 PM
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You ask why Jackie is the lady in red:


'Twas a cold winter's evening,
The guests were all leaving,
O'Leary was closing the bar
When he turned and he said to the lady in red,
"Get out, you can't stay where you are."

She wept a sad tear in her bucket of beer,
As she thought of the cold night ahead,
When a gentleman dapper
Stepped out of the crapper,
And these are the words that he said:

"Her mother never told her
The things a young girl should know
About the ways of college men,
And how they come and go (mostly go);
Now Age has taken her beauty,
And sin has left its sad scar,
So remember your mothers and sisters, boys,
Let Nellie sleep under the bar."



#113705 10/16/03 12:28 AM
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Well Helen, seems like I've arrived at the right place then . It's amazing how many people are downright opposed, based on some vague morale basis, to flirting with the deceased. I'm glad to find out that the whole world hasn't gone wacko on me. *nods to himself in appreciative affirmation*



"Greater indeed are pleasures that are shared."

#113706 10/16/03 12:59 AM
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> It's amazing how many people are downright opposed, based on some vague morale basis, to flirting with the deceased.

Well, in that case, your morale would be boosted by knowing that certain elements of the NZ government actively involve the dead in policy-making. Watching a powerpoint presentation today that discussed new health and saftey legislation, I was impressed to hear the Minister say that part of the consultation involved interviewing, and I quote: "Those who have suffered death and serious injury in the workplace." The interviewers must have climbed into bed, to get the data straight from the dead horse's mouth.


#113707 10/16/03 01:06 AM
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Now I'm intrigued about Andrew. Who was he and how did he come to be deceased? That is, if Andrews is (was) a male. Of course, he could have been a Julie Andrews sort of person and not male at all.

I think, by the way, that a ghost writing about turning tables is to be held in a bit of suspicion. There may be knocking on the walls any instant now--and, heavens, Halloween is just around the corner...

Welcome, by the way, A'gst!

What is, finally, the real appeal of talking with the deceased? We naturally like them much better, don't we, than living entities whom we can behave toward suspiciously.


#113708 10/16/03 01:10 AM
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>What is, finally, the real appeal of talking with the deceased? We naturally like them much better, don't we,

In the immortal words of Tonto, "who's the 'we', kemosabe?"


#113709 10/16/03 01:14 AM
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*plans next trip to NZ*

*it has been his experience that a ghost writing on any topic is enough to arrouse suspicion*

Thank you for the welcome, WW *hopes he isn't being too familiar, as he's seen "WW" used to refer to Wordwind in other posts*. WOW asked in a previous post (long before I appeared) for our gender to be put in our profile... there isn't much there but, in accordance with her request, I have filled in this relatively mundane aspect of my former glory (or lack thereof).



"Greater indeed are pleasures that are shared."

#113710 10/16/03 01:16 AM
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Helen--mercy! But, thank you. Father Steve--thank you SO much...[thud e]of heavy irony
So far we have quite a selection of names for ol' A's G: I like A'gst; or, maybe the Ectoplasmic One. Wow--with him plus "ET", we have a board that's really out of this world!


#113711 10/16/03 01:21 AM
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I liked A'gst, too, at first, because it sortof looked like 'angst'--and, heaven knows, it's a relief to realize shared angst. But after thinking about Andrewsghost's voice, the aghost seems to fit better.

Just my take on a very superficial encounter--or practically nothing at all, as may well be in the case of otherwordly beings.


#113712 10/16/03 01:21 AM
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>heavens, Halloween is just around the corner...

And, just for our resident pun-loving pagan:
If you misbehave at Halloween, you'll soon be reapin' what you're sowin'


#113713 10/16/03 01:29 AM
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A'gst might be appropriate after all.. if not just simply Angst (ANdrewsGhoST).

I am assuming that I will not get a vote, however... but I'm enjoying the speculation on all the possibilities



"Greater indeed are pleasures that are shared."

#113714 10/16/03 01:31 AM
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>I am assuming that I will not get a vote, however..


Au contraire! After all, have not thousands in your late state had an active share in US democracy down through the years?


#113715 10/16/03 01:41 AM
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I sincerely mean no offense, sjmaxq, but I was under the impression that there were a great many here who were not US nationals. Is this room a democracy? Does anyone get veto power?

Unfortunately you are correct... many in my late state (not to be confused with my present state), have had an active share in US democracy. *to avoid turning this thread into a political discussion, he will refrain from mentioning Bill Clinton*



"Greater indeed are pleasures that are shared."

#113716 10/16/03 01:50 AM
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>I sincerely mean no offense, sjmaxq, but I was under the impression that there were a great many here who were not US nationals.

No offence was taken, and I, like many here, am not a USns ( a coinage of this wonderland). My post was simply an attempt at humour, assuming that you were ruling yourself out of voting simply because of having already done the whole coil-shuffling-off thang. I thought that I would attempt to put you at ease on that issue.


#113717 10/16/03 02:02 AM
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Thank you

There are a few disadvantages to being in this state, but eternal silence isn't one of them
(However, mastery over ectoplasmic manipulation took a good long while, I'll tell you!. Couldn't type for the longest time... )



"Greater indeed are pleasures that are shared."

#113718 10/16/03 10:08 AM
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What we are here is an anarchy and Jackie gets her name in red because she's the Grand Anarch.


#113719 10/16/03 10:39 AM
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*flashbacks of sunday school songs flood his mind in the form of, "an arky arky", and he looks up to see if it's raining*

"Greater indeed are pleasures that are shared."

#113720 10/16/03 11:33 AM
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What we are here is an anarchy and Jackie gets her name in red because she's the Grand Anarch.


you, know, like the little piggies on animal farm, everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others....



#113721 10/16/03 12:55 PM
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Dang it, why couldn't I have been a Monarch? At least then I'd be beautiful...
http://www.units.muohio.edu/dragonfly/cycle/index.htmlx


#113722 10/16/03 04:37 PM
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Greetings AndrewsGhost. The reason Jackie's name is in red is that she is a scarlet lady.


#113723 10/16/03 07:57 PM
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an arky arky

hey! I know that song!

gonna be a floody, floody...



formerly known as etaoin...
#113724 10/17/03 12:26 AM
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*flashback to recent conversation about being the reigning monarch of fools... wondering where the fools got the butterflies... and how you would get them out of your driveway if the fools decided to rain them down from above*

*Likewise reflects that there probably weren't butterflies on the Ark, but isn't sure.*


Thank you very much Alex , I think I'm gonna like it here. And I am sincerely appreciative of having been very greeted to be here.

There have been a number of references to this scarlet lady of yours... it is at times like this that I sometimes wonder, *why not vermillion?*.



"Greater indeed are pleasures that are shared."

#113725 10/17/03 12:49 AM
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The vermillion vixen

Bingley


Bingley
#113726 10/17/03 01:33 AM
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Now dag NAB it, you-all! SSH!!!


#113727 10/17/03 10:54 AM
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why not vermillion?.

hey, its bad enough i suggest Jackie is a pig, by making a comparison to Aninmal Farm, but a worm! really that is too low!

If you really, really want to know, it is public information, hidden in the back pages of information & announcements.. go back at least 10 pages, (see if her name is red, if it is, go back another 10, until...enventually you find a the first post in scarlet...)
likewise, i presume you get my worm reference, but if not, try seeing red, in word play and fun (i think) or Misc... Search should work for that thread, its less than a year old.. or you could look that up in a dictionary!



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