Go Paddle Your Own Canoe
Hello World,
And so here we find ourselves on the Friday after Thanksgiving, and I feel it's only fair to warn you that this coming Sunday will actually be the first Sunday in Advent, believe that or don't. Of course, we all know what that means, except for the godless heathens who may be monitoring my email, and that is that Christmas will be a scant four weeks away. Actually, it's not as bad as it sounds, because Christmas is on a Sunday this year, so after the fourth Sunday in Advent on December 18th, there's still almost a whole week left to panic ... er, I mean, finish all of your shopping, wrapping and any other loose ends before the big day. Unless, of course, you're among those "free thinkers" who consider Christmas a moveable feast, and celebrate it early or late, depending on whenever it's convenient for your family, and then it doesn't matter if you're ready or not on the 25th. On the other hand, that does tend to take all of the panic ... er, I mean, FUN out of the holiday, at least for us purists. And the godless heathens are on their own, as far as I'm concerned.
We didn't know until the very last minute that my family was canceling Thanksgiving this year due to lack of interest, and so we found ourselves at loose ends for the holiday, just like any other old orphans, cast adrift in this cold, cruel world. And as much as people may complain about spending the holidays with their family, we discovered that the alternative certainly doesn't have much to recommend it either, believe you me. And speaking of things that have nothing to recommend them, I wouldn't suggest that anyone go to a major shopping mall like the Palisades Center in Nyack on the Friday after Thanksgiving, but for those of us who wanted to see The Polar Express at IMAX in 3-D, that was exactly where we found ourselves early this morning. We had been looking forward to seeing it again, and were glad when they brought it back for the holiday season, because they usually don't bring back IMAX movies for any reason. We even talked our friends into driving down from Albany to see it with us, and we assured them it was worth the trip, even though they had to leave home at 7AM to get there on time. Luckily they agreed with us after they saw it, so it was all worth it in the end. We had a very nice lunch at TGIFridays and did some browsing, and it was really very pleasant, because it was not nearly as crowded as we had feared. The Palisades Center is four floors crammed with every possible thing, from Lord & Taylor to 99-cent stores, from Sharper Image to CVS, and everything in between, not to mention a skating rink, Ferris Wheel, carousel, roller coaster, and toy train that you can ride on. Even Santa Claus was there, and I'm sure if we had been more observant, we would have found the kitchen sink besides. The place simply has everything.
Two weeks ago at church, The Powers That Be decided that it would be too much trouble to have our usual seasonal service of Lessons & Carols before Christmas, so they canceled it. (I don't mind saying that this has been a tough year for the traditionalists among us!) Anyway, there was such a hue and cry over this, that they backed down a week later and said that we could have Lessons & Carols after all. So on December 18th, we'll be torturing poor George Frideric Handel once again, and probably a bunch of other notable composers, and you know I'll be right in there with them, and doing my best to drown out all of the other sopranos within earshot. If they're going to keep canceling this service out from under us, at least I'll go down at top volume.
Let's take a peek at some of the morning messages that have greeted us at work, from our friends in the crack IT department at the hospital --
WE WILL BE PEFORMING OUR DAILY BACKUPS
please sll users please sign off oyur termonals
we will b econducting ourdaily saves
please remember to SIGN NOFF YOUR terminal
we will be condcuting our daily saves
any usersstill active will be terminalted
please all users sign offf your terminlas
we will bw preforming our daily backups
any jobw still actiove will be terminated immeidately
ALL ACTIVE JOBS WILL BE IMMEDIATELLY TERMINATED
please all users sidn off you terminals
we ar going to preform our full system save
attn all users please sign offyour termilnas
We will be performing the Regulartory Grouper Install.
The system will be unavailable until Wednesday, November 10th
REVISION: We will be performing the Regulartory Grouper Install.
The system will be unavailable until THURSDAY, November 10th
I'm thinking that other places might probably worry that their computer department doesn't know what day of the week it is, but fortunately at the hospital, we're fearless. Or perhaps, what we are is fareless, but whatever it is, we're certainly all full of it.
