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Discussion Groups / English Usage / May 2009Em - The passing of
Em deserves his own thread here. Some famous person passes and gets a thread even though we have no personal knowledge of that person. Often, the otherponders (depending on the now-late person involved) have never even heard of that person. No one who is a regular reader of aue would have been unable to answer the question of "What is Laura's cat's name?". For years, we have been providing guidance to fly-ins who want to know how to compose a letter to the landlord complaining about noisy neighbors, how to compose a letter of application, and how to write acceptably using non-conventional English phrasing. If we can tell someone if "ten wet kisses" takes the singular or the plural, we can surely devote a thread to express condolences on the loss of a family cat who is now boinking with litter-mates in wherever it is that cats go after they have shuffled off this mortal coil. I'm not good at expressing sympathy for personal losses, but - Laura - please accept the dedication of a thread to Em as my contribution. (If this does turn into an obAue thing, then I hope someone will explain why Shakespeare use "shuffle" there. I can't quite associate "shuffle" with dying.)  SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida > Em deserves his own thread here. Some famous person passes and > gets a thread even though we have no personal knowledge of that > person. Often, the otherponders (depending on the now-late person > involved) have never even heard of that person. > No one who is a regular reader of aue would have been unable to > answer the question of "What is Laura's cat's name?". > For years, we have been providing guidance to fly-ins who want to > know how to compose a letter to the landlord complaining about noisy [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > family cat who is now boinking with litter-mates in wherever it is > that cats go after they have shuffled off this mortal coil. > I'm not good at expressing sympathy for personal losses, but - > Laura - please accept the dedication of a thread to Em as my > contribution. The Rainbow Bridge is a pleasant fantasy. I sometimes fall asleep thinking about my pets waiting there for me. As a cat, Em would be stroppier than most of my dogs: imagine him stalking up to you, complaining about the long delay. [...] >The Rainbow Bridge is a pleasant fantasy. I sometimes fall asleep >thinking about my pets waiting there for me. As a cat, Em would be >stroppier than most of my dogs: imagine him stalking up to you, >complaining about the long delay. Pleasant fantasy maybe, but I haven't yet succeeded in reading it without tears. SignatureKaty Jennison spamtrap: remove the first two letters after the @ >> The Rainbow Bridge is a pleasant fantasy. I sometimes fall asleep >> thinking about my pets waiting there for me. As a cat, Em would be >> stroppier than most of my dogs: imagine him stalking up to you, >> complaining about the long delay. > Pleasant fantasy maybe, but I haven't yet succeeded in reading it > without tears. Does a body good. >Em deserves his own thread here. Some famous person passes and gets a >thread even though we have no personal knowledge of that person. [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >explain why Shakespeare use "shuffle" there. I can't quite associate >"shuffle" with dying.) Blame Billy Tremblepike: 1602 SHAKES. Ham. III. i. 67 What dreames may come, When we haue shufflel'd off this mortall coile, Must giue vs pawse. It sounds like the immortal soul shaking itself free of the mortal body. The spelling "shufflel'd" may or may no be a typo. The quotes in the "shuffle off" entry are: 1601 SHAKES. Twel. N. III. iii. 16 And euer oft good turnes, Are shuffel'd off with such vncurrant pay. 1602 {emem} Ham. III. i. 67 When we have shuffel'd [sic] off this mortall coile. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) >Blame Billy Tremblepike: > > 1602 SHAKES. Ham. III. i. 67 What dreames may come, When we haue > shufflel'd off this mortall coile, Must giue vs pawse. Very suitable for all those of us who would rather like to be reincarnated as a cat. SignatureKaty Jennison spamtrap: remove the first two letters after the @ >> Blame Billy Tremblepike: >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Very suitable for all those of us who would rather like to be > reincarnated as a cat. My father always said that this was what he hoped would happen to him. Some years after he died, a cat moved in with my mother. He was tall, dark, handsome, affectionate and unusually intelligent, with a definite taste for opera. My mother occasionally remarked on its resemblance to my father but the cat kept schtum. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) >>> Blame Billy Tremblepike: >>> [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >taste for opera. My mother occasionally remarked on its resemblance to >my father but the cat kept schtum. Oh, you've done it now. STS, big time. Hoyt Axton singing "Della and the Dealer" and the cat named Kalamazoo. If that cat could talk, what tales he'd tell, About Della and the dealer and the dog as well. But the cat was cool, and it never said a mumbling word. To watch and listen, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZHSIhdYSZY SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida >>>> Blame Billy Tremblepike: >>>> [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > >To watch and listen, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZHSIhdYSZY I'm currently troubled by persistent "Shuffle off to Buffalo". SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) > >Blame Billy Tremblepike: > > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Very suitable for all those of us who would rather like to be > reincarnated as a cat. I'm allergic to cats and am worried about making myself sneeze for ta couple of decades if reincarnated as a cat. But the allergy hasn't kept me from admiring and enjoying cats. Daughter has one -- a female named Howard who is well into her teens (in people years) -- and Howard and I have a decent relationship even if I do have to load up on antihistamines before visiting. Fate has thus cast me as a dog person, and I continue to miss our late sheltie, Holly, even though she did her shuffling off fully twenty years ago. It coincided with our move to an apartment and the realization that we were ill-equipped to take on another dog. So here we are, petless -- and much the worse for it. Memories will linger, Laura, and they will be the fond ones. My condolences and best wishes. SignatureBob Lieblich Thanks for the thread, Coop > Em deserves his own thread here. Some famous person passes and gets a > thread even though we have no personal knowledge of that person. [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > explain why Shakespeare use "shuffle" there. I can't quite associate > "shuffle" with dying.) I am very touched by this tribute and Em would have been, too. He came into our lives shortly after I was drawn into aue and, as he liked to sit on my desk, was often subjected to expostulations, rants and guffaws as I trawled through threads. He was particularly intrigued by my experiments with treading and tramping on one occasion. We never knew the name bestowed upon him by those he lived with before he moved in with us (or, of course his "ineffable effable, Effanineffable, Deep and inscrutable singular Name") and he was often mildly irritated by those who believed that he was female and called Emma. But he enjoyed the rather more erudite comments from aue posters, particularly one enquiry as to whether he was so named because he only took up a little space. He was indeed a small cat but he was brave and tough and leaves a huge gap in our lives. As for the shuffling, Wiki throws up this speculation: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Schopenhauer, in his Parerga and Paralipomena, Volume 2, § 232a, conjectured that this phrase might have been involved in a typesetter's error or a slip of the author's pen. Should there not have been originally 'shuttled off'? This verb itself no longer exists but 'shuttle' is an implement used in weaving. Accordingly, the meaning might be: 'when we have unwound and worked off this coil of mortality.' ----------------------------------------------------------------------- (I should point out that I wouldn't normally cite Wiki but this can presumably be checked out by anyone with easy access to Schopenhauer's works.) SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) >> Em deserves his own thread here. Some famous person passes and gets a >> thread even though we have no personal knowledge of that person. [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] >presumably be checked out by anyone with easy access to Schopenhauer's >works.) My condolences on the loss of your cat. I don't like to think about losing my Domino, and she is aging. I don't see the difficulty with "shuffle", as it has several meanings apart from walking like a zombie. Any of these would fit with Shakespeare's meaning- AHD: v.tr. 2. To move (something) from one place to another; transfer or shift. phrasal verb: 1. shuffle off: to get rid of; dispose of. 3. leave, depart. M-W: v.i. 1: to work into or out of trickily <shuffled out of the difficulty> Unless the phrase "shuffle off this mortal coil" gave rise to these meanings, the meanings justify the phrase. SignatureJohn not buffaloed