h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

What do they look like? I always imagined them as miniature wooden horses, but I suppose that's stupid, because it was the Greeks who built the Trojan horse and not the Trojans.
Anyway, I'll keep an eye out.

The phrase gird one's loins means 'to prepare oneself for something requiring strength and endurance; ready oneself for action'.

The main meaning of gird is 'to encircle or bind with a belt or band'; loins, though often used to refer to the genitals, actually refers to the part of the human body between the hips and the lower ribs, regarded as the seat of physical strength. To gird one's loins literally means 'to wrap a belt around one's waist', the point being that in the days of loose garments, belting oneself would confine one's clothing and allow freer motion of the body.

In general, gird is used chiefly in figurative ways. Gird one's loins is one such example, and the phrase's currency stems from its frequent use in the Bible. The King James Version (the phrase is found in other translations as well) has, among a number of other uses, "Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way" (2 Kings iv.29); "Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me" (Job xviii.3); and, for an obviously figurative example, "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter i.13).

Some other uses of gird include 'to surround; enclose; hem in'; 'to prepare oneself for action; brace' (that is, the same thing we've been discussing, but without "loins"); and 'to equip or invest' (as "to gird oneself with a sword" or "to gird oneself with endurance"). The word goes back to the Old English period, and is ultimately related to the Modern English word yard through the idea of 'something enclosed'.

Gosh, thanks.

Thank you Shea-Sensei *bows*

*blinks* wow.

it just occured to me that we need a blinking smiley. or at least a rather stunned looking one.

Yes. Yes we do. We also need a "meh" smiley. Just a normal expression.

*wakes up in the corner she fell asleep in*

indeedy. very erm...stimulating

*yawns*

worked on you.

huh?!

stimulated you into giving a response.

and on that bombshell i must be going. oh the glories of prefect duties. bye all!

er...yes Galigan. your revision has gone to your head!

always looked a bit stunned to me ...

Ahh, Shea is here to put us to rights.

Incidentally, people with bad backs and weight lifters wear 'GIRDles' in order to brace and support their backs so that nothing pops out of place.

So gird shouldn't be such an unfamiliar word to people, even non-bible readers.

All hail Shea!...may you loins always be girded

Well that's ruined that joke about girding loins. I still like the idea of being surrouinded by sea lions.
How are we all this damp and soggy morning. It's flipping cold here.

it's actually quite nice here for the first time in a while. almost warm but not quite.

Here it rains...rain in January here in the Far North is blasphemy!

...and the that I had with my afternoon made me feel slightly unwell...and one of my colleauges across the corridor talked me into going to the gym after w*rk...

Where is the heading?

The Gym!!! Good heavens!!!

I've always maintained that being a spectator is a sport. So I'm a sportsman.

I powerwalk in school games.

My friend's wife embaresses him when she does that when they are walking down the road. Especially when she's pushing the pram. She does it on purpose.