Speaking of things that are full of it, Bill subscribes to a Phrase-A-Week web site that picks an idiomatic expression at random and sends it to their patrons with the etymology behind it and other tidbits of interest. Apparently the linguistic dodge is no field for the faint-hearted, as the following reference indicates:
================================
Finally, we have this week's Phrase. It's "the bitter end" and I wouldn't have sent it to you at all, except I knew you'd enjoy "CANOE".
THE BITTER END
Meaning
To the limit of one's efforts - to the last extremity.
Origin
Bitter has been an adjective meaning acrid or sour tasting since the year 725AD at least. The word was in common use in the Middle Ages and Shakespeare uses it numerous times in his plays and poems, as do many other dramatists. The phrase 'the bitter end' would seem, fairly obviously, to come directly from that meaning.
But not so fast. Enter, stage left, Captain Smith. Here's what he has to say, in his publication Seaman's Grammar, 1627, which is the earliest citation of the phrase in print:
"A Bitter is but the turne of a Cable about the Bits, and veare it out by little and little. And the Bitters end is that part of the Cable doth stay within boord."
As you might have deduced, a bitt is a post fastened in the deck of a ship, for fastening cables and ropes. When a rope is played out to the bitter end, it means there is no more rope to be used.
But again, not so fast. Folk etymologists are those who say something is true with no more justification than that they would like it to be true. They are thickest on the ground in the area of military and especially naval attributions. People seem to love a sailor's yarn, and anything with a whiff of the sea is seized on with enthusiasm. So much so that more thoughtful etymologists have dreamed up the inventive acronym CANOE - the Committee to Ascribe a Naval Origin to Everything.
So, is this one from CANOE or not? We like to be definitive and, although the naval origin does seem to have a good case, it isn't conclusive. This time we'll sit on the fence and let you decide.
================================
Well, it's certainly true that I love that part about CANOE, and you can just shiver me timbers and yo-ho-ho with a bottle of rum. Of course, everyone knows what a hidebound traditionalist I am, not to mention a language purist, but I can see where I have more than a little CANOE in me too, and I will stick by that to the bitter end.
And so here we find ourselves on the Friday after Thanksgiving, and I feel it's only fair to warn you that this coming Sunday will actually be the first Sunday in Advent, believe that or don't. Of course, we all know what that means, except for the godless heathens who may be monitoring my email, and that is that Christmas will be a scant four weeks away. Actually, it's not as bad as it sounds, because Christmas is on a Sunday this year, so after the fourth Sunday in Advent on December 18th, there's still almost a whole week left to panic ... er, I mean, finish all of your shopping, wrapping and any other loose ends before the big day. Unless, of course, you're among those "free thinkers" who consider Christmas a moveable feast, and celebrate it early or late, depending on whenever it's convenient for your family, and then it doesn't matter if you're ready or not on the 25th. On the other hand, that does tend to take all of the panic ... er, I mean, FUN out of the holiday, at least for us purists. And the godless heathens are on their own, as far as I'm concerned.
We didn't know until the very last minute that my family was canceling Thanksgiving this year due to lack of interest, and so we found ourselves at loose ends for the holiday, just like any other old orphans, cast adrift in this cold, cruel world. And as much as people may complain about spending the holidays with their family, we discovered that the alternative certainly doesn't have much to recommend it either, believe you me. And speaking of things that have nothing to recommend them, I wouldn't suggest that anyone go to a major shopping mall like the Palisades Center in Nyack on the Friday after Thanksgiving, but for those of us who wanted to see The Polar Express at IMAX in 3-D, that was exactly where we found ourselves early this morning. We had been looking forward to seeing it again, and were glad when they brought it back for the holiday season, because they usually don't bring back IMAX movies for any reason. We even talked our friends into driving down from Albany to see it with us, and we assured them it was worth the trip, even though they had to leave home at 7AM to get there on time. Luckily they agreed with us after they saw it, so it was all worth it in the end. We had a very nice lunch at TGIFridays and did some browsing, and it was really very pleasant, because it was not nearly as crowded as we had feared. The Palisades Center is four floors crammed with every possible thing, from Lord & Taylor to 99-cent stores, from Sharper Image to CVS, and everything in between, not to mention a skating rink, Ferris Wheel, carousel, roller coaster, and toy train that you can ride on. Even Santa Claus was there, and I'm sure if we had been more observant, we would have found the kitchen sink besides. The place simply has everything.
