 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion GroupsEnglish UsageBritish EnglishESL Teaching Learnglish.com Contact UsLink To UsSearch & Site Map |
Discussion Groups / English Usage / May 2009Is there a word for it?
This is the growing season for grass here, but my brother was visiting last week so I didn't get around to mowing the lawn. The grass is high and thick. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we had very hard rain. So hard that there's flooding in the area (close, but not my specific neighborhood) and there are newspaper photographs of people approaching their houses by boat. Thursday it cleared, so I started to mow the lawn. The drive belt on my riding lawn mower broke on my first pass around the yard. Today I found out that the place that I would like to take the mower for repair is closed until next Tuesday. (Holiday weekend here) By the time I take in my mower and get it back, I'll need a machete to get through the grass. To add to my misery, our 16+ year-old dog, who had been in failing health, evidently suffered a stroke during the night Saturday, and was alive but completely paralyzed Sunday morning. Instead of a planned outing with my brother, I had to spend Sunday morning finding a place to have her euthanized. What word would describe a situation where something inconvenient happens at the most inconvenient time possible?  SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida > This is the growing season for grass here, but my brother was visiting > last week so I didn't get around to mowing the lawn. The grass is [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > time I take in my mower and get it back, I'll need a machete to get > through the grass. You once told us that you pay a gardener. Fallen on hard times? > To add to my misery, our 16+ year-old dog, who had been in failing > health, evidently suffered a stroke during the night Saturday, and was > alive but completely paralyzed Sunday morning. Instead of a planned > outing with my brother, I had to spend Sunday morning finding a place > to have her euthanized. Sorry to hear about this. We were saying only this evening that we still look around for our cat, who died about 10 years ago. > What word would describe a situation where something inconvenient > happens at the most inconvenient time possible? It's close to Murphy's Law although perhaps not an exact fit. See also "A dropped spanner will fall in the most inconvenient place". Golly. The WikiP page on Murphy's Law lead me to Muphry's Law, which is Skitt's Law in disguise (it has the grace to reference Skitt's Law). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry's_law SignatureDavid >> This is the growing season for grass here, but my brother was visiting >> last week so I didn't get around to mowing the lawn. The grass is [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > >You once told us that you pay a gardener. Fallen on hard times? I don't think I said that. I used to pay for lawn service when I was working full-time, but I bought a riding lawn mower several years ago and have been doing it myself since. I might hire someone for specific outside jobs, but not for lawn service. A "gardener" is quite different here from a lawn service, by way. A lawn service mows the grass, edges, and trims the bushes. Perhaps something else on specific agreement. A gardener would tend to the flowers and plants. I don't think I've ever known anyone here in Florida who employs a gardener. Many who engage lawn services, though. >> What word would describe a situation where something inconvenient >> happens at the most inconvenient time possible? > >It's close to Murphy's Law although perhaps not an exact fit. See also >"A dropped spanner will fall in the most inconvenient place". Murphy's Law is too general for what I have in mind. Murphy's Law, in my mind, has to do with ordinary events that go wrong in the normal course of things. The events above have more to do with *when* they occurred. >Golly. The WikiP page on Murphy's Law lead me to Muphry's Law, which is >Skitt's Law in disguise (it has the grace to reference Skitt's Law). >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry's_law SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida >>> This is the growing season for grass here, but my brother was visiting >>> last week so I didn't get around to mowing the lawn. The grass is [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > Florida who employs a gardener. Many who engage lawn services, > though. Yes, sorry, I meant "pay a gardener to cut your grass". Maybe you told us about it when you were still working full time. SignatureDavid >>> You once told us that you pay a gardener. Fallen on hard times? >> [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >Yes, sorry, I meant "pay a gardener to cut your grass". Maybe you told >us about it when you were still working full time. I said I haven't known any in Florida who employ a gardener, but I do know some people in California that do. They have houses with no lawns, but have extensive vegetation. Plants and flowers. Their gardeners are the once-a-week types, but they are referred to as "gardeners" and not "lawn service people". Further on these pondial definitions, an American might employ a landscaper. Not on a regular basis, but a landscaper is one who adds to your yard. (We've done yard vs garden) If you wanted to add plants or flowers more extensively than by just digging some holes and popping some in, you'd hire a firm to prepare a plan, sell you the plantings, and put them in. Once the plantings are established, the landscaper's