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The idea of Fletcherizing invites the question, "Is too much of a good thing
better?" Horace Fletcher proposed that one should grind food once for each
tooth in the mouth. That implies that we masticate each bite of pizza as
many as 32 times. I'd rather stick with the idea that each byte has eight
bits. At any rate, Mr. Fletcher, the art dealer turned nutritionist, did
earn the moniker `The Great Masticator,' for his popular book at the time
and got his name into the dictionary. This week we'll look at more such
words, eponyms, coined after people from fact and from fiction.


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Fletcher is of course an ancient name for arrow maker. I had not heard of The Great Masticator. But everybody has heard of his competitor nutritionist who gave his name to the graham cracker.Sylvester Graham invented the graham cracker in 1829. (www.straightdope.com)


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Briefly (yeah, right) on dear Mr. Fletcher... when I was growing up, my mother always made us sit there at the table and chew - we would take a bite, put down our forks or spoons or whatever, and she would count to make sure we had chewed each mouthful the required 32 times! Unfortunately, when I went away to college, I learned to shovel my food into my mouth and on my first trip home for a weekend visit, while I shoveled, my mother just sat there with her mouth open watching! "Where did you learn to eat like that?" she said in shock and amazement. "Why, in college," I replied and continued shoveling as fast as possible, eating everything on my plate before my mother had even finished chewing (32 times) her first bite!
In reply to:

But everybody has heard of his competitor nutritionist who gave his name to the graham cracker.


About Mr. Graham and his cracker - a personal note: when I was in kindergarten at the ripe old age of 5, I was put in charge of passing out the graham crackers at snack time. I very quickly learned that I could easily break them all in half (again, as they were already prepared to give us each half of the whole thing) and give actually only a fourth of a graham cracker to each child in the class, thereby saving all the rest for ME! Of course, at the time, I didn't know the adage "once on the lips, forever on the hips" and so today, all my problems are behind me!



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TC 9-524 Glossary
... fixture). Johannson blocks (Jo blocks) - Common term for the precision gage blocks
used and accepted as dimensional standards by machinists, toolmakers. and ...
http://www.adtdl.army.mil/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/tc/9-524/Gloss.htm [More Results From: www.adtdl.army.mil]


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A question about eponyms. Are trade names, such as "Stilson wrench" really eponyms? And is the lack of information about the person for whom an object was named, make it unsuitable for posting here?


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The Cardigan sweater. See last line.

Cardigan, James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of (1797-1868), British army officer, born in Hambleden, England, and educated at the University of Oxford. Cardigan was a member of the House of Commons from 1818 to 1829 and entered the army in 1824. He was forced to give up his first command in 1834, however, because of his dictatorial behavior toward a subordinate officer. In 1836 he was able to secure command of a unit later known as the 11th Hussars. As commander of a light cavalry brigade in the Crimean War, he led the famous Charge of the Six Hundred at the Battle of Balaklava on October 25, 1854. The British brigade was virtually annihilated by the Russians. Cardigan survived the battle, was acclaimed a hero, and became a lieutenant general in 1861. The cardigan sweater is named for him.



"Cardigan, James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.



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i have heard, that generals (even the ones in the US army) are permitted to design their own "bits" to wear as part of a uniform-- and "eisenhower" jackets are from a the general of the same name. Did Cardigan design a uniform jacket (a single breasted, collarless jacket of a knitted wool) and so give us a cardigans-- or what?

Nehru (while not a general) gave us the nehru coat -- for Jazz and all you other young folk, its is a 3/4 length coat, with a stand up collar--google and find a picture of Nehru-- or if you're Beetle's fans, check out album covers..

and how about chesterfield-- (was he a general? and are the coat and couch from one and the same chesterfield?)

