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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2010trod, dinted, sod, printed
I tried it, but there's no heat in the very sod. Mind, I was reusing my own steps (my Master is not available because of the travel difficulties), and I suppose it's possible that I'm not a saint.  SignatureDavid > I tried it, but there's no heat in the very sod. > > Mind, I was reusing my own steps (my Master is not available because of > the travel difficulties), and I suppose it's possible that I'm not a saint. Type of footwear probably has something to do with it, as well as sainthood. The snow here is now too deep for my boots. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) >I tried it, but there's no heat in the very sod. > >Mind, I was reusing my own steps (my Master is not available because of >the travel difficulties), and I suppose it's possible that I'm not a saint. I wouldn't give up on sainthood without further experimentation. You can test it by getting someone else to mark your footsteps and tread in them boldly. And that's another thing: did you tread boldly enough? That may be where you're going wrong. SignatureKaty Jennison spamtrap: remove the first two letters after the @ >> I tried it, but there's no heat in the very sod. >> [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > in them boldly. And that's another thing: did you tread boldly > enough? That may be where you're going wrong. It's not easy to tell without an independent scrutineer - I don't have an objective boldness scale against which to test my tread. Wife also tried treading, where the snow lay dinted (this is appropriate: as a Yorkshirewoman she retains "dint", both noun and verb, in her normal vocabulary), but she complained that my potentially-saintly steps are too widely spaced for her to attempt to tread at all boldly. It's not too bad though - to freeze my blood less coldly, I have relied on British Gas. Fortunately, United Utilities continues to supply water; St Agnes Fountain is proper frozen. Of course, it may be the wrong sort of snow. We couldn't build a snowman this afternoon as it wouldn't clump into a ball. SignatureDavid > It's not too bad though - to freeze my blood less coldly, I have relied on > British Gas. Fortunately, United Utilities continues to supply water; St > Agnes Fountain is proper frozen. > > Of course, it may be the wrong sort of snow. We couldn't build a snowman > this afternoon as it wouldn't clump into a ball. Typical of yon peasants, always moaning. Regards Jonathan >> It's not too bad though - to freeze my blood less coldly, I have relied >> on [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Typical of yon peasants, always moaning. Austrian joke: Q. Why do farmers always buy their children boots that are one size too small? A. So they learn to moan all the time. SignatureLes (BrE) >> It's not too bad though - to freeze my blood less coldly, I have >> relied on British Gas. Fortunately, United Utilities continues to [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Typical of yon peasants, always moaning. A peasant's pretty lucky if he can still moan when he's underneath a mountain. SignatureMike. >>> I tried it, but there's no heat in the very sod. >>> [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] >Of course, it may be the wrong sort of snow. We couldn't build a >snowman this afternoon as it wouldn't clump into a ball. Curious. The snow that fell here is extremely clumpable, perfect for snowballs. The stuff that fell a couple of weeks ago was powdery and wouldn't hold together. To become a saint you'll have to produce a miracle that isn't a product of sufficiently advanced technology. SignatureRobin (BrE) Herts, England > On Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:36:53 GMT, the Omrud > [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > snowballs. The stuff that fell a couple of weeks ago was powdery and > wouldn't hold together. ... Temperature has a lot to do with it. If the air is too cold, compressing the snow won't melt any of it. And I'm sure the snow is more clumpable if it's wet when it falls. There's a good foot and a half of snow at my mother's house and more on the way. Cleveland was behind in snow for the winter, but the lake effect seems to be trying to catch up. -- Jerry Friedman >> On Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:36:53 GMT, the Omrud >> [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] >on the way. Cleveland was behind in snow for the winter, but the lake >effect seems to be trying to catch up. I managed to get out of my drive yesterday, even though it slopes up to the road. On my return I thought I'd better not try to stop and reverse in, in case I got stuck. Unfortunately, today I couldn't reverse out. One disadvantage of living here is that there are no enterprising young people who will offer to clear a drive for money. SignatureRobin (BrE) Herts, England >>> On Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:36:53 GMT, the Omrud >>> [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > reverse out. One disadvantage of living here is that there are no > enterprising young people who will offer to clear a drive for money. None here, either. Our close is completely flat but two different attempts to get cars out of owners' drives have failed. The sun shone brightly all day but very little melted. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) >>> On Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:36:53 GMT, the Omrud >>> [quoted text clipped - 44 lines] >reverse out. One disadvantage of living here is that there are no >enterprising young people who will offer to clear a drive for money. What, in the English usage of your area, is an "enterprising young person"? SignatureRegards, Chuck Riggs, An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE >>>> On Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:36:53 GMT, the Omrud >>>> [quoted text clipped - 47 lines] >What, in the English usage of your area, is an "enterprising young >person"? Someone who would be prepared to work for a short time to clear four inches of snow from 15 yards of drive for, say, two or three times the minimum wage. When I was in my early teens it'd be the sort of thing a couple of you would do for an elderly, disabled neighbour. SignatureRobin (BrE) Herts, England > On Wed, 6 Jan 2010 20:22:22 -0800 (PST), Jerry Friedman > [quoted text clipped - 47 lines] > reverse out. One disadvantage of living here is that there are no > enterprising young people who will offer to clear a drive for money. We could send you some. Sad to say, around here (my mother's house in suburban Cleveland) there are enterprising middle-aged men, in addition to the young men and boys, who offer to clear your driveway for money. An advantage of living here, or a mitigation of a disadvantage, is that you can contract with a company to keep your driveway plowed-ish all winter. That's what Mom does, her shoveling and even snow-blowing days being over. By "plowed-ish" I mean that getting up the driveway may still be fairly difficult (and leaving your car on the street overnight is illegal, especially when there's snow and the streets need to be plowed). "Up the driveway" means toward the house. All the houses in this neighborhood, a pre-World-War-II middle-middle-class development, are above the level of the street, which is supposed to make the houses and front lawns look more impressive. Newer developments here seem to be pretty level, and I've never noticed any special attempt to make the house higher than the street in New Mexico. Driveways that slope down to the house are very unusual in my experience. -- Jerry Friedman [..] >> I managed to get out of my drive yesterday, even though it slopes up >> to the road. On my return I thought I'd better not try to stop and [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >addition to the young men and boys, who offer to clear your driveway >for money. Don't know of any here. >An advantage of living here, or a mitigation of a disadvantage, is >that you can contract with a company to keep your driveway plowed-ish [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >overnight is illegal, especially when there's snow and the streets >need to be plowed). One advantage we have is that we don't have much snow. The disadvantage is that we don't know how to cope with it when it arrives and stays around for more than a day or two (I'm talking about the south-east). It leads to all sorts of thing breaking down. Nobody has had a mail delivery for three days, and the refuse collectors failed to turn up today. Yesterday my wife fell over on the patio and hurt her arm. She got to the doctor by taxi, he sent her to a local clinic for an X-ray, only to find that the technician had gone home at lunchtime because of the snow. Luckily it's just a sprain. >"Up the driveway" means toward the house. All the houses in this >neighborhood, a pre-World-War-II middle-middle-class development, are [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >the house higher than the street in New Mexico. Driveways that slope >down to the house are very unusual in my experience. I can't think offhand of any others. The close is shaped thusly: _________________ | | with 20 houses on the long arm, climbing uphill towards the left and built above the road, and four houses on the short arm, the road level but the houses built below it. I guess the builders followed the lie of the land and didn't want to shift tons of earth to bring our four houses up to road level. SignatureRobin (BrE) Herts, England >One advantage we have is that we don't have much snow. The >disadvantage is that we don't know how to cope with it when it arrives [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >delivery for three days, and the refuse collectors failed to turn up >today. We have snow and subzero (C) temperatures here in NI, but most things seem to be running normally. I was surprised when two orders from Maplin Electronics in England were delivered on time, overnight. They came by first class mail from Rotherham, South Yorkshire. I'm waiting for an delivery of birdseed from Chelmsford, Essex, that is a few days overdue, but I'm not holding my breath. > Yesterday my wife fell over on the patio and hurt her arm. She >got to the doctor by taxi, he sent her to a local clinic for an X-ray, >only to find that the technician had gone home at lunchtime because of >the snow. Luckily it's just a sprain. My son slipped on ice and damaged a bone in his wrist. Fortunately all the hospital services are functioning normally although there is an increase of patients with sprains and fractures. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) On Jan 9, 12:11 am, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> wrote: > I'm waiting for an delivery of birdseed from Chelmsford, Essex, that is > a few days overdue, but I'm not holding my breath. You get birdseed delivered? That's a cue for posh birds, shirley. > My son slipped on ice and damaged a bone in his wrist. Fortunately all > the hospital services are functioning normally although there is an > increase of patients with sprains and fractures. Hope he recovers well and speedily. Speaking of seasonal injuries, I was intrigued to hear from my French teacher that they have a different distribution of injuries in Marseilles on New Year's Eve: a special section of the 'urgences' for hand injuries - due to people cutting themselves opening oysters. He said it was practically an assembly line for those who'd suffered a crustacean attack. He then had to reassure the novice doctor who put in the stitches. So - ahem -- Happy New Year to all, Stephanie tsuidf filted: >On Jan 9, 12:11=A0am, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> >wrote: [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >crustacean attack. He then had to reassure the novice doctor who put >in the stitches. The traditional New Year's mishaps in Japan are choking, constipation, and stroke (from straining due to the constipation)...all three stem from the practice of eating glutinous rice (known as "mochi") to bring good fortune in the coming year....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 Jan 9, 12:11 am, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> >wrote: [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >You get birdseed delivered? That's a cue for posh birds, shirley. Not posh -- wild, and lots of them I feed birds in the garden using 3 seed feeders similar to these: http://www.gardenbird.co.uk/Droll-Yankees-A6-Seed-Feeders/Bird-Food/CC22-M,defau lt,pd.html Those each accommodate 6 birds at a time. I also have 4 peanut feeders similar to this: http://www.gardenbird.co.uk/New-Generation-Nut-Feeder/Bird-Food/CC36-M,default,p d.html Alao I use one, and occasionally two, bird tables. The birds alternate between feeding and waiting on nearby bushes digesting food. Because the move around rapidly it is not easy to count them accurately. This morning I counted a minimum of 25 birds actally on the feeders and estimated a similar number in the bushes. It is certainly possible to buy birdseed from local pet supply stores, but it is cheaper to buy it in 25kg bags via the internet. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) >>On Jan 9, 12:11 am, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> >>wrote: [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] >It is certainly possible to buy birdseed from local pet supply stores, >but it is cheaper to buy it in 25kg bags via the internet. I have two bird feeders in the yard. The real challenge is locating them in such a way that the squirrels can't raid the food supply. They can be rather acrobatic in their pursuit of food. http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f244/cooper213/feeder.jpg SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida >>>On Jan 9, 12:11 am, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> >>>wrote: [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > >http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f244/cooper213/feeder.jpg They can indeed. I had to move one feeder because squirrels were climbing a tree and leaping down on to it from a branch. I now use squirrel baffles on the posts. http://www.peterduncanson.net/snow/snow02.html The baffles also baffle cats. I was finally impelled into fitting baffles when I saw a visiting cat sheltering from the rain under the roof of this bird table. http://www.peterduncanson.net/snow/img/bird%20table.jpg SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) On 09 Jan 2010, Peter Duncanson (BrE) wrote >> I have two bird feeders in the yard. The real challenge is >> locating them in such a way that the squirrels can't raid the [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > I now use squirrel baffles on the posts. > http://www.peterduncanson.net/snow/snow02.html -snip- I know this doesn't have to do with squirrels stealing food, but I see someone's looked into the claim that grey squirrels are actively harming woodland birds in the UK, and decided it ain't so: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_ 8448000/8448807.stm http://tinyurl.com/y86b6rb SignatureCheers, Harvey CanEng and BrEng, indiscriminately mixed >I have two bird feeders in the yard. The real challenge is locating >them in such a way that the squirrels can't raid the food supply. >They can be rather acrobatic in their pursuit of food. > >http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f244/cooper213/feeder.jpg We've had good results from a) mixing a little chilli powder in with the bird seed, and b) mixing a little chilli powder with oil and oiling the chain, string, pole etc up or down which the squirrel climbs. Birds don't react to chilli; squirrels (at least, all the ones that have visited up to now) hate it. SignatureKaty Jennison spamtrap: remove the first two letters after the @ >>I have two bird feeders in the yard. The real challenge is locating >>them in such a way that the squirrels can't raid the food supply. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >climbs. Birds don't react to chilli; squirrels (at least, all the >ones that have visited up to now) hate it. I don't mind feeding the squirrels. I don't like them invading the bird feeders, but I do scatter feed on the ground for the squirrels. They're kind of fun to watch. Squirrels seem to be smarter than we might give them credit for. When I place a bird feeder in a location that I think is safe, within a day or two they find some way to access the feeders. One feeder was hung from the back porch well under the eaves and away from anything they could climb. A couple of days later I watched one hanging upside-down from the eave and then propelling him/herself through the air to the feeder. The first few attempts resulted in falls to the ground, but it finally judged the trajectory correctly and made a safe landing on the feeder. SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida >>>I have two bird feeders in the yard. The real challenge is locating >>>them in such a way that the squirrels can't raid the food supply. [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] >it finally judged the trajectory correctly and made a safe landing on >the feeder. This reminds me of a fascinating couple of TV shows that I saw years ago. Google tells me that these were "Daylight Robbery" and "Daylight Robbery II", on BBC and then on Discovery in 1995. There are clips available. IIRC, the first project started out as a taping of some serious squirrel-proofing efforts, which repeatedly failed across a season. Someone decided to come back the next year ("II") and tape some more fun and games, starring the same clever and highly experienced squirrels. Here's a clip with an obstacle course. http://www.animalintelligence.org/2007/10/12/squirrels-complete-amazing-obstacle -course/ SignatureRich Ulrich > >I feed birds in the garden using 3 seed feeders similar to these: > >http://www.gardenbird.co.uk/Droll-Yankees-A6-Seed-Feeders/Bird-Food/CC22-M,defau lt,pd.html > I have two bird feeders in the yard. The real challenge is locating > them in such a way that the squirrels can't raid the food supply. > They can be rather acrobatic in their pursuit of food. > > http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f244/cooper213/feeder.jpg My three feeders--L to R, sunflower seed, suet, and nyger seed for the goldfinches--on 19 December 2009. http://web.me.com/john.varela/temp/20091219%2002%20Snow.jpg SignatureJohn Varela Trade NEWlamps for OLDlamps for email >On Jan 9, 12:11 am, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> >wrote: [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >You get birdseed delivered? That's a cue for posh birds, shirley. If you're going to take feeding birds during winter seriously you have to buy in bulk or spend a fortune on small packets of seed. We get ours delivered in 15 kg bags from the people who run the pet stall on Hoddesdon market. SignatureRobin (BrE) Herts, England >> On Jan 9, 12:11 am, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> >> wrote: [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > ours delivered in 15 kg bags from the people who run the pet stall on > Hoddesdon market. My father was very fond of watching and feeding wild birds. I once found and bought him a book of bird food recipes, and he got a lot of fun out of concocting special treats from suet and various seeds. He made quite a mess doing it. He bought big sacks of birdseed, stored in a shed because it did tend to attract mice as well as birds. SignatureCheryl > If you're going to take feeding birds during winter seriously you have > to buy in bulk or spend a fortune on small packets of seed. We get > ours delivered in 15 kg bags from the people who run the pet stall on > Hoddesdon market. 15 kg is 33 pounds, right? I buy sunflower seed in 50 pound sacks. SignatureJohn Varela Trade NEWlamps for OLDlamps for email >> On Jan 9, 12:11 am, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)"<m...