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This is the Conversation Forum for Ask h2g2 << useless facts What beer are you drinking, and what's it like? >> Subject: kippered Posted Mar 23, 2001 by Wand'rin star This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 161 I always thought this was Dutch (connected with de Kuyper somehow) but can't find anyone who agrees with me Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: kippered Posted Mar 23, 2001 by Mustapha This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 162 Skeat does lists the word as coming to English from Dutch (kipper: lit. a spawner, but also extends it back further to Icelandic, Swedish and Norwegian (kippa: to hold, catch, seize) hence Scandinavian. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: kippered Posted Mar 23, 2001 by ? This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 163 A Dutch "kuiper" (old spelling kuyper) would be someone who makes wooden containers, like tons, casks, tubs. The English word cooper comes from it. Subject: kippered Posted Mar 23, 2001 by Nikki-D This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 164 Sorry, I can't let this conversation about kippers go by without posing the question (I think it was Duncan's from 6 months ago) ... " do Manx kippers have tails ?" As I *always* ask this in *any* conversation that mentions kippers, people are begining to think I'm quite mad, actually. Really really ! Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Lob and Kip Posted Mar 24, 2001 by You can call me TC - Ready for Reims - June 15th? Pas de panique! A87780612 A33659210 This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 165 Just thought I'd mention that an ear lobe - sort of - dangles. There must be a connection. And I'm going for a kip now. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Lob and Kip Posted Mar 24, 2001 by Mustapha This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 166 Lobe was originally used to refer to ear lobes, from the Greek lobos/lobus: either ear lobes or the liver. Does the liver dangle? Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Lob and Kip Posted Mar 24, 2001 by You can call me TC - Ready for Reims - June 15th? Pas de panique! A87780612 A33659210 This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 167 But in Latin it means wolf - how confusing. A dangling wolf Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Lob and Kip Posted Mar 24, 2001 by Is mise Duncan This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 168 Careful - that's awfully close to the "banned subject" Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Lob and Kip Posted Mar 25, 2001 by Munchkin This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 169 Could "Stitched up like a kipper" come from the Kipper Tie? Certainly I've always associated the phrase with the Sweeney era (all Lunun phugs an' da fuzz) TV and there has to be plenty of stitching in one of those ties. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Sew, what's all this stitching? Posted Mar 25, 2001 by plaguesville This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 170 This is somewhat unfamiliar to me. I've heard "Done up like a kipper." but whether this relates to a snugly wrapped sleeper unable to distangle himself, or a salty comestible, I don't know. The former seems slightly more to the point, but ... "Stitched up" I take to mean that someone has been framed - false evidence presented. "Sewn up" I take to mean that sufficient evidence has been discovered for a case to have been solved. I suppose that in some constabularies this is a distinction without a difference. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Sew, what's all this stitching? Posted Mar 25, 2001 by You can call me TC - Ready for Reims - June 15th? Pas de panique! A87780612 A33659210 This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 171 I haven't heard the kipper thing, either. You live and learn. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Sew, what's all this stitching? Posted Mar 25, 2001 by Pheroneous This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 172 It may me that kippers are untrussed, except in the dark recesses of Munchkins mind. 'Done up like', yes, that implies being gutted, splayed and hung up to dry in an old smoky shed. A suitable end for one crossing Mr Daley and his side-kick. How or why does a side-kick get his/her appellation. Side, yes, but kick? Not so friendly. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Side-kicks Posted Mar 26, 2001 by Nikki-D This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 173 Doesn't this come from the 'pack' leader kicking his second-in-command to get him to go and do something ? Personally, I've always found asking nicely works just as well ! Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Side-kicks Posted Mar 26, 2001 by Pheroneous This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 174 Alas, Nicki, not all of us possess your powers of charm and persuasion! Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Side-kicks Posted Mar 26, 2001 by Nikki-D This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 175 Dear P. - you sweet thing - I've been told it's my eyes that have the power ! Any ideas why it's "right-hand man" not "left-hand man" ? Anything to do with the latin derivations of left & right ? Also, my are second-in-commands always leiutenants and not captains etc. ? Anyone for cappuccino ? Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Side-kicks Posted Mar 26, 2001 by Nikki-D This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 176 Please forgive appalling typing & spelling ! Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Side-kicks Posted Mar 26, 2001 by Gnomon does it all by himself This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 177 It is right-hand man rather than left-hand man because there was a strong bias in European culture until recently towards the right. The right was considered good and proper. The left was considered mysterious and evil. It is no coincidence that the word right in English means "correct" and "something you are entitled to have" as well as "the opposite of left". It is the same in French. The word "droit" means a right as in something you are entitled to, as well as meaning "opposite of left". The French for left is "gauche" which also means clumsy or inept. In Latin, the word for left was "sinister" which also meant the same as it does today in English. I am reminded of a scene in a Marx Brothers film where Margaret Dumont says to Groucho, "Dr Jones will sit on my left hand and you will sit on my right hand" to which Groucho replies: "how are you going to eat? through a tube?". Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Spitting Posted Mar 26, 2001 by Kaeori This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 178 Conversation I heard this weekend included: Woman speaking to friend: "Oh, your little (5-year-old) boy is your spitting image." Boy: "No, I wasn't spitting." Problem: how to explain why an image is spitting to a 5-year-old, when none of the grown-ups know? Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Spitting image Posted Mar 26, 2001 by Is mise Duncan This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 179 The only thing I do know about this is that the original phrase was "spit and image". But why spit? <>====uuu====< Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Spitting image Posted Mar 26, 2001 by Pheroneous This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 180 An early reference to DNA sampling? Read the First Reply to this Posting > >> Conversation list > >> Conversation list

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