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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007One's not to judge a furry by their tail
while working on one of my website's pages ( http://xahlee.org/sl/fur.html ), i have to write: «above right: A rat-chick dancing away. Note her nipple rings, neck collar, and manacle-bracelets, and her bucktooth. Possibly with the exception of her tail, she's lovely. One's not to judge a furry by their tail.» Note the “their tail” part. I'm pretty sure this is conventionally grammatically correct. (and if it is not, i'm sticking with it anyway because i consider grammarians morons of the first order among pendants and academicians) i recall about exactly a decade ago when i read the alt.usage.english's FAQ there's a section on how “they” can be used as singular, and such usage is rather mundane (to writers, anyway). today i tried to reseek that passage, after a while of bumbling (because the FAQ has apparently been segregated into parts and little pages (which i don't like)), i found it at: http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxforeig.html i'm not sure if this is all, because i vaguely recall in the text that they mentioned as example how Shakespeare and was it Virginia Wolf or Jane Austen employed it in the singular. anyway, can people comment on my usage? thx. Xah xah@xahlee.org ∑ http://xahlee.org/ [...] i consider grammarians morons of the first order > among pendants and academicians [...]) > anyway, can people comment on my usage? OK. Did you mean "pendejos and academicians"? Tra-la-la-la Fiddle-dee-dee-dee it gives me a thrill, to read "CDB" <bellemarec@sympatico.ca> when they're posting on misc.writing-ingbird hill: > [...] i consider grammarians morons of the first order >> among pendants and academicians [...]) > >> anyway, can people comment on my usage? > > OK. Did you mean "pendejos and academicians"? Pendulous tits and Arcadians, shirley.  Signaturegekko You can be stopped by the Connecticut police for biking over 65 miles per hour. "gekko" signed his message with: > gekko > > You can be stopped by the Connecticut police for biking over 65 miles > per hour. What if you bike only 64 miles and then stop? SignatureSkitt Jes' fine > while working on one of my website's pages > ( http://xahlee.org/sl/fur.html ), i have to write: [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > exception of her tail, she's lovely. One's not to judge a furry by > their tail.» And what is a furry? By the way, their is often right and may be okay here but does not sound right. Either 'it' assuming a 'furry ' is an animal or her in reference to the she in the previous sentence.. This must be some very strange website. > Note the “their tail” part. I'm pretty sure this is conventionally > grammatically correct. (and if it is not, i'm sticking with it anyway [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > xah@xahlee.org > ∑ http://xahlee.org/ Xah Lee wrote: > while working on one of my website's pages > ( http://xahlee.org/sl/fur.html ), i have to write: [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > exception of her tail, she's lovely. One's not to judge a furry by > their tail.» And what is a furry? By the way, their is often right and may be okay here but does not sound right. Either 'it' assuming a 'furry ' is an animal or her in reference to the she in the previous sentence.. This must be some very strange website. Makes me wonder if they are thinking of the one with the syringe, or the "Furry Furry My a.s" one. [ ... ] > And what is a furry? I have heard that the Furrys (note capitalization) are a very isolated African tribe. For many years their only contact with civilization was with a veterinarian who worked on very large animals. Said vet left a very large hypodermic device behind when he departed the area, and in his memory the tribe affixed that device to the ruler's crown. Hence the King of the Furrys was known as . . . . the Furry with the Syringe on Top. I trust this answers your question. SignatureBob Lieblich Who has no shame Aha! (Or should I say "Oy!"?) I didn't question. I suggested two possible definitions for the benefit of: Xah Lee. The last named apparently posts from GG or other forum server or with a newsreader that doesn't insert quotes. Please read my message or his which preceded mine, and see that the topic of the "furry" was introduced by John Kane. >> And what is a furry? > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > I trust this answers your question. Well, It answers that of Xah Lee, whom you appear to have carelessly and inappropriately snipped. (I provided the hint for him, you see.) Araitch has similarly misunderstood the chain of conversation, but at least he has included the two previous posters. Since you didn't answer the other hint, I assume you understood that reference, but it only tickled your furry bone. Fair enough. > [ ... ] > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > I trust this answers your question. If you like this one (and I do), you might like /The Compleat Feghoot: New Enlarged Edition/ by Grendel Briarton, Tim Kirk, and Poul Anderson (1980). It includes the above and many other shaggy-dog adventures of Ferdinand Feghoot, who was invented by Reginald Bretnor (no points for guessing which of the above authors he was) in /The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction/ in 1956. Although my 13-year-old niece recently discovered that she loves the movie of /Oklahoma!