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

I have been well intending to e-mail. Several times in the last month or more, I have been moved to comment on your postings. Comments like, wow, ho-ho-ho and hardy-har-har, that sort of appreciative thing those of the artistic bent and sociable persuasion like to hear. Feedback I believe the American social studies (psychologists etc) types would call it.
As a performer I know only to well how much a reaction from an audience can mean, but I also know how hard it is to say thank you or acknowledge and appreciation for someone's wit and warmth without embarassing somebody.
Usually it's me that gets embarassed when I try to find the words to say - thanks. Thanks for your input into 1sr,2nd & 3rd persons, and several other things, especially ...just being there.
peace
jwf

Aw, shucks.


There's so much good stuff around that I decided it is impractical to acknowledge all of it. I hope that people are working on the principle that I have adopted: if I don't get a warning or abuse about a posting I've made then it's OK, which - for me - is pretty damn good.

I did offer thanks to Gravity for her direction to 1, 2, 3. If you happen upon her, please mention that I meant it.

It is people like you and her (and you are alike in many respects) who generate momentum and stability in appropriate measure to a pedestrian or volatile medium.

See! There! You did it again.

~jwf~

In the words of that great US philosopher Britney S.
"Oops"

Typical, ~j~ beats me to it!

I came to your space to say pretty well what he said his 1st paragraph in post #1 above ...

Your postings are among the highlights of an altogether wonderful site

See you in the soup!

six7's

Aaarghhhh!

I've been agonising over your generous comment for a week and I'm still at a loss.
I fear that any appreciative remarks I might be tempted to make would appear patronising, so I just enjoy and admire your contributions, feeling grateful that I'm still allowed to play with the big boys and girls.
This is certainly a good place to come for a sense of perspective and to avoid becoming conceited.
Well, most of the time.

<< play with the big boys and girls >>

My dear old trout!

I fear you may have misread my comments in Brit Eng.
I was not taking exception to your words 'of little worth'; they in fact reminded me of a parallel meaning associated with the North American term 'squaw wood'. My point was not that you, women, your words, their work was 'of little worth', but that most of the civilised world has lost the knowledge-of-fire and how-to-make-a-good-fire for a variety of utilities. That they think such things 'of little worth' means they have lost any sense of just how important a good bundle of faggots is to a serious firemaker. 'Squaw wood' has come to mean 'of little importance' and this is both sad and ironic because it really means 'special, carefully selected, laboriously assembled, lovingly gathered.' My point being that it was the same indifference and ignorance of the fire-gods that belittled bobbins, babbins and bavins which also reduced squaw wood to insignificance.

But on the other hand I couldna be sure if you'd really taken a fence or were taking the mickey in your reply there tonight. In either case, I came here to hastily assure you I was inspired by your words (as I often am) and not angered (which I cannot remember ever happening). My anger (did it really show that much?) was at 'man' for his loss of touch with reality, at 'men' for denegrating women, at 'white men' for the negative prejudice against aboriginal peoples and their skills, and 'people' in general for letting important things become 'of little worth'. How's Oxford?

peace
jwf

Sorry, I knew exactly where you were. We are of similar minds in this respect. Twenty some years ago I wrote a piece about how proud I was that the UK had females as head of state and head of government. It wasn't my fault that one of them went mad and I had to eat my words.
As for Oxford, it will be the subject of an email.

>> It wasn't my fault that one of them went mad <<

Are you entirely sure of this claim of your innocence? While I lack details and specifics, I have it on good authourity (yours) that you have long been giving the Conservative governments a great deal of your unionist 'argie-bargie'.

All of which is said only to query the source of that phrase.
Does it as I suspect, date from the Falklands troubles with Argentina?
That is to say, the 'argie' bit is Argentine?

peace
jwf

Hey, I used to be a member of the Conservative party. My contention is that I didn't leave it, it left me.

"Argy bargy" dates from way back when the Argentines (yes we were so friendly we had our own word for the people, strange really when you realise that a lot of them were from Welsh stock [by stock I am not referring to sheep]. We didn't say "Argentinians".) were anglophiles. My earliest recollection of the phrase dates back to the 50s when my grandmother used it to describe robust disagreement or verbal jostling falling just short of physical violence.

I've not found it in a real dictionary but it is at:
http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/a.htm

Without any evidence, I could be persuaded that it may have Indian ancestry, or that it could be one of those "double up" rhyming or alliterative things e.g. willy nilly, ding dong, as "bargees" had a reputation for being ill behaved e.g. "swear like a bargee", although I suppose that could have been coined by a trooper who had tired of being villified.

Might be worth taking it to Gnomon, Mycroft (where he?) et al. for further consideration.