Raglan (ragland) sleeves come from Baron Raglan-- a field Marshal-- which is (what sort of rank?)
(okay, we need a thread on military rank names-- colonel alone is worth a thread! -- since i have no idea about who outranks who--exept that general is the highest rank, and private is the lowest--)


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I can help out a bit with Army ranks.
Enlisted : private, private first class (PFC) corporal, sergeant, staff sergeant, master sergeant (and in recent years although I may be missing one) senior master sergeant and chief senior master sergeant.
I think Warrant Officer comes in here. Men have a warrant rather than an officer's commission and are called Mister.
Commissioned officers : 2nd Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, General, Brigadier General, Lt. General, Four Star General and then the special recognition starting in WWII given to a very few (i.e. Eisenhower, Marshall, McArthur etc) Five Star General.
I think that's right! Maybe someone can help us out.
By the way Command rank is a big step and comes between Capt and Major.
full Colonels are called "Bird Colonels" to distinguish them from Lt. Colonels. The insignia changes from a gold leaf to an eagle.
There's a series of books by W. E. B. Griffin each titled with an officer's rank The Lietenants, The Captains, etc...up through the ranks. Good stories. A group of recurring core characters in each book along with new peole.
Highly recommend.
"The Lieutenants" starts a bit slow but gets good fast. I caught on to them when they came out in paperback and would buy the next in series to have on hand in case I finished one and had time to go on!
He also writes about the Marine Corps and has a cop series too. Can't wait for his next one.
Like him much better than Clancy except for Clancy's "Red October" and "Patriot Games" which is a much better book than it was a movie.
wow





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a field Marshal-- which is (what sort of rank?)

Field Marshal= (roughly) 5-star General



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of troy>if you're Beetle's fans

Just a quickie - of course, it's Beatles, unless you are talking about either those cute little hard shell bugs that crawl around in the garden or the original VW... which, by the way, over here is called (the ch is like in the German 'ach') - CHEE-POO-SHEET which is the Hebrew for that little hard shelled bug that crawls around in the garden! Such a large word for such a little creature!

Shoshannah



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#21180 03/10/01 10:09 PM
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Beetles: upon observing the million species of beetles currently identified, a famous entymologist was asked what he had discerned of God from his study of his creatures. The entymologist replied, "an extraordinary fondness for beetles."

I think he was misunderstood, and really was commenting on the Almighty's good taste in music.


#21181 03/10/01 11:10 PM
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Sparteye>I think he was misunderstood, and really was commenting on the Almighty's good taste in music.

I think you are RIGHT - especially where concerns the song "Yesterday"... I can just hear that sung in heavenly tones as it applies to the world in which we currently live, can't you?

Shoshannah

BTW - how's the roundball going? I'm afraid I've been so loyal to AWADtalk that I haven't even looked once at ESPN.com or ACC.com or NCAA.com at all!




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#21182 03/11/01 04:44 AM
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is 'roundball' a reference to basketball?

just to let you know, it'll be a Cardinal victory. absolutely no doubt. you heard it here first....


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Yes - roundball IS basketball - as opposed to the American version of football...

Now, I'll show my total ignorance as far as NCAA basketball is concerned these days (well, I haven't actually watched any in a number of years) - just who are the Cardinals and why will they win???

Shoshannah



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#21184 03/11/01 05:35 PM
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Attempting to simultaneously address my favorite subject of basketball and keep the thread vaguely related to words...

The Cardinal is the nickname for the Stanford team, which is likely to be the #1 seed in the west regional, and has as good a chance as any of winning the NCAA tournament. I believe that the Cardinal is a fairly recent nickname, changed from some term that offended some PC group or other. What I want to know is, why is the Stanford logo a tree? Why not call yourselves the trees, then? Explanations of the Stanford nickname and symbol histories would be appreciated.


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"Beetles: upon observing the million species of beetles currently identified, a famous entymologist was asked what he had discerned of God from his study of his creatures. The entymologist replied, "an extraordinary fondness for beetles."

Dear Sparteye: Was this famous person a hybrid sired by an entomologist, and his mother an etymologist?


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I think he was misunderstood, and really was commenting on the Almighty's good taste in music.