Two weeks ago at church, The Powers That Be decided that it would be too much trouble to have our usual seasonal service of Lessons & Carols before Christmas, so they canceled it. (I don't mind saying that this has been a tough year for the traditionalists among us!) Anyway, there was such a hue and cry over this, that they backed down a week later and said that we could have Lessons & Carols after all. So on December 18th, we'll be torturing poor George Frideric Handel once again, and probably a bunch of other notable composers, and you know I'll be right in there with them, and doing my best to drown out all of the other sopranos within earshot. If they're going to keep canceling this service out from under us, at least I'll go down at top volume.
Let's take a peek at some of the morning messages that have greeted us at work, from our friends in the crack IT department at the hospital --
WE WILL BE PEFORMING OUR DAILY BACKUPS
please sll users please sign off oyur termonals
we will b econducting ourdaily saves
please remember to SIGN NOFF YOUR terminal
we will be condcuting our daily saves
any usersstill active will be terminalted
please all users sign offf your terminlas
we will bw preforming our daily backups
any jobw still actiove will be terminated immeidately
ALL ACTIVE JOBS WILL BE IMMEDIATELLY TERMINATED
please all users sidn off you terminals
we ar going to preform our full system save
attn all users please sign offyour termilnas
We will be performing the Regulartory Grouper Install.
The system will be unavailable until Wednesday, November 10th
REVISION: We will be performing the Regulartory Grouper Install.
The system will be unavailable until THURSDAY, November 10th
I'm thinking that other places might probably worry that their computer department doesn't know what day of the week it is, but fortunately at the hospital, we're fearless. Or perhaps, what we are is fareless, but whatever it is, we're certainly all full of it.
Speaking of things that are full of it, Bill subscribes to a Phrase-A-Week web site that picks an idiomatic expression at random and sends it to their patrons with the etymology behind it and other tidbits of interest. Apparently the linguistic dodge is no field for the faint-hearted, as the following reference indicates:
================================
Finally, we have this week's Phrase. It's "the bitter end" and I wouldn't have sent it to you at all, except I knew you'd enjoy "CANOE".
THE BITTER END
Meaning
To the limit of one's efforts - to the last extremity.
Origin
Bitter has been an adjective meaning acrid or sour tasting since the year 725AD at least. The word was in common use in the Middle Ages and Shakespeare uses it numerous times in his plays and poems, as do many other dramatists. The phrase 'the bitter end' would seem, fairly obviously, to come directly from that meaning.
But not so fast. Enter, stage left, Captain Smith. Here's what he has to say, in his publication Seaman's Grammar, 1627, which is the earliest citation of the phrase in print:
"A Bitter is but the turne of a Cable about the Bits, and veare it out by little and little. And the Bitters end is that part of the Cable doth stay within boord."
As you might have deduced, a bitt is a post fastened in the deck of a ship, for fastening cables and ropes. When a rope is played out to the bitter end, it means there is no more rope to be used.
But again, not so fast. Folk etymologists are those who say something is true with no more justification than that they would like it to be true. They are thickest on the ground in the area of military and especially naval attributions. People seem to love a sailor's yarn, and anything with a whiff of the sea is seized on with enthusiasm. So much so that more thoughtful etymologists have dreamed up the inventive acronym CANOE - the Committee to Ascribe a Naval Origin to Everything.
So, is this one from CANOE or not? We like to be definitive and, although the naval origin does seem to have a good case, it isn't conclusive. This time we'll sit on the fence and let you decide.
================================
Well, it's certainly true that I love that part about CANOE, and you can just shiver me timbers and yo-ho-ho with a bottle of rum. Of course, everyone knows what a hidebound traditionalist I am, not to mention a language purist, but I can see where I have more than a little CANOE in me too, and I will stick by that to the bitter end.
posted by El Tango Fandango @ 8:31 PM
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