job is done. We do have a company that comes by once every two or three months and sprays our yard with fertilizer and/or insect control chemicals. I could do that myself, I suppose, but there are so many different seasonal applications that I choose to have it done. I never know when I'm supposed to spray for chinch bugs or simply fertilize, and I don't want to keep all those various products on hand. SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida >>>> You once told us that you pay a gardener. Fallen on hard times? >>> I don't think I said that. I used to pay for lawn service when I was [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > plantings, and put them in. Once the plantings are established, the > landscaper's job is done. We call them "landscape gardeners". To my ears, a "landscaper" would be working on a much larger canvas such as land disturbed by the building of a new road or industrial estate. > We do have a company that comes by once every two or three months and > sprays our yard with fertilizer and/or insect control chemicals. I > could do that myself, I suppose, but there are so many different > seasonal applications that I choose to have it done. I never know > when I'm supposed to spray for chinch bugs or simply fertilize, and I > don't want to keep all those various products on hand. "Yard" being "lawn". Yes, we get adverts for companies like that stuffed through our door all Spring. SignatureDavid >> We do have a company that comes by once every two or three months and >> sprays our yard with fertilizer and/or insect control chemicals. I [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > "Yard" being "lawn". Yes, we get adverts for companies like that > stuffed through our door all Spring. Going by the "so many seasonal applications", I would say that Tony's "yard" (like mine) includes bushes, flowers, trees, vines, shrubs, and/or ground cover. SignatureEvan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------ HP Laboratories |I believe there are more instances 1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |of the abridgment of the freedom of Palo Alto, CA 94304 |the people by gradual and silent |encroachments of those in power kirshenbaum@hpl.hp.com |than by violent and sudden (650)857-7572 |usurpations. | James Madison http://www.kirshenbaum.net/ >>> We do have a company that comes by once every two or three months and >>> sprays our yard with fertilizer and/or insect control chemicals. I [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >"yard" (like mine) includes bushes, flowers, trees, vines, shrubs, >and/or ground cover. My yard does include those things, but the service treats only the grass. The "seasonal applications" refers to chemicals added at times of the year when certain insects are vulnerable to spraying and certain types of weeds emerge. He also treats specific problems. He added some lime to a few areas a while back, but does not do this on all visits. We've done "yard" in the AmE sense, but - just to reiterate - it is all areas of the property not under the house structure. One corner of the lot is a stand of trees without any grass. That's part of the yard. The "lawn" is just the grass area. I do not have a garden. I have some areas that are planted with flowers, but they are not large enough to be considered a flower garden. They are just planting areas. That heavy rain I referred to in my earlier post is back. It's been raining steadily for the past two days. The pool is over-flowing and the chlorinated water that is running off the deck will kill some of the plantings I have around the pool enclosure. I'm running the pump on discharge - pumping the excess water out into the street - but the rain is ahead of the pump. SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida > On Sat, 23 May 2009 07:46:25 -0700, Evan Kirshenbaum > [quoted text clipped - 39 lines] > -- > Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida Wikipedia's definition of -garden- might interest you http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden >> On Sat, 23 May 2009 07:46:25 -0700, Evan Kirshenbaum >> [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] >Wikipedia's definition of -garden- might interest you >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden That includes: The term "garden" in British English refers to an enclosed area of land, usually adjoining a building. This would be referred to as a yard in American English. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) >That includes: > > The term "garden" in British English refers to an enclosed area of > land, usually adjoining a building. This would be referred to as a > yard in American English. Is that "enclosed" really necessary to make it a "garden"? SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida >>That includes: >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >Is that "enclosed" really necessary to make it a "garden"? No. I think I would use "defined" in place of "enclosed". SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) > Further on these pondial definitions, an American might employ a > landscaper. Not on a regular basis, but a landscaper is one who adds [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > plantings, and put them in. Once the plantings are established, the > landscaper's job is done. Maybe it's just pretension, but most of the "landscape" firms I have known have mostly mowed lawns. --Jeff SignatureThe comfort of the wealthy has always depended upon an abundant supply of the poor. --Voltaire >> Further on these pondial definitions, an American might employ a >> landscaper. Not on a regular basis, but a landscaper is one who [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > --Jeff Practically all the thousand or so undocumented workers so employed who I interviewed began by describing their job as "lanscapeen", and eventually settled on "yardas" as what they did and where they did it. I can't now remember if I asked and was told a Mexican word or phrase equivalent to those. When I do similar tasks on my own property I call it "grooming the estate". Another common "job" was "re-psycho", which I took to mean collecting cans and bottles for the California recycle value (CRV). SignatureFrank ess ... > >> What word would describe a situation where something inconvenient > >> happens at the most inconvenient time possible? [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > course of things. The events above have more to do with *when* they > occurred. ... One version of Murphy's Law is, "Anything that can go wrong will--and at the worst possible time." Wikipedia calls this Finagle's Law, but I thought Finagle's Law was "Inanimate objects are out to get us." -- Jerry Friedman In message <87c8ff2f-2bde-4108-b152-745f737d4679@3g2000yqk.googlegroups.com>, Jerry Friedman <jerry_friedman@yahoo.com> writes >... > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >at the worst possible time." Wikipedia calls this Finagle's Law, but >I thought Finagle's Law was "Inanimate objects are out to get us." There's a couple of Follett laws which I've used in novels: 'Sleeping cat on a duvet trebles in weight.' 'If you understand a technology it's out of date.' I thought laws which weren't real laws were not capitalised. Bode's law; Skitt's law. Titus-Bode's law was a remarkable coincidence. SignatureJames Follett. Novelist. (G1LXP) http://www.jamesfollett.dswilliams.co.uk http://www.pbase.com/jamesfollett [...] > 'If you understand a technology it's out of date.' This one is absolutely fabulous! {{{applause}}} > [...] > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > {{{applause}}} You wouldn't be able to properly design a trireme either, Jan > This is the growing season for grass here, but my brother was > visiting last week so I didn't get around to mowing the lawn. The > grass is high and thick. > Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we had very hard rain. So hard that > there's flooding in the area (close, but not my specific > neighborhood) and there are newspaper photographs of people > approaching their houses by boat. > Thursday it cleared, so I started to mow the lawn. The drive belt > on my riding lawn mower broke on my first pass around the yard. > Today I found out that the place that I would like to take the > mower for repair is closed until next Tuesday. (Holiday weekend > here) By the time I take in my mower and get it back, I'll need a > machete to get through the grass. > To add to my misery, our 16+ year-old dog, who had been in failing > health, evidently suffered a stroke during the night Saturday, and > was alive but completely paralyzed Sunday morning. Instead of a > planned outing with my brother, I had to spend Sunday morning > finding a place to have her euthanized. I'm very sorry to hear about your dog. What was her name? When I've had to have one of my dogs put down, I've always just gone to the same vet who had treated them and given them their shots. Don't Florida vets routinely offer that unhappy service? > What word would describe a situation where something inconvenient > happens at the most inconvenient time possible? Life, you mean. >> This is the growing season for grass here, but my brother was >> visiting last week so I didn't get around to mowing the lawn. The [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] >vet who had treated them and given them their shots. Don't Florida >vets routinely offer that unhappy service? Yes, but this was Sunday morning. The regular vet is not open on weekends. Considering that "Lady" was not able to move at all, I did not want to wait until Monday. I found an emergency pet clinic - open weekends - that handled the arrangements. Lady's name was inherited from her previous owner. She was young, but not a puppy, when we got her. She was a product of a divorcing family. >> What word would describe a situation where something inconvenient >> happens at the most inconvenient time possible? > >Life, you mean. SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida [jungle] >>> To add to my misery, our 16+ year-old dog, who had been in failing >>> health, evidently suffered a stroke during the night Saturday, and >>> was alive but completely paralyzed Sunday morning. Instead of a >>> planned outing with my brother, I had to spend Sunday morning >>> finding a place to have her euthanized. >> I'm very sorry to hear about your dog. What was her name? When >> I've had to have one of my dogs put down, I've always just gone to >> the same vet who had treated them and given them their shots. >> Don't Florida vets routinely offer that unhappy service? > Yes, but this was Sunday morning. The regular vet is not open on > weekends. Considering that "Lady" was not able to move at all, I > did not want to wait until Monday. I found an emergency pet clinic > - open weekends - that handled the arrangements. > Lady's name was inherited from her previous owner. She was young, > but not a puppy, when we got her. She was a product of a divorcing > family. Ah. Not something that would come up for me: the vet I go to is affiliated with a clinic that stays open 24/7. Surviving to sixteen means having had a good life, I think. >>> What word would describe a situation