by shuffle off. >I don't see the difficulty with "shuffle", as it has several meanings >apart from walking like a zombie. Any of these would fit with [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >Unless the phrase "shuffle off this mortal coil" gave rise to these >meanings, the meanings justify the phrase. I don't know how I'll go, but most of us go with a slip or a bang. We slip off quietly or we depart in some incident of violence (intentional or unintentional) to the person. I think of shuffling off as a prolonged and graceless movement. SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida >>I don't see the difficulty with "shuffle", as it has several meanings >>apart from walking like a zombie. Any of these would fit with [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > (intentional or unintentional) to the person. I think of shuffling > off as a prolonged and graceless movement. I think there may be some interference from the usual modern sense of "shuffle" here as a form of locomotion; "coil" means 'tumult, turmoil, bustle, stir, hurry, confusion' (Johnson's definition), so to shuffle off this mortal coil is to escape from or shake off life, seen as a kind of troublesome environment or garment or constraint; the connotations of "shuffle" suggest that death is often messy, unplanned, indeed 'graceless'. The OED has for "shuffle" "5d d.: to shuffle off: to get rid of or evade (something difficult, arduous, or irksome) in a perfunctory or unsatisfactory manner; to dispose of evasively; to shirk (a duty or obligation)." SignaturePeter Groves >> I don't see the difficulty with "shuffle", as it has several meanings >> apart from walking like a zombie. Any of these would fit with [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > (intentional or unintentional) to the person. I think of shuffling > off as a prolonged and graceless movement. Sadly, there are many deaths which are neither quiet slippings off nor dramatic bangs but lengthy struggles against the inevitable which are painful for everyone concerned and are most definitely both prolonged and graceless. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) >> Em deserves his own thread here. Some famous person passes and gets a >> thread even though we have no personal knowledge of that person. [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] >took up a little space. He was indeed a small cat but he was brave and >tough and leaves a huge gap in our lives. Sorry to hear about your loss, Laura. It brings back sad memories of eleven years ago when our Leopold's mother was run over by a car. SignatureJames > > Em deserves his own thread here. Some famous person passes and > > gets a thread even though we have no personal knowledge of that [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] > presumably be checked out by anyone with easy access to > Schopenhauer's works.) I'm very sorry to hear of Em's passing, Laura. You and he sent very comforting condolences when Django the Cat died a few years back, and I'm well aware that that cat-shaped hole remains in one's life a long while. DC -- ... >I'm very sorry to hear of Em's passing, Laura. You and he sent very >comforting condolences when Django the Cat died a few years back, and >I'm well aware that that cat-shaped hole remains in one's life a long >while. I add my sympathy, I still miss Sam. I've said it before and I'll say it again: while you can never replace the old master, a new kitten (or two) helps the transition. SignatureRichard Bollard Canberra Australia To email, I'm at AMT not spAMT. > ... > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > it again: while you can never replace the old master, a new kitten (or > two) helps the transition. I remember thinking that one of the wonders of the internet was that when Sam had his eye problems I found myself worrying about the welfare of a family cat on the other side of the planet. How are the new kits on the block setling in? DC -- > ... > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > it again: while you can never replace the old master, a new kitten (or > two) helps the transition. But only slowly... took me 7 years or so to contemplate Next Cats. I saw one of mine cross my dining room just before she shuffled off -- and she was in another country at the time.... It's a large hole indeed. S. > As for the shuffling, Wiki throws up this speculation: > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > presumably be checked out by anyone with easy access to Schopenhauer's > works.) No one here has yet suggested "sluff," more often spelled "slough," which seems to me to be very close to the suggested meaning: === [M-W] Main Entry: 3 slough Pronunciation: \?sl?f\ Variant(s): also sluff Function: noun