Now wait a sec. Isn't Imagine rather atheistic in nature? "imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try"


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The Turing Machine - Every serious computer user should know about this.

Mimicry of human mental abilities did not begin until the advent of electronics and mathematical logic structures. In the mid-20th century, the British mathematician Alan Turing designed a theoretical machine to process equations without human direction. The machine (now known as a Turing machine), in concept resembled an automatic typewriter that used symbols for math and logic instead of letters. Turing intended the device to be used as a "universal machine" that could be programmed to duplicate the function of any other existing machine. Turing's machine was the theoretical precursor to the modern digital computer.



"Automata Theory," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


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Indeed, Dr. Bill. You have YARTed in a most pleasing manner. This has to do with why we have christenened (so to speak) our beloved spell-checker Ænigma, though of course the machine itself came post-WWII.


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In reply to:

I think he was misunderstood, and really was commenting on the Almighty's good taste in music.

Now wait a sec. Isn't Imagine rather atheistic in nature? "imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try"


Unlike some of his followers, the Almighty has a sense of humour. Think of the way he chose for the human race to reproduce. Can you imagine dreaming that up with a straight face?

Bingley



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#21190 03/13/01 03:02 PM
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I emailed my very favorite Stanford alumnus with the questions that Sparteye posed, and he responded thusly:

Stanford is located next to Palo Alto, which means "Tall Tree" in Spanish. There is, in fact, a tree between downtown and the Stanford Shopping Center called "El Palo Alto," but I have no idea if it is the actual eponymous tree. The university seal bears the likeness of this tree, or one similar.

Officially, the Stanford teams bear the name The Cardinal. This refers to the red color of their uniforms. In practice, it also functions as something of a shibboleth: A speaker who knows not to call the team "The Cardinals" can't be *completely* clueless. The Cardinal was adopted when "The Stanford Indian" was abrogated by the university administration in the mid-70s, IIRC. (Some likenesses of the hatchet-nosed Indian mascot still turn up at homecoming every year and even I, no real PC revisionist sympathizer, would agree that it was pretty offensive.) Why a tree, then? Legend has it that the students were actually polled and selected "The Stanford Robber Barons" to more accurately reflect the school's provenance, but couldn't get the university administration on board. Despite its lack of panache, the tree was an obvious and patently inoffensive fallback choice.

One thing that you must bear in mind is that The Tree mascot is a member of the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (LSJUMB), an entirely student-run organization that enjoys only passing endorsement from the university. The tree costume changes every year, in fact, because submitting plans for a new costume is part of the audition process. Typically, the band, chafing under the obvious logistical difficulties inherent in iconifying "The Cardinal," adopted The Tree more or less in spite of the University's lack of an official stance on the issue. The story of The Dollies, the dance team that fronted the band in the absence of (more recently, in spite of) university-sponsored cheerleaders, is undoubtedly similar.


Oh, and before you punsters get ahold of this, i note the irony of his choice of the word "iconifying"


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Bill questioned: Are trade names, such as "Stilson wrench" really eponyms?

What about Allen keys? Such useful little things, but did the name come from a person named Allen?



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Lots of tools have names that originally were eponyms, but for the purposes of the board, it seems vital to know enough about the person for whom they are named to make the post interesting.


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Many automobiles are named for the men who owned the companies.
An interesting exception is the Chevrolet, named after a French racing driver, who also invented the rear vision mirror.


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Other famous automobile marques not entirely named after the founders: FIAT, BMW, Saab, Volvo, Mercedes Benz, Alfa Romeo.


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Cadillac. (Which is also a city up north.)


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and Pontiac a name of an American indian leader


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Dear Sparteye: How many cars were name after explorers?


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De Soto for one!


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How many cars were name after explorers

to state the obvious, the entire Ford SUV fleet is related:

Explorer, Excursion, Expedition

~b


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Dear bridget96: as a joke, have you heard of the Pizarro?
Since nobody looked at the post about cars named after explorers I will name the ones I can think of. Cadillac (sort of an explorer, founded the settlement that because Detroit),DeSoto, Hudson. The "Pizzaro" is a joke, from name Pierce Arrow, which was notable for being first to have headlights mounted on fenders.