/, I suspect my generation was the last to get this joke. SignatureJerry Friedman is this from TV? novel? or some obscure joke? What is the context? Would should the tribe be called Furries?? Xah > Pat Durkin wrote:[ ... ] > [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > Bob Lieblich > Who has no shame The Xah Lee entity posted thusly: (top posting corrected) >> Pat Durkin wrote:[ ... ] >> [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > >What is the context? Would should the tribe be called Furries?? To add to Pat's answer.. It is a type of joke known all over North America. We in Canada tend to call it a "shaggy Dog Story", for reasons I do not know. Usually, there is a very contrived build-up, using names of people, places, or things, that lead into the punch line. The punch line itself is usually a play on a well-known saying, or perhaps a song or film title. Another example. Roy Rogers had just bought a new pair of shoes, and decided to see if they were any good for riding. He got onto Trigger, his horse, and rode into the hills. After a bit, he was attacked by a mountain lion (cougar), that dragged him off the horse and got hold of his feet, making quite a mess of his shoes. Finally, he got his gun out and dispatched the mountain lion. He then slung it across his saddle and rode back into town. One of the local fellows saw him, and being an observant fellow, saw what had happened. He shouted out "Pardon me, Roy. Is that the cat that chewed your new shoes?" Pat Durkin filted: >Xah Lee wrote: >> [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >here but does not sound right. Either 'it' assuming a 'furry ' is an >animal or her in reference to the she in the previous sentence.. If I may?... The term "furry" refers to a class of fantasy literature in which characters combine the attributes of humans and other animals...Xah Lee apparently wishes to avoid the use of "it", which would de-emphasize the human aspects of the referent, but in this case the creature described is clearly female, and has already been pronominalized as such...while the final sentence of the quoted excerpt is stated as a general principle, it could still be phrased in specific reference to the immediate inspiration and the reader left to generalize therefrom....r Signature"You got Schadenfreude on my Weltanshauung!" "You got Weltanschauung in my Schadenfreude!" «... And what is a furry? ... If I may?... The term "furry" refers to a class of fantasy literature in which characters combine the attributes of humans and other animals...Xah Lee apparently wishes to avoid the use of "it", which would de-emphasize the human aspects of the referent, but in this case the creature described is clearly female, and has already been pronominalized as such...while the final sentence of the quoted excerpt is stated as a general principle, it could still be phrased in specific reference to the immediate inspiration and the reader left to generalize therefrom....r » You read my mind!! Thank you for understanding! ♥ ♥ Xah xah@xahlee.org ∑ http://xahlee.org/ > Xah Lee wrote: >> while working on one of my website's pages [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > Makes me wonder if they are thinking of the one with the syringe, > or the "Furry Furry My a.s" one. "Good heavens, no, not THAT furry!" > > "John Kane" <jrkrideau@gmail.com> wrote in message > >> Xah Lee wrote: >>> while working on one of my website's pages >>> ( http://xahlee.org/sl/fur.html ), i have to write: > >>> «above right: A rat-chick dancing away. Note her nipple rings, >>> neck collar, and manacle-bracelets, and her bucktooth. Possibly >>> with the exception of her tail, she's lovely. One's not to judge >>> a furry by their tail.» Excellent tour, Xah Lee. What's the name of your FurryMUCK character? http://www.furry.com/ >> And what is a furry? Subscribe to alt.fan.furry if you want to find out about furdom. >> By the way, their is often right and may be okay >> here but does not sound right. Either 'it' assuming a 'furry ' is >> an animal or her in reference to the she in the previous sentence. Like it or not, 'their' is here to stay. IMHO. I await the opinion of Lars Eighner. >> This must be some very strange website. MiscWritingVille is more strange. IMHO. > Makes me wonder if they are thinking of the one with the syringe, > or the "Furry Furry My a.s" one. All of the above. Signature"It never