Etymology: Middle English slughe; akin to Middle High German sl?ch snakeskin Date: 14th century 1 : the cast-off skin of a snake 2 : a mass of dead tissue separating from an ulcer 3 : something that may be shed or cast off ===== Hm, I see that as a verb it wasn't recorded until 1720, so that's a problem. ===== Function: verb Date: 1720 intransitive verb 1 a: to become shed or cast off b: to cast off one's skin c: to separate in the form of dead tissue from living tissue 2: to crumble slowly and fall away transitive verb 1: to cast off 2 a: to get rid of or discard as irksome, objectionable, or disadvantageous -- usually used with off b: to dispose of (a losing card in bridge) by discarding >LFS <laura@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote: >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >> conjectured that this phrase might have been involved in a typesetter's >> error or a slip of the author's pen. That's a conjecture best left untouched, IMO. Any idiot can solve a riddle by postulating an inadvertent error in its expression. >> Should there not have been originally 'shuttled off'? This verb >> itself no longer exists but 'shuttle' is an implement used in weaving. >> Accordingly, the meaning might be: 'when we have unwound and worked off >> this coil of mortality.' Yeah, right, Mr Arthur 'Clever Dick' Schopenhauer. Are you the same Schopenhauer who argued that whatever needs to be explained, must be regarded as having arisen through necessity? It was, accordingly, clearly necessary that the typo happened. >> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- >> [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >No one here has yet suggested "sluff," more often spelled "slough," >which seems to me to be very close to the suggested meaning: Indeed it does. >transitive verb > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >disadvantageous -- usually used with off b: to dispose of (a losing card >in bridge) by discarding [snipped other friendly bombs] The predominant images that loom when I hear of shuffling off coils are of wriggling out of a coat or jacket, or of performing a Houdiniesque escape. Mind, I can see the influence of 'shrugging off' in there. I've played shuffleboard on the Empress of England, but it didn't throw any light on this problem. SignaturePaul > The predominant images that loom when I hear of shuffling off coils are > of wriggling out of a coat or jacket, or of performing a Houdiniesque > escape. Mind, I can see the influence of 'shrugging off' in there. Hmm, my mental picture is that the 'coils' of life are a kind of maze (like the floor of Chartres Cathedral) and one shuffles off them as one ceases to 'play the game' so to speak. It's only after this discussion that I realise that this image is, apparently, not commonly shared. S. in B. >On Apr 21, 12:29 am, Paul Wolff <bounc...@two.wolff.co.uk> wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >Hmm, my mental picture is that the 'coils' of life are a kind of maze >(like the floor of Chartres Cathedral) I know that one's supposed to be a maze or labyrinth but is it not just a single path from entrance to centre, with no choice of route? A similar design appears in Rocky Valley, Tintagel. I see that the Wiki person who writes all their stuff suggests it is modern and not neolithic after all: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Valley> I used to use a squared-off version as a TM (R) in a previous life, as it seemed to symbolise a roundabout way to arrive at a certain solution. I never knew whether my clients saw the irony in that. >and one shuffles off them as >one ceases to 'play the game' so to speak. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >S. in B. SignaturePaul >> The predominant images that loom when I hear of shuffling off coils are >> of wriggling out of a coat or jacket, or of performing a Houdiniesque [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > S. in B. You mean like playing shuffleboard? Makes a lot of sense to me, although I'd never thought of it before. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) Where is the post that came from valiant Oxford? Ah yes, it was sent by LFS <laura@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk>: >>> The predominant images that loom when I hear of shuffling off coils are >>> of wriggling out of a coat or jacket, or of performing a Houdiniesque [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >You mean like playing shuffleboard? Makes a lot of sense to me, although >I'd never thought of it before. According to the OED, "coil" in this sense meant: "1. Noisy disturbance, 'row'; 'tumult, turmoil, bustle, stir, hurry, confusion' 2. Confused noise of inanimate things; clutter, rattle, confused din. 3. Fuss, ado; a 'business'. 