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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004reading comprehension - pitched a fit
Smoking is stupid, but a Zippo lighter is cool. A disposable? Flick that. What does it mean by "A disposable? Flick that." Charlize pitched a fit in an L.A. bank 7 years and was spotted by a big-shot movie agent. What does 'pictch a fit' mean? Does 'big-shot' basically mean big or well-known? >Smoking is stupid, but a Zippo lighter is cool. A disposable? Flick >that. > >What does it mean by "A disposable? Flick that." An old advertising slogan for a certain brand of disposable lighters was "Flick your Bick". It's a wordplay on that. >Charlize pitched a fit in an L.A. bank 7 years and was spotted by a >big-shot movie agent. > >What does 'pictch a fit' mean? Have a temper tantrum. >Does 'big-shot' basically mean big or well-known? M-W says: Main Entry: big shot Pronunciation: 'big-"shät Function: noun Date: 1929 : a person of consequence or prominence Best regards, Spehro Pefhany  Signature"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com "Nick" asks about: ]>> Smoking is stupid, but a Zippo lighter is cool. A disposable? Flick ]>> that. >> What does it mean by "A disposable? Flick that." Spehro Pefhany says: > An old advertising slogan for a certain brand of disposable lighters > was "Flick your Bick". It's a wordplay on that. And, simultaneously, it's also wordplay on the vulgar dismissive expression "f.ck that." SignatureMark Brader "How can we believe that?" Toronto "Because this time it's true!" msb@vex.net -- Lynn & Jay: YES, PRIME MINISTER > "Nick" asks about: > ]>> Smoking is stupid, but a Zippo lighter is cool. A disposable? Flick [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > And, simultaneously, it's also wordplay on the vulgar dismissive expression > "f.ck that." It helps to realize that Zippo makes refillable lighters, not disposable ones. SignatureBest -- Donna Richoux >> "Nick" asks about: >> ]>> Smoking is stupid, but a Zippo lighter is cool. A disposable? [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > It helps to realize that Zippo makes refillable lighters, not > disposable ones. Not only that, but they guarantee to replace any lighter that ceases to function, no matter how old. I had a Zippo for years and kept the guarantee safe. Then I was in a train crash and lost the lighter. -- John Dean Oxford De-frag to reply >>> "Nick" asks about: >>> ]>> Smoking is stupid, but a Zippo lighter is cool. A disposable? [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >function, no matter how old. I had a Zippo for years and kept the guarantee >safe. Then I was in a train crash and lost the lighter. Cross pens and pencils have the same guarantee. The mechanical pencil in my set stopped working. I sent it in without any paperwork other than my name and address. They exchanged it for a new one with the click-out lead style. >>>"Nick" asks about: >>>]>> Smoking is stupid, but a Zippo lighter is cool. A disposable? [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > function, no matter how old. I had a Zippo for years and kept the guarantee > safe. Then I was in a train crash and lost the lighter. I hope that the lighter loss was the most serious consequence that you suffered. Given the circumstances, they might have provided a replacement if you had supplied the guarantee and evidence of the accident. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) > >>>"Nick" asks about: > >>>]>> Smoking is stupid, but a Zippo lighter is cool. A disposable? > >>>Flick ]>> that. [...] > >>It helps to realize that Zippo makes refillable lighters, not > >>disposable ones. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > suffered. Given the circumstances, they might have provided a > replacement if you had supplied the guarantee and evidence of the accident. I suspect Laura's right. But, while disposability is generally ecologically unsound, I wonder how many throwaway lighters you could buy (they seem to be about 5 for a pound in the market) for the price of a Zippo and a lifetime's fuel. Factor in the almost inevitable loss of one or more Zippos in a lifetime (when I gave my father a replacement for his lost one, it was stolen in a Post Office on Malta within a few weeks), and the opportunity cost of investment in this relatively expensive article, I'd say disposables might run a close race. (I know you can't easily put a money value on the Zippo's cool, and the disposable's naffness.) On the same principle, it was with great pleasure that I dumped one of those hideous Dualit toasters on working out how many cheap ones I could have got for the original outlay plus cost of spares, *and* had more room on the worktop. Mike. > Then I was in a train crash and lost the lighter. Which crash (place and date), if you don't mind saying? > De-frag to reply I tried that first before bothering the newgsroup with this: # ----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors ----- # <john-dean@lineone.net> # (expanded from: <john-dean@lineone.net>) # # ----- Transcript of session follows ----- # mail.local: unknown name: john-dean # 550 <john-dean@lineone.net>... User unknown SignatureMark Brader, Toronto "Constrain your data early and often." msb@vex.net -- C. M. Sperberg-McQueen >> Then I was in a train crash and lost the lighter. > > Which crash (place and date), if you don't mind saying? A minor affair near Crewe. Somewhere around 1980. Half a dozen carriages derailed because of wrongly set points, a few of us went to hospital (I had a few superficial cuts from the fragments of disintegrated plastic from the windows hitting my head) but no-one was kept in. A Nurse suggested I make a claim from British Railways for compensation (which hadn't occurred to me and probably wouldn't have). I was amazed to find myself in correspondence with what was obviously a large Department of BR that did nothing but deal with claims for compensation. -- John Dean Oxford De-frag to reply >> It helps to realize that Zippo makes refillable lighters, not >> disposable ones. > >Not only that, but they guarantee to replace any lighter that ceases to >function, no matter how old. I had a Zippo for years and kept the guarantee >safe. Then I was in a train crash and lost the lighter. You should have kept the lighter safer than the guarantee, since that piece of paper is unnecessary. Zippo will replace or repair any defective or non-working lighter they make. You simply need to mail it to Zippo, Bradford, PA. You don't even need that annoying American invention, the zip code. Zippos, however, were one of their better inventions. SignatureAlfred >>> It helps to realize that Zippo makes refillable lighters, not >>> disposable ones. [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > invention, the zip code. Zippos, however, were one of their better > inventions. Alfred! I thought we'd lost you. Taken a chance on a peach yet? -- John Dean Oxford De-frag to reply |
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