got weird enough for me" - Hunter S. Thompson http://www.well.com/user/silly/ «Makes me wonder if they are thinking of the one with the syringe, or the "Furry Furry My a.s" one. » hi Pat. What do these means? I have no idea... Xah xah@xahlee.org ∑ http://xahlee.org/ Pat Durkin wrote: «Makes me wonder if they are thinking of the one with the syringe, or the "Furry Furry My a.s" one. » >hi Pat. What do these means? I have no idea... Bob gave as good a telling of the syringe story as is available, I expect. The "Furry Furry" one is a bit cruder, and capable of being told using nonsense names--Fuzzy Wuzzy, for example. A mild-mannered man (woman, child, roommate) with a harridan of a wife (or boss, or partner) had done something bad (gambled away his paycheck, visited a prostitute, missed an important appointment) (at work, home, in the bar). And was apprehensive about meeting the wife, etc. Thinking that a gift would appease her (etc), he (etc) stopped in at a pet shop to get a unique gift to avoid having to put up with criticism, abuse, shaming, and so forth. The clerk recommended a new arrival with a delightful appearance, an affectionate, cuddly nature, an amazing talent for following directions, and a very reasonable price. "It's called a 'Furry Furry', and is easy to care for. It eats anything in front of it as soon as it hears its name called. Let me show you. "Furry Furry, chair". In less than a wink, the chair disappeared. "Furry Furry, mouse" and the mouse disappeared. Delighted, the customer purchased the pet and quickly headed home. Knock, knock. "Darling, come see what I have bought for you! It's a Furry Furry, the latest in exotic pets! The door opens, and the designated recipient immediately rages, " !" Pat Durkin filted: >Pat Durkin wrote: >«Makes me wonder if they are thinking of the one with the syringe, or [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] >The door opens, and the designated recipient immediately rages, " >!" I had suspected as much, but thank you for confirming that your Furry Furry was known to me as a Crunch Bird....r Signature"You got Schadenfreude on my Weltanschauung!" "You got Weltanschauung in my Schadenfreude!" is this from TV? novel? or some obscure joke? What is the context? Xah > "XahLee" <x...@xahlee.org> wrote in messagenews:1169564419.829446.12890@s48g2000cws.googlegroups.com...Pat Durkin wrote:«Makes me wonder if they are thinking of the one with the syringe, or > the [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > The door opens, and the designated recipient immediately rages, " > !" On Jan 23, 9:03 am, "Pat Durkin" <durk...@sbc.com> wrote: I moved your question to the foot of the message, and appended my reply to that. > "XahLee" <x...@xahlee.org> wrote in > messagenews:1169564419.829446.12890@s48g2000cws.googlegroups.com...Pat [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > The door opens, and the designated recipient immediately rages, " > !" is this from TV? novel? or some obscure joke? What is the context? Both of these stories are fairly well-known jokes in the US. The question is, Xah Lee, "Do you get it?" The other question is, of course, "Why are you continuing to top post?" And, in your reply to Bob L: (Again top-posted.) The use of a word like "furry" to denote any fictional unknown tribe adds a touch of humor, and avoids using any kind of aspersion. If one were to tell the joke as if it were about the Martians, would be to lose the spoonerism. . ."the surrey with the fringe on top", a very popular song from the Broadway play--"Oklahoma!" The frequent pronunciation of "syringe" as "sringe" comes into play. Folks, Thanks for your inputs on my usage. Regarding “what's a furry”... most dictionaries will have a entrie, with a definition that it is a adjective for “covered with fur”. In my context, it just human animals fantasized with other animal's appearances. Put it another way: anthropomorphize, cuddle-some, animals. (a picture is worth a thousand words: http://xahlee.org/sl/fur.html ) Wikipedia (my number one resource) has this to day: «Furry is an adjective referring to something covered in fur.... ... A member of the furry fandom—fans of artwork, stories, and related products (comics, movies, costumes, et al.) which feature anthropomorphic animals» In particular, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furry_fandom John wrote: «This must be some very strange website.» Yes it is. Once you are in Second Life, you'll discover a world that is in-credible, and i've been living my life inside Second Life for the past week during my wake time. I have a take on a introduction, please see: http://xahlee.org/sl/sl.html Xah xah@xahlee.org ∑ http://xahlee.org/ > > while working on one of my website's pages > > ( http://xahlee.org/sl/fur.html ), i have to write: [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > This must be some very strange website. |
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