4. a. to keep a coil: to keep up a disturbance; make a fuss, bustle, much ado. b. mortal coil: the bustle or turmoil of this mortal life. A Shaksperian expression which has become a current phrase." And the etymology? "First in 16th c.: of unknown origin. Prob. a word of colloquial or even slang character, which rose into literary use; many terms of similar meaning have had such an origin; cf. pother, row, rumpus, dirdum, shindy, hubbub, hurly-burly, etc." SignatureJames [snip] > b. mortal coil: the bustle or turmoil of this mortal life. A >Shaksperian expression which has become a current phrase." [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >of similar meaning have had such an origin; cf. pother, row, >rumpus, dirdum, shindy, hubbub, hurly-burly, etc." I thought I remembered this from a.u.e. of the past, and Googling groups finds this lovely post from a one-time regular. Even though it is not in Wiki, I like it -- Chris Malcolm Aug 10 1998, 3:00 am Newsgroups: alt.usage.english From: c...@holyrood.ed.ac.uk (Chris Malcolm) Date: 1998/08/10 Subject: Re: Mortal Coil Reply to author | Forward | Print | Individual message | Show original | Report this message | Find messages by this author lo...@orl.mcgill.ca (Lorne Beckman) writes: >The expression "shuffle off the mortal coil", meaning "to die", has me >quite baffled. What on earth could its origin(s) be? In Shakespeare's time it was commonly believed that man had an immortal soul, and a mortal corporeal body. To "shuffle off the mortal coil" is firstly a reference to shedding the corporeal form, as a butterfly shuffles off the pupa, or a snake shuffles off its old skin, often left in coils. A more esoteric belief of the time, common amongst the educated, was that the process by which the soul became embodied and enmeshed in the life of the sublunar sphere was a process of "winding-up", or "encoiling", this being accomplished by the motions of the planets, including sun and moon, whose windings caused the formation both of the corporeal form, and its destiny. The planets further from the Sun than the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, have periods in their apparent orbits, most pronounced in the case of Saturn, when they move backwards. This gives Saturn's apparent motion a scything effect, and hence the Grim Reaper analogy. During this retrograde motion things become unwound, or undone -- the coils of destiny are loosened. That is why a witch who wished to impose her will on someone (cast a spell or curse) would as part of the process circle the person, or the person's house, or some symbolic representation thereof, in widdershins or retrograde manner. By this means she loosened the grip of personal destiny, before imposing her own will on the freedom thus created. So "mortal coil" is also a reference to the coils of mundane destiny, wound round us by the circling planets, and to shuffle off this coil is not just to leave the corporeal form, but to escape the coils of Fate. SignatureRich Ulrich [snip, main post] My cut-and-paste was a little short. Here are the final couple of short paragraphs from Chris Malcolm's explanation. [snip, main post... about wrapping of the lines from the astrological stars, also relevant to witchery.] >So "mortal coil" is also a reference to the coils of mundane destiny, >wound round us by the circling planets, and to shuffle off this coil >is not just to leave the corporeal form, but to escape the coils of >Fate. **** the rest of Chris Malcolm's post in 1998 It's a dense and most appropriate metaphor for the attitude of someone contemplating suicide, whose major concern is often to escape an oppressive and unsought destiny. It's a great shame that modern Eng Lit courses on Shakespeare don't include teaching the students the common philosophies and cosmologies of Shakespeare's time. A lot of obscure metaphors are illuminated in this way. **** SignatureRich Ulrich Quoth Rich Ulrich <rich.ulrich@comcast.net>, and I quote: >[snip] >> b. mortal coil: the bustle or turmoil of this mortal life. A [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] >is not just to leave the corporeal form, but to escape the coils of >Fate. It might sound like a plausible explanation, but I see that the New Penguin Shakespeare edition of Hamlet agrees with the OED and explains "this mortal coil" as "the turmoil of this mortal life". Interpretations of Shakespeare should proceed from the meanings that words had in Shakespeare's day, not what they mean today. The word "coil" as a verb meaning "To lay up (a cable, rope, etc.) in concentric rings" is first recorded in OED in 1611, and the corresponding noun in 1627, so they would probably have been known in Shakespeare's day, although there are no examples in