where something inconvenient >>> happens at the most inconvenient time possible? >> Life, you mean. >>> I'm very sorry to hear about your dog. What was her name? When >>> I've had to have one of my dogs put down, I've always just gone to [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >affiliated with a clinic that stays open 24/7. Surviving to sixteen >means having had a good life, I think. I have not checked, but I assume if you call my vet after hours that you are referred to one of the two or three emergency pet clinics. I wasn't really thinking clearly and pored through the listings in the Yellow Pages. The place we went to is a regular vet's office that is staffed 24/7. SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida > This is the growing season for grass here, but my brother was visiting > last week so I didn't get around to mowing the lawn. The grass is [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > What word would describe a situation where something inconvenient > happens at the most inconvenient time possible? Karma. aAnd calling the demise of dear old Fido an inconvenience is cold. > What word would describe a situation where something inconvenient > happens at the most inconvenient time possible? Life Signature"Get hip to the consultation of the boolawee." - P.J. Proby MC filted: >> What word would describe a situation where something inconvenient >> happens at the most inconvenient time possible? Irony.... >Life No, that's what happens while you're busy making other plans....r SignatureA pessimist sees the glass as half empty. An optometrist asks whether you see the glass more full like this?...or like this? On 22 May 2009, tony cooper wrote > This is the growing season for grass here, but my brother was > visiting last week so I didn't get around to mowing the lawn. [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > What word would describe a situation where something > inconvenient happens at the most inconvenient time possible? One damn thing after another. SignatureCheers, Harvey CanEng and BrEng, indiscriminately mixed > What word would describe a situation where something inconvenient > happens at the most inconvenient time possible? In BrE that's definitely Sod's Law. > This is the growing season for grass here, but my brother was visiting > last week so I didn't get around to mowing the lawn. � The grass is [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > outing with my brother, I had to spend Sunday morning finding a place > to have her euthanized. Sorry about Lady. > What word would describe a situation where something inconvenient > happens at the most inconvenient time possible? � I call a general inconvenient timing "inoportune". But in Lady's particular situation I'd say that "timing sucks" or even "life stinks" > This is the growing season for grass here, but my brother was visiting > last week so I didn't get around to mowing the lawn. The grass is [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > outing with my brother, I had to spend Sunday morning finding a place > to have her euthanized. Tony, I am so sorry to hear about your dog. I hope you found a kind vet. I still expect Em to be in all his usual places: I found a stray whisker just now in the paper tray where he used to sleep. > What word would describe a situation where something inconvenient > happens at the most inconvenient time possible? Heaping Pelion on Ossa? SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) > > This is the growing season for grass here, but my brother was visiting > > last week so I didn't get around to mowing the lawn. � The grass is [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > I still expect Em to be in all his usual places: I found a stray whisker > just now in the paper tray where he used to sleep. I find this to be one of the most painful things with departed humans and pets alike. I received a letter from my dad two days after his funeral. Of course he mailed it before he joined his ancestors. >I find this to be one of the most painful things with departed humans >and pets alike. >I received a letter from my dad two days after his funeral. Of course >he mailed it before he joined his ancestors. Years ago, the radio program "Thistle and Shamrock" was carried by a radio station where my mother lived, but not by a radio station local to me. Every Sunday night she would tape the broadcast and mail it to me. (This was before internet streaming) She also recorded some personal telephone calls for various reasons. She wasn't diligent in labeling them, though. I still have the cassettes, and sometimes pop them in the car tape player. It always startles me when what I hear is my mother having a telephone conversation instead of Fiona's voice. SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida > This is the growing season for grass here, but my brother was visiting > last week so I didn't get around to mowing the lawn. The grass is [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > time I take in my mower and get it back, I'll need a machete to get > through the grass. A friend with similar problems tells me a finger bar mower is what you need. Like in <http://www.sth.ie/gardening.htm> What's the thing called in American? finger bar mower, sickle bar mower, scythe bar mower, just bar mower, or yet something else? Jan >> This is the growing season for grass here, but my brother was visiting >> last week so I didn't get around to mowing the lawn. The grass is [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >finger bar mower, sickle bar mower, scythe bar mower, >just bar mower, or yet