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#76744 07/23/02 02:56 PM
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Nunc Stans The everlasting Now.

“It exists in the nunc stans of the schoolmen- the eternal Now that, represented the
consciousness of the Supreme Being in mediaeval thought.”- Nineteenth Century, December,
1892, p. 953.

One of the few ideas of mediaeval thought that I am tempted to share.


#76745 07/23/02 02:59 PM
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Nuncupative Will A will or testament made by word of mouth. As a general rule, no will is valid unless
reduced to writing and signed; but soldiers and sailors may simply declare their wish by word of mouth.
(Latin, nuncupo, to declare.)


#76746 07/23/02 03:11 PM
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This entry is a bit puzzling if you don't understand that the "U S" was on supplies
that was property of the United States in a warehouse. I did not know that the
colonial government called itself the United States during the Revolutionary War.

Sam Uncle Sam. The United States Government. Mr. Frost tells us that the inspectors of Elbert
Anderson's store on the Hudson were Ebenezer Wilson and his uncle Samuel Wilson, the latter of whom
superintended in person the workmen, and went by the name of “Uncle Sam.” The stores were marked
E.A.- U.S. (Elbert Anderson, United States). and one of the employers, being asked the meaning, said
U.S. stood for “Uncle Sam.” The joke took, and in the War of Independence the men carried it with
them, and it became stereotyped.

Any comments?


#76747 07/23/02 03:13 PM
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....soldiers and sailors may simply declare their wish by word of mouth.

British soldiers who go on a tour of Northern Ireland must make out a written will.


#76748 07/23/02 03:14 PM
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Samaria according to 1 Kings xvi. 24, means the hill of Shemer. Omri “bought the hill Samaria of
Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of [his] city ... after the name
of Shemer ... Samaria.” (B.C. 925.)



#76749 07/23/02 03:26 PM
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Nuremberg Eggs Watches. Watches were invented at Nuremberg about 1500, and were egg-shaped.


#76750 07/23/02 03:33 PM
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There was an old woman tossed up in a basket
Ninety-nine times as high as the moon.
What she did there I could not but ask it
For in each hand she carried a broom.

``Old woman, old woman, old woman,'' said I
``Where are you going to up so high?''
``To sweep the cobwebs from the sky
And you may come with me if you can fly.''

It is said that the old nursery rhyme about an old woman tossed in a blanket was written as a satire
against the French expedition of Henry V., and the cobwebs to be swept from the sky were the points of
contention between the King of England and the King of France.


#76751 07/23/02 03:36 PM
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Nuts of May Here we go gathering nuts of May. A corruption of knots or springs of May. We still speak
of “love-knots,” and a bunch of flowers is called a “knot.”

Joke on me. I always thought this was supposed to be nonsensical.


#76752 07/23/02 03:40 PM
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It is time to lay our nuts aside (Latin, Relinquere nuces). To leave off our follies, to relinquish boyish
pursuits. The allusion is to an old Roman marriage ceremony, in which the bridegroom, as he led his bride
home, scattered nuts to the crowd, as if to symbolise to them that he gave up his boyish sports.
That's nuts to him. A great pleasure, a fine treat. Nuts, among the Romans, made a standing dish at
dessert; they were also common toys for children; hence, to put away childish things is, in Latin, to put
your nuts away.

At present, instead of being laid aside postnuptually, they would be put to work.



#76753 07/23/02 03:44 PM
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O This letter represents an eye, and is called in Hebrew ain (an eye).


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