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not much, as I don't read German or Dutch
Sorry, I was in a hurry, as I'm about to walk out the door to help a client, ... roughly, the German says:
"Ass's bridge is originally (after Esiler Dictionary of Philosophical Concepts) a 'logical comparison of an illustrative figure'. Accordingly, J. Chr. Günther 1735 Ged. 462, 'a freshman who walks on the bridge of asses'. Adelung "difficulty which confuses the ignorant". Also in a Ger-French dictionary: "pont aux ânes, a measly aid for the ignorant".
The Dutch mainly cites forms in other languages. The French definition is roughly:
"a simple something for helping obtuse geniuses"
It seems that the European languages use pons asinorum (in the local vernacular) as an aide memoire or mnemonic as your Dutch correspondant suggests.
Entire Thread Subject Posted By Posted pons asinorum tsuwm 11/06/04 03:16 PM Re: pons asinorum jheem 11/06/04 03:52 PM Re: pons asinorum jheem 11/06/04 03:58 PM Re: pons asinorum tsuwm 11/06/04 04:16 PM Re: pons asinorum jheem 11/06/04 04:33 PM Re: pons asinorum tsuwm 11/06/04 05:10 PM Re: pons asinorum jheem 11/06/04 09:34 PM Re: Rehashing Devices and Blocks Wordwind 11/06/04 09:53 PM Re: Rehashing Devices and Blocks jheem 11/07/04 12:43 PM Re: Rehashing Devices and Blocks antonxie 11/08/04 08:08 AM Re: Rehashing Devices and Blocks tsuwm 11/08/04 04:33 PM
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