something else? I don't know. I've never seen one or heard about one before. When I get my mower back, I'll struggle with the first path (a full cut), and then overlap about 25% with the remaining cuts. SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida [snip] > When I get my mower back, I'll struggle with the first path (a full > cut), and then overlap about 25% with the remaining cuts. Start at the sidewalk or streetside with a first cut of 50% or 66% and work toward any structure/s. It will reduce any overload of the belting of the cutter deck. >[snip] > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >toward any structure/s. It will reduce any overload of the belting of the >cutter deck. That's really what I meant above. There's a curb that runs along the front and side of my property (I live on a corner), so the first cut has to be a full cut. No sidewalk. SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida [snip] > What word would describe a situation where something inconvenient > happens at the most inconvenient time possible? "sh.t happens." Quoth "Rambler III" <RamblerIII@xyz.net>, and I quote: >[snip] > >> What word would describe a situation where something inconvenient >> happens at the most inconvenient time possible? > >"sh.t happens." I make that two words. If you want to put the idea into a single word it would have to be a new coinage like "cacoccurrence" or "merdevent". SignatureJames > Quoth "Rambler III" <RamblerIII@xyz.net>, and I quote: > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > word it would have to be a new coinage like "cacoccurrence" or > "merdevent". "sh.t happens." Quoth "Rambler III" <RamblerIII@xyz.net>, and I quote: >> Quoth "Rambler III" <RamblerIII@xyz.net>, and I quote: >> [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > >"sh.t happens." I make that two words. If you want to put the idea into a single word it would have to be a new coinage like "cacoccurrence" or "merdevent". Sorry, I thought this was the continental version. SignatureJames What James Hogg tells you two times is true: > Quoth "Rambler III" <RamblerIII@xyz.net>, and I quote: >>> Quoth "Rambler III" <RamblerIII@xyz.net>, and I quote: >>>> [snip] >>>>> What word would describe a situation where something >>>>> inconvenient happens at the most inconvenient time possible? >>>>> -- >>>>> Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida >>>> "sh.t happens." >>> I make that two words. If you want to put the idea into a single >>> word it would have to be a new coinage like "cacoccurrence" or >>> "merdevent". >>> -- >>> James >> "sh.t happens." > I make that two words. If you want to put the idea into a single > word it would have to be a new coinage like "cacoccurrence" or > "merdevent". > Sorry, I thought this was the continental version. The continental version would be "coprophany". Fain, that is. > Quoth "Rambler III" <RamblerIII@xyz.net>, and I quote: > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Sorry, I thought this was the continental version. The second "sh.t happens" describes the use of first "sh.t happens" in response to the original request for "a word". French: c'est la vie German: Scheisse! / Schiet! / Dumm gelaufen! / So ist das Leben! / Es sheiss gemachen / Sudi vaga / So ein Scheissdreck! "The thing is, the phrase has an implied meaning in English which doesn't come across when you choose a similar phrase in another language. There's a big difference between saying 'sh.t happens' and just saying 'Oh, sh.t!' The former phrase implies a kind of stoicism; we're saying that we're resigned to the fact that bad stuff can happen even to good people (like ourselves). So Hamburger's "Sheisse" doesn't really mean the same thing, doesn't get that sentiment across." farmerman Latvian: Sudi vaga "which literally means '[there's] sh.t in the farrow.' But it means that we're in real doo-doo, and should probably do something about it. It doesn't carry that stoic connotation of 'sh.t happens.'" farmerman Dutch: "'niets aan te doen' (roughly: nothing you can do about it). Or: 'zo is het nou eenmaal' (that's just how it is). But those are more equivalents of 'what can you do? than of the more direct 'sh.t happens'." dagmaraka Spanish: La mierda sucede Mexican Spanish: Ni pedo Slovokia: Na Slovensku je to tak... Hindi: Kyah karoo? Cantonese: Mo pan phat Latin: stercus accidit Russian: Excetera says "There's quite a number of phrases. I'll list some of them, in order of expressivity." ??? ????????! ??? ??????! ??? ?????! ??? ?????! ??? ?????! "While being asked questions by an excited fan, Forrest steps in a pile of dog feces. The fan tells Forrest he had just stepped in a big pile of sh.t, to which Gump replies, 'It happens.' to which the fan replies, 'What, sh.t?' In the film, this incident inspires that fan to create the 'sh.t happens' slogan, shown in the form of a bumper sticker on a pickup truck that enters an intersection and gets T-boned." Wikipedia I have been unable to discover a word that expresses the negativity of "sh.t happens." Well, as Clotho the spinner, Lechesis the measurer, and Atropos the cutter would say, "That's life!" Quoth "Rambler III" <RamblerIII@xyz.net>, and I quote: >> Quoth "Rambler III" <RamblerIII@xyz.net>, and I quote: >> [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] >The second "sh.t happens" describes the use of first "sh.t happens" in >response to the original request for "a word". I suspected that was your meaning, but that didn't stop me from being flippant. SignatureJames |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2012 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.