#21201 03/21/01 06:12 PM
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In case anyone is still looking:

Zeppelin, after it's inventor, Graf Zeppelin, a son of Konstanz

Malatov Cocktail, after the famous reformer

Speaking of which, another famous reformer was burned at the stake in Konstanz, but to the best of my knowledge they were not related.


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Malatov Cocktail, after the famous reformer

Huh? If you are referring to the Molotov cocktail, the most common explanation of its origin is that it was named "in honour of" the Russian Foreign Minister of the same name, a gesture of defiance by the Finns who used the home-made petrol bombs with considerable effect in the Finno-Russian War, early in WWII. If I am mistaken on this, I look forward to correction.


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It is interesting that the Zeppelins are making a comeback. I can remember seeing a couple of the originals that the US Navy took possession of, back in middle twenties. Then a couple of them were destroyed by powerful wind shears that actually broke them in the middle. And I still wonder if our government was justified in refusing to sell the helium that would have prevented the Hindenburg disaster. I doubt very much that the Hindenburg could have been valuable in WWII, by which time fighter planes with rockets could easily have destroyed it.

And just to be mischievous, I remember Molotov, but not with two "a's".


#21204 03/22/01 12:24 AM
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Huh? If you are referring to the Molotov cocktail...

Um, apart from my reforming the foreign minister's name, I'm not sure what you might be objecting to. As an organizer of the Bolsheviks, what was Molotov if not a reformer?


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As an organizer of the Bolsheviks, what was Molotov if not a reformer?


You're absolutely right, I had not thought of him as a reformer, probably because I did not know that he was involved in the Revolution itself. That ignorance, combined with the "a"s, led me to jump to the contusion that you were referring to somebody else.


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On the other hand, whereas, I suppose, "Zeppelin" is a true eponym, I'm not sure "Molotov *Cocktail*" is. Maybe someone else can say, for example, whether "Graham" is an eponym and "Graham Cracker" isn't.



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Molotov Cocktail, after the famous reformer

I have finally figured out why the above gave me so much trouble. It was your mention of a segue to Jan Hus that did it. My question is this, is Molotov "famous" for being a reformer in the same way that Hus undoubtedly is, or is Molotov famous for being the agressor immortalised by a weapon conceived to oppose him? Given Hus' contribution to Reformation, I could imagine a lot of Protestant Finns aghast at a comparison between the two.


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matahari,
to carterize



#21209 03/23/01 06:32 PM
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Re: prevented the Hindenburg disaster.
In my first house, when renovating, i ripped up linoleum, to find the floor under it lined with old newspapers-- all about the hindernburg disaster--How strange it was to see the coffins, in the temporary morgue, all covered with swastica's -- Pre WWII -- a "neutral" image--

And did we have rockets (fighter planes/ or jets with mounted rockets in WWII?) the germans were working on that technology-- but did the US or England have them? --i though most of the rocket technology was a post WWII developement. (but that is before my time-- so i really don't know.)

Zeppelin's would have been doomed by the increase use and sophistication of Radar-- (which the English vastly improved-- and shared all the technology with us-- so we could manufacture) but the war started long before the US got involved-- and Zeppelin's could have done damage to large parts of europe-- even if England was developing technology to track them.


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The builder of the Hindenburg, whose name I couldn't locate in the quick search I attempted, received funding from the Third Reich on the condition that the Zepellin be emblazoned with the Hakenkreuz ("swastika"), the by no means neutral emblem of a by no means neutral regime.

Your found press memorializes a tragic event *and* the omen of a happier end of things to come.

***

The Deutsches Museum is a wonderful Munich institution devoted to technology. Pass through the main entrance to the transverse hall and look to your right. There, at the center of a helical steel stairs, stands a V2 rocket. Poised as though ready to be fired.