his works. The "coil" that Shakespeare does actually use is a different word, now extinct, which meant "bustle, turmoil": Comedy of Errors [III, 1] [Within] What a coil is there, Dromio? who are those at the gate? Romeo and Juliet [II, 5] Here's such a coil! come, what says Romeo? Tempest [1, 2] Who was so firm, so constant, that this coil Would not infect his reason? Two Gentlemen of Verona [1, 2] This babble shall not henceforth trouble me. Here is a coil with protestation! Timon of Athens [I, 2] What a coil's here! Serving of becks and jutting-out of bums! King John [II, 1] I would that I were low laid in my grave: I am not worth this coil that's made for me. These all seem to mean "trouble, commotion". SignatureJames > stephanie.mitch...@telenet.be wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > You mean like playing shuffleboard? Makes a lot of sense to me, although > I'd never thought of it before. Possibly just a more circuitous version thereof. I've always liked shuffleboard, as a house we lived in when I was a child came with a shuffleboard board on its land. It also made a great place to practice pogoing. I was never any good at either but having a go was good fun. And yes, Paul was right upthread, about Chartres only having one route, but I think it's still considered a maze. An excellent kind of walking meditation, really. I'm certainly not Catholic but I found it a very contemplative little walk. best, S. > > Em deserves his own thread here. �Some famous person passes and gets a > > thread even though we have no personal knowledge of that person. [quoted text clipped - 56 lines] > > - Show quoted text - I'm sorry to hear about your loss. Guilt must be killing you. All those boinks where you' re having great time while neglecting the poor beast and never taking him along. Don't cry, now Em is an angel cat (or cat-angel?) and having a great time with other fellow cat-angels of aue. I'm sure he wants you to think of him with joy, not with sadness. > I'm sorry to hear about your loss. Guilt must be killing you. All > those boinks where you' re having great time while neglecting the poor > beast and never taking him along. Don't cry, now Em is an angel cat > (or cat-angel?) and having a great time with other fellow cat-angels > of aue. I'm sure he wants you to think of him with joy, not with > sadness. Thank you, and I do. He wouldn't have enjoyed boinks anyway. Indeed, now I think about it, he always treated visiting aue-ers with considerable disdain. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) LFS filted: >> I'm sorry to hear about your loss. Guilt must be killing you. All >> those boinks where you' re having great time while neglecting the poor [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >I think about it, he always treated visiting aue-ers with considerable >disdain. More so than visiting strangers from other venues?... Perhaps it was the beards....r SignatureA pessimist sees the glass as half empty. An optometrist asks whether you see the glass more full like this?...or like this? LFS wrote, in part, regarding the passing of Em: > ... he always treated visiting aue-ers with considerable disdain. How like a cat... how delightfully, wonderfully, typically like a cat. No cat is truly "typical," of course. Even so, all cats -- including Em, no doubt -- seem to know that they are superior to those they allow to house and feed and love them. (Would those who house and feed and love them dispute that? Of course not. Right's right.) Sincere condolences on your loss of Em, Laura. SignatureMaria Conlon > LFS wrote, in part, regarding the passing of Em: > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > No cat is truly "typical," of course. � Ditto! The other day I was giving a piece of my mind to the three delivery men who messed up my order (wrong piece of furniture). I was almost screaming, having to explain for the third time in a row something when my cat made her appearance, tail erected, great spirits, marching towards the three men, purring profusely and demanding to be petted by them. While they were bonding the word "whore" crossed my mind, but I was forced to keep my mouth shut and the righteous indignation expression on my face in order to save my dignity. > LFS wrote, in part, regarding the passing of Em: > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Sincere condolences on your loss of Em, Laura. Thanks, Maria. Still misbehavin', I hope: I worry that the Axis is wobbling these days. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) >> LFS wrote, in part, regarding the passing of Em: >> [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Thanks, Maria. Still misbehavin', I hope:... More than ever, I think, though perhaps less visibly in the group. > I worry that the Axis is wobbling these days. I'll try to do something about that. You, too? It'll take both of us, since our third member (Matti?) isn't around these days. (Were there only three of us? I seem to remember Mike L. being on the scene. Or is that just my poor, misbehaving memory? ) SignatureMaria Conlon [...]> >> I worry that the Axis is wobbling these days. > > I'll try to do something about that. You, too? It'll take both of us, > since our third member (Matti?) isn't around these days. (Were there > only three of us? I seem to remember Mike L. being on the scene. Or > is that just my poor, misbehaving memory? ) Can't be any worse than mine, which won't tell me what you're referring to... SignatureMike. >>> I worry that the Axis is wobbling these days. >> [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Can't be any worse than mine, which won't tell me what you're > referring to... I've tried Googling (in Google Groups Search) the phrase "Axis of Misbehaviour" (and "Axis of Misbehavior"). No luck. But I think said Axis was formed following the "Axis of Evil" discussions after the Iraq War started (2003? 2004?). Anyway, Laura and I were charter members, and so was Matti. I thought you had something to do with it, or at least with the discussions. No? SignatureMaria Conlon >>>> I worry that the Axis is wobbling these days. >>> [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >Axis was formed following the "Axis of Evil" discussions after the Iraq >War started (2003? 2004?). The earliest meantion I can find in Google groups is this (Feb 2002): http://groups.google.co.uk/group/alt.usage.english/msg/f89a1ec09b814fa9 Newsgroups: alt.usage.english From: Laura F Spira <la...@DRAGONspira.u-net.com> Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 06:40:43 +0000 Local: Wed 13 Feb 2002 07:40 Subject: Re: The Tea Ceremony "Simon R. Hughes" wrote: .... .... Members of the Axis of Misbehaviour eschew laws, even Skitt's. -- Laura (emulate St. George for email) >Anyway, Laura and I were charter members, and so was Matti. I thought >you had something to do with it, or at least with the discussions. No? SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) >>>> I worry that the Axis is wobbling these days. >>> [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > Anyway, Laura and I were charter members, and so was Matti. I thought > you had something to do with it, or at least with the discussions. No? There was also in those times the Vegemite faction of the Axis Of Evil Spreads, which mite appeal to Mike. I seem to have mislaid the other member, who was the spooky guy next door, IIRC. Or perhaps Brother Bollard will be kind enough to represent the ACT in his stead. SignatureRegards John for mail: my initials plus a u e at tpg dot com dot au >>>>> I worry that the Axis is wobbling these days. >>>> [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > member, who was the spooky guy next door, IIRC. Or perhaps Brother > Bollard will be kind enough to represent the ACT in his stead. I think I must have been a mere associate member. But on the whole I prefer Mar to Vege: such treachery to one's flag must surely qualify as misbehaviour? SignatureMike. >>>>> I worry that the Axis is wobbling these days. >>>> [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] >member, who was the spooky guy next door, IIRC. Or perhaps Brother >Bollard will be kind enough to represent the ACT in his stead. Certainly. I had a Vegemite sandwich for brekky today. I have had wisdom teeth removed and my gums are too sore for toast. SignatureRichard Bollard Canberra Australia To email, I'm at AMT not spAMT. >Em deserves his own thread here. Some famous person passes and gets a >thread even though we have no personal knowledge of that person. [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >explain why Shakespeare use "shuffle" there. I can't quite associate >"shuffle" with dying.) My condolences to Laura as well. Having a beloved pet die can be heart-wrenching. As to shuffle, I (without any English training and poor education) think of "shuffling off the mortal coil" as sort of a movemlent, perhaps with feet to rid one's self of something no longer needed. Releasing "shuffle" from its association with feet, I can see a snake shuffling off its old skin. I can't speak for Shakespeare though. Signaturecharles > Em deserves his own thread here. Some famous person passes and gets a > thread even though we have no personal knowledge of that person. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > No one who is a regular reader of aue would have been unable to answer > the question of "What is Laura's cat's name?". Indeed. I am sorry about Em, Laura. SignatureSML |
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