Shameless Plug

[Terry Given]

Guy Macon wrote:

Jerry Avins wrote:

BFoelsch wrote:


"Jerry Avins" <jya@ieee.org> wrote in message

That really peaks (or is it peeks?) my ire.

Piques. I'm prescriptive.

Good for you. I was being sarcastic (and rueful). I assumed
that the "peek" would signal that I was poking fun.


Wordplay is the peak of humor.

And a bilingual pun is the pinnacle of wordplay.

Cheers
Terry

 

[YD]

On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 14:35:28 +1300, Terry Given <my_name@ieee.org>
wrote:

Guy Macon wrote:

Jerry Avins wrote:

BFoelsch wrote:


"Jerry Avins" <jya@ieee.org> wrote in message

That really peaks (or is it peeks?) my ire.

Piques. I'm prescriptive.

Good for you. I was being sarcastic (and rueful). I assumed
that the "peek" would signal that I was poking fun.


Wordplay is the peak of humor.


And a bilingual pun is the pinnacle of wordplay.

Cheers
Terry

Takes a cunning linguist for that.

- YD.

--
Remove HAT if replying by mail.

 

[Paul Burke]

Jerry Avins wrote:

it also means the singing if successive parts of a drinking
song. Now that I've been reminded, I have heard "trolling" used to mean
loud drunken reveling/caroling.

Probably from "troll, loll, loll" sort of thing when they are too drunk
to remember the words, or are traditional English folk singers who
always forget the words drunk or sober.

youts etc.,

That's very Derbyshire, especially the hardening of the th in 'youth'.
You get octogenarians calling each other 'youth' here- the land of
enternal youth?

Paul Burke

 

[Jerry Avins]

Rune Allnor wrote:

...

There is a very similar Norwegian word, "talje", that means "tackle"
as in "block and tackle". The meaning transfers to most situations
where a rope is supported by a rolling wheel.

"Block" is at least the pulley housing. "Tackle" may be just the rope,
or it may mean rope, pulley, and axle. "Tackle" is also a synonym for
"gear", meaning equipment. More to look up!

Jerry
--
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ

 

[Jerry Avins]

Daniel Haude wrote:

On Tue, 30 Nov 2004 08:59:24 -0800,
Tim Wescott <tim@wescottnospamdesign.com> wrote
in Msg. <10qp9n47qbbp076@corp.supernews.com

I fear that my mind was poisoned long ago by a German instructor who
pointed out that modern linguistic theory doesn't much recognize a
"right way" and a "wrong way" -- it just records prevalent usage, and
tries to keep out of the way of the steamroller.


This reminds me of one of my favorite entries in Strunk & White, Modern
English Usage on "flammable" vs. "inflammable". The correct term is
inflammable, but on trucks that hold dangerous goods you'll always see
"flammable". Quoting from memory: "Unless you drive such a truck, and are
hence concerned with the safety of children and illiterates, use
inflammable".

According to my pedantic mind, there's no such thing as a flammable
substance, but the general public seems to think otherwise.

--Daniel

The meaning of flammable is clear, while inflammable might be
disastrously confused with unflammable (not a real word either)
meaning non-flammable. The need for clear disambiguation on gasoline
tankers trumps the joys of pedantry.

Jerry
--
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