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Yes-- the German's had rocket technology-- and a good many former scientist were invited to US post war-- with no questions asked as to what they where doing during WWII --or to party affiliation..

but did US/England/Allies have much rocket technology?


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Dunno for a fact fact. Must be a [C]hecker somewhere hereabouts, see if you can hail 'em.

But: Think not. Why'd we bring all the talent here?

We did have "radar" though -- either way you look at it.

:)


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About giving helium to Germans for the Hindenburg. I should not have said fighter planes with rockets. We did have one plane with a cannon. But we had planes with six and eight
heavy calibre machineguns that could easily have riddled a Zeppelin. And the Germans would have used Zeppelins with hydrogen if they had been useful in war. I can't think of any other military use of helium.
Incidentally "riddle" is an interesting word. When I worked in a foundry, I was surprised to hear the moulders use the word "riddle" for what I would have called a sieve to sift the sand into the moulds.


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wwh,

What have you not done?

Riddled with holes. Doesn't seem strange 'riddle' would go 'riddled' or 'riddled' 'riddle.'

And while we're on metallurgy, riddle me this: Does the term "shear strength" as in "Lifting the car off the terrified child was an act of shear strength," come from the term "shear strength" of in reference to bolts and rivets?

If I'd taken my riddlelin, I'd look it up myself. (apologies, I promise I'll get over it)

IP


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[whipping out February edition of Smithsonian e]

It seems that no matter what topic comes up on this board, Smithsonian has already printed an article on it! This is proven yet again by the "Reaching Towards Space" article in the February Smithsonian. It recounts the work of Robert H. Goddard, who developed a rocket that could reach a height of "somewhat over a mile" in the 1930's. However, it was largely forgotten in the excitement over the German V-2 rockets. Goddard, at the urging of Charles Lindbergh and Harry Guggenheim, donated a rocket to the Smithsonian to "ensure the preservation of his technology." It was not to be displayed under any circumstances, and so it was stored for more than ten years-- from 1935 to 1945. Goddard dreamed of developing a rocket that would reach much higher altitudes, but died before he could achieve his dreams.


#21216 03/26/01 05:21 AM
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In reply to:

Does the term "shear strength" as in "Lifting the car off the terrified child was an act of shear strength," come from the term "shear strength" of in reference to bolts and rivets?


I think it's sheer strength meaning pure or straight as in a sheer drop. I've never heard of any connection to bolts and rivets shearing off.

Bingley



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#21217 03/26/01 02:51 PM
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"riddle" is fairly common usage in UK for a coarse garden type sieve.

Ro* Ward

#21218 03/31/01 05:28 PM
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of troy > did the US or England have them? --i though most of the rocket technology was a post WWII developement

I believe a type of rocket was used to "Blitz" London.
Any help from our older Brit chums?
wow


#21219 04/02/01 01:06 PM
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old hand
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old hand
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I believe a type of rocket was used to "Blitz" London.

Yes. 'Flying bombs' as they were sometimes called. I think the Germans called them the V1s.

Any help from our older Brit chums?

Not that old, thank you very much - just interested...

For what it's worth, I believe the significant developments in peace-time rocketry in the US depended a great deal upon Germans who, post-war, headed for the States (usually invited by the government eager to get a-hold of that technology) and settled there, taking their knowledge of the V1 etc with them.

cheer

the sunshine warrior



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journeyman
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Has anyone said LaSalle? Interesting that there was a fashion at one time for naming cars after early explorers of our continent. Do you think it was just because the names sounded fashionable, or did the car makers really want to honor the explorers?


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Carpal Tunnel
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I believe that 'LaSalle' (specifically) was named after the owner(s) of that company (I'm not close to my references), and that, although in that day and age they were more likely to associate with some perspective of honor, now it 'has become' a matter of the "trend" of the words' association and less about honor (unless your approaching a niche market).


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addict
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I hesitate to think what would happen if people learned my name ......

Rapport was established superficially.

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