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#18289 02/06/01 06:34 PM
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there doesn't seem to be one for lexicographers, or verbivores or logophiles. we should start a campaign

St Muw?


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and no less than eight patron saints of tertiaries

I have no idea what was meant here, I just loved the notion of eight saints for something I'd never heard of as a noun (in regards to water, tertiary treatment is a term used for wastewater treatment - it's the highest standard of treatment, and follows primary and secondary). I'll leave it up to TEd to come up with a pun related to 3/8 of a saint, or some such.

Also, I'd like to proffer an apology - I wrote "less" here, when I am definitely in the "fewer" camp on this particular usage question - my bad.


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= Martin mass, or St. Martin's feast day (Nov. 11, I believe -- it's not a red letter day in the U.S

Thanks, despite having a Catholic heritage on my mother's side, and a certain fondness for the name Martin, I did know that there was a Martinmas. November 11 is still something of a day here, as it Armistice day, commemorating the signing of the Armistice that ended WWI. The phrase, "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" has always had nice ring to it, making Armistice Day easy to remember. I suspect that losing so many of its men in someone else's war played a large part in WWI's important role in forging a disctinct sense of self for NZ.


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Damn! There ain't no spell-checker nowhere what will make up for missin' words! Please read the first sentence of my previous post thusly:

Thanks, despite having a Catholic heritage on my mother's side, and a certain fondness for the name Martin, I did notknow that there was a Martinmas.


#18293 02/06/01 09:26 PM
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November 11 is still something of a [red-letter] day here, as it is Armistice day, commemorating the signing of the Armistice that ended WWI.

Ditto here of course, plus for rememberances of a different sort, as it was on that day in 1975 that the Queen (of England)'s "representative", Governor-General Sir John Kerr, invoked still-disputed constitutional rights to sack the popularly-elected Prime Minister Gough (pronounced Goff) Whitlam, and installed the leader of the opposition as caretaker prime minister. Several times over the ensuing years I've seen that great piece of historical footage: Gough on the steps of Parliament House, towering over the little bureaucrat who made the official announcement, booming his famous words "Well might they say 'God Save the Queen', because nothing will save the Governor-General."

And Max, re WW1's role in instilling a sense of nationhood for NZ, and Australia, the emotions still aroused by the acronym (yes, it is one) "ANZAC" and the Anzac Day commemoration (25 April) are ample testament to that.



#18294 02/06/01 10:10 PM
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"Groundhog Day is one American tradition I completely and utterly fail to understand"

I'm with you Capital Kiwi. It is, apparently, a bit of whimsy which persists for no reason other than the beginning of February doesn't have anything else going on, and the papers have to write about something. I've never seen anyone do anything about Groundhog Day but say, "Oh. Today is Groundhog Day."


#18295 02/07/01 01:59 AM
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there doesn't seem to be one for lexicographers, or verbivores or logophiles. we should start a campaign

St Muw?


No, no, no, mav! St Wum! When do you want to cannonize
him?


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In reply to:

the feast of St Michael is September 26th (or is it 24th?)


Michaelmas is 29th September. I know this because I was born on Michaelmas [what do you mean it's too early to start thinking about prezzies emoticon] and christened in a church dedicated to St. Michael and All Angels, so my parents took the hint and added a Michael to my name.

Bingley



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#18297 02/07/01 06:25 AM
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Governor-General Sir John Kerr, invoked still-disputed constitutional rights to sack the popularly-elected Prime Minister Gough Whitlam

It put the frighteners in here, too, and had everyone scrambling for their Constitutional Law books to find out if the NZ Governor-General might be able to do the same thing. But it turned out that ours have absolutely no function except to act as a Head of State. It's beyond me why any country would want to become a republic - Governor-Generals are cheap!

Oz and Zild are like a pair of battling brothers. Slag each other off all the time, put the boot in when no one's looking, steal each other's toys (and pavalovas and race horses), but an external threat still has us back to back ... I don't believe that will change any time soon.



The idiot also known as Capfka ...
#18298 02/07/01 11:00 AM
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>and no less than eight patron saints of tertiaries

It looks like the third definition, given by GuruNet may help. Perhaps there is some truth in the "third way"!

n., pl. ter·ti·ar·ies.
1. A tertiary feather.
2. Tertiary. Geology. The Tertiary Period or its system of deposits.
3. Roman Catholic Church. A member of a religious Third Order.


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