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Joined: Sep 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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Isn't that just a little bit hypocritous ... ?
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Self Reliance" in Essays
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 619
addict
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addict
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"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds"Reminds me that Hallowe'en is just around the corner, Father Steve. BTW did you read the story yesterday about the Hallowe'en mask producer who says he can predict the outcome of a presidential election by the popularity of the masks he is selling? Headline: "Masked revelers prefer Bush Get this one: Halloween mask sales predictor says incumbent will beat Kerry in November." http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/21/news/funny/prez_masks/Which begs the question [perhaps?]: Which Presidential candidate is wearing the most successful mask? Incidentally, your "hobgoblin" quote reminds me of Sprio Agnew's "nabobs": "Over 30 years ago, Vice President Spiro Agnew famously referred to the press corps as 'nattering nabobs of negativity'."
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Spiro Agnew said it, but it was William Safire, who still writes the occasional newspaper column, who wrote it. Speechwriters like that don't come along every day.
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I've always liked the sound of nabob (or nawab): < Hindi nawāb, nabāb < Arabic nuwāwb (pl. of nā’ib 'deputy' active participle of nāba 'to represent'. And, of course, negus is pretty cool, too: < Amharic nəgus < Classical Ethiopic nəgu 'king, ruler' verbal adjective of nagśa 'to rule, become king'.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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And his weekly article "On Language" in the Sunday NY Times magazine is not to be missed.
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