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

what a typo. That should have been Wanderin Splat.

>> the word SET came up the other day as taking up the MOST room in the dictionary... <<


What a wonderful 'little' word with so many meanings and applications.

My favourite is when it refers to a grouping, especially a 'pair', as in "Blimey, that's a nice set of kidneys on that dingo."

SET has so many uses, especially when co-joined with other small words to create new meanings by mildly distorting the meaning of the cojoining word, as in 'setback', 'set up', 'set by' and 'set forth'.

The one I find most puzzling is the phrasal verb 'set to' which has itself become a noun in phrases such as "They had a bit of a set to."

And while 'set' takes up the most room in a dictionary there are a few other 3 letter words like 'god' and 'gay' and 'jew' which would probably take the honours in the 'Most Talked About' category.


~jwf~

...further, on the wonderful and perhaps inexhaustable subject of those great little 3 letter words, there's a lot to be said for 'MAN'. Like 'set' it attaches itself quite nicely to other words creating things like 'manholes', 'manifestos', 'manhunts' and 'manipulations'.

I mention it now because it gives me one more chance to point out to the politically-correct-women's-lib camp that most of their objections to words like 'chairman' and 'salesman' are completely unfounded and their protestations only reveal their lack of understanding.

Most of the time MAN has nothing to do with 'men' but is of course French for 'hand' as in 'all hands on deck'. It is NOT a gender reference when it appears in words like 'manufacture' and 'manager' but rather means 'by hand', 'hands on' or 'handler'.

The commands to 'man your guns' or 'man the sails' are completely asexual. A 'chairman' is the person of either sex who 'handles' the duties of the Chair just as 'oarsmen' handle their 'oars' and 'mailmen' handle the post.


Row, row, row yer bout,
Dirk Gently drown a seam
harrily, mary-lee, hairily, merrily
Life is butt a dream.


Manly hands make lite work.

~jwf~

anhaga,

"did you mean "coaster" in your previous poster? "

Leave it aout, Guvnah.
Hain't yew seen vat Marwy Poppins wiv 'er Bert?
Nor vat Holiver!
Vairs loadsa vem cheery cockney coster(monger)s wiv baskets hon vair heads.
Pearly Queens, too.
No, not Freddie Mercury nor Elton John.

You're being nautie again ~jwf~

Manifest and manifesto arise from non-"hand" origin; "evidence" something that can be shown. Admittedly most manifests were handwritten, but I believe that is incidental.

Addition of the word "political" as a prefix to manifesto changes the meaning subtly to "tissue of lies".

>> ..non-"hand" origin; "evidence" something that can be shown <<

Shown, eh?


I thnk you'll find the root of showmanship really is in a display of hands. We use our hands to demonstrate and bear witness all the time, even to giving evidence that 'they went thataway or thisaway'. Showing can be done by several manual gesticulations. Holding, breastbeating, displaying, pointing, a show of the middle digit, a thumb or a V...

Now won't you agree that the essence of 'Show and Tell' really is hands on work? And that the destiny of manifests and manifestos is in the hands of the gods.

Ah good. Now, there being no business like the shown business how about a big round of applause, no sitting on your hands, let's give it up for Manwell the Laborious.


~jwf~

* picks up to use as a megaphone *

* talks thru hat *

Cor, next you'll be wanting me t'believe testifying has nought to do with testes.



~jwf~

The ancients swore by putting one hand on their sexual parts and the other up and facing out.
Ultimately testimony and testes both derive from testis. This time your gut(?) feeling is right jwf. The only modern men who grip the relevant bits in public are footballers, perhaps expecially at testimonials??

Or cricketers at test matches?

In the interests of fair play I have been maintaining a policy of trying to keep quiet and let others have a go. But three days have passed since Ictoan S.H.A.D.O.W. Secretary asked:

"...where did spinster come from?
And whilst we are on it, does the English 'bachelor' (which is derived from mediaeval french I believe) have any common ground with baccalaureate?"

So far, no one has come forth to reply. Not even to say, in an irritatingly unfriendly way that 'this question has already been asked', as if that would be of any help to anyone.

It is the nature of this thread that there are several questions which will keep coming up, and indeed this one has, at least once before. I'm damned if I'm capable of posting a link to those postings in the backlog but no question should be ignored.