@peterduncanson.net> >> wrote: [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > ours delivered in 15 kg bags from the people who run the pet stall on > Hoddesdon market. I pick it up in sacks from the local garden centre, although I've no idea how much they weigh. I can easily carry one. I also buy tubs of fat balls (with embedded seeds), about as big as a small bucket. SignatureDavid > One advantage we have is that we don't have much snow. The > disadvantage is that we don't know how to cope with it when it arrives [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > only to find that the technician had gone home at lunchtime because of > the snow. Luckily it's just a sprain. Sorry to hear that. We had post yesterday but no refuse collection this week as all the operatives have been put on to snow clearing in the city centre. Husband managed to get the car out of the drive yesterday and shopped for supplies but he's not going to try again today. We were puzzled by fresh tyre tracks past the house until we learned that our Swedish neighbour changes to winter tyres every year, much to the amusement of the people at the garage where he takes his car for this to be done. >> "Up the driveway" means toward the house. All the houses in this >> neighborhood, a pre-World-War-II middle-middle-class development, are [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > the lie of the land and didn't want to shift tons of earth to bring > our four houses up to road level. I have lived in two such houses. The one in Sheffield was on a very steep hill with a bend in it. We moved into the house in a blizzard and the removers slid the furniture down the sloping drive. Our last house, just around the corner from here, also had a drive sloping down towards the house. In the eleven years that we lived there I never managed to get the car out of the garage, even in good weather, and had to leave it to Husband. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) >One advantage we have is that we don't have much snow. The >disadvantage is that we don't know how to cope with it when it arrives >and stays around for more than a day or two (I'm talking about the >south-east). Here in the north-wet we've had snow since around December 18th. >It leads to all sorts of thing breaking down. Nobody has had a mail >delivery for three days, and the refuse collectors failed to turn up >today. Yesterday my wife fell over on the patio and hurt her arm. She >got to the doctor by taxi, he sent her to a local clinic for an X-ray, >only to find that the technician had gone home at lunchtime because of >the snow. Luckily it's just a sprain. Glad to hear that. Our posties are still working fine, but the bins? Haven't been collected since the 18th. The gritters have stopped doing side roads and are concentrating only on the main routes, which makes my normally short and brisk walk to the station a journey of interest and excitement. I have finally ordered myself some pavement crampons. Things were fine on my cul de sac until yesterday when a water pipe burst. We now have a skating rink at the bottom of the drive. Anyway, where's Mr Eden? I've just read a very interesting chapter about snow in his "Great British Weather Disasters". > Of course, it may be the wrong sort of snow. We couldn't build a > snowman this afternoon as it wouldn't clump into a ball. But elsethread you claim to be a dab hand with a snowball.. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) >> Of course, it may be the wrong sort of snow. We couldn't build a >> snowman this afternoon as it wouldn't clump into a ball. > > But elsethread you claim to be a dab hand with a snowball.. It's true: I am an inconsistent saint. SignatureDavid > Wife also tried treading, where the snow lay dinted (this is > appropriate: as a Yorkshirewoman she retains "dint", both noun and > verb, in her normal vocabulary), What's that about? "Dint" as noun or verb are perfectly normal for me, and I've never been anywhere near Yorkshire. SignatureRegards John for mail: my initials plus a u e at tpg dot com dot au >> Wife also tried treading, where the snow lay dinted (this is >> appropriate: as a Yorkshirewoman she retains "dint", both noun and >> verb, in her normal vocabulary), > > What's that about? "Dint" as noun or verb are perfectly normal for me, > and I've never been anywhere near Yorkshire. I only ever met the word in relation to Wenceslas when I was a youngster in the Midlands. SignatureDavid > I tried it, but there's no heat in the very sod. > > Mind, I was reusing my own steps (my Master is not available because of > the travel difficulties), and I suppose it's possible that I'm not a saint. wine hither, dine thither SignatureJames > I tried it, but there's no heat in the very sod. > > Mind, I was reusing my own steps (my Master is not available because of > the travel difficulties), and I suppose it's possible that I'm not a saint. And it's several days passed the feast of Stephen, and I doubt you were bearing flesh, wine or pine logs thither. Or maybe the rude wind wasn't lamenting wildly enough. >> I tried it, but there's no heat in the very sod. >> [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > were bearing flesh, wine or pine logs thither. Or maybe the rude wind > wasn't lamenting wildly enough. I was bearing flesh - one of our freezers is in the garage, which is not attached to the house. We haven't seen any rude wind these five nights, which is partly why the snow remains, like a good pizza, deep and crisp and even. SignatureDavid |
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