As I recall, a 'spinster' was an early career woman in the first days of the industrial revolution who got sew cot up in her work she didn't have time for men.

And yes, both bachelor and 'baccalaureate' (to use your spelling) go back to the mythic roots of Bachus, god of drink, in most of the so callled Romantic languages that believe that romance is enhanced by drinking to a degree.

But my memory has been proven faulty on ocassion and perhaps other will recall it differently.


~jwf~

Society was matriarchal before the men muscled in. I wonder what the feminine oaths were sworn on - probably not parts of their bodies!

On their childen no doubt.

at jwf's "drinking to a degree"

No time for further postings or searchings, but this clever clogs would like to refer you to Post 6840 for help with the "bachelor" - will look for "spinster" later - we have had it before - possibly in the original thread.

I'm so glad someone got my 'drinking to a degree' joke that I will spare you all a repeat of my long winded story about how I was unwillingly awarded a BA (suitably framed) and essentially forced off the Jesuit campus of Saint Mary's University (Halifax, NS) after 20 years of taking courses that didn't add up to any degree at all.

>> ...possibly in the original thread. <<

Yes probably. But I seem to recall it here recently, coming out of a discussion of 'sinister' that lead to a brief foray into other 'ster'-ings including spinsters. My recollection of that discussion is that women who took up the opportunity to work long hours all their lives at the spinning wheel (in the early days of the linen industries before the machines took over) instead of becoming 'honest women' and taking on a husband, were characterised as 'spinsters'.

Surely if this is inaccurate someone will correct me.

~jwf~

I was always told that the origin of spinster was a female who didn't marry and therefore spent her time spinning. Probably with one of those hang down jobbies, not a spinning wheel.

Dictionary.com says spinster is Middle English from 'spinnen' to spin.
Being, one who spins just as a teacher is one who teaches and a teamster is one who manages teams of horses.

But it offers no logical progress of the further meanings regarding the bachelorette status.

In spite of this lack of understanding the legal profession has officially adopted the word:

>> 3. (Law) An unmarried or single woman; -- used in legal proceedings as a title, or addition to the surname. <<

And this seems to be rooted in some precedent cited by Coke:

>> If a gentlewoman be termed a spinster, she may abate the writ. --Coke. <<

'Writ' of course is an ancient term for the rights and priviledges of the literate classes who, because they could read and write and pass laws, had immunity for damn near everything including murder of the illiterate. Apparently, spinsters of the gentle classes were granted similar rights and priviledges for whatever reason. Suddenly the story of Rapunzel spinning gold is starting to make sense.

And surprisingly I found this rather contrary and negative interpretation:

>> Spinster: A woman of evil life and character; -- so called from being forced to spin in a house of correction. <<

Oh Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your long hair.

~jwf~

First it was just his tail that he lost. Now his whole identity has disappeared; but is he downhearted? Well ... yes, but that is his usual condition anyway.

He has clearly been making good use of the time which he has been unable to expend on h2g2. So, be in front of your television set, tuned to BBC1 on Wednesday 12 November, or set your video recorder because Eeyore will be appearing in all his moroseness. If you want more information, check the Radio Times like what I done.

You may be able to lend your support to a fellow researcher for his ingenuity and it may cheer him up. Although to be honest, he is not easily amused and may not yet, ever, have been amused.

Could you elucidate for those of us in Radio Times diaspora?

http://www.radiotimes.beeb.com:80/ListingsServlet?event=4&jspGridLocation=%2Fjsp%2Ftv_listings_grid.jsp&jspListLocation=%2Fjsp%2Ftv_listings_single.jsp&jspError=%2Fjsp%2Ferror.jsp&searchDate=12%2F11%2F2003&searchTime=10%3A00&channels=92

my but that's a long URL. Have no idea what plaguesville is on about however

There is only one active researcher called Eeyore and it doesn't look as though he can mean him.

So it must be the real Eeyore, the four-legged, straw-stuffed version of Life-Don't-talk-to-me-about-life Marvin.

"Good morning? What's good about it?" Or my favourite quote: "After all, one can't complain. I have my friends. Somebody spoke to me only yesterday. And was it last week or the week before that Rabbit bumped into me and said 'Bother! The Social Round. Always something going on.'

He knew a bit about the emptiness of words, did Eeyore. Come to think of it, perhaps the Radio Times is a good place. Someone could offer him a column...