English as she is spoked

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John of Aix - 27 Oct 2005 19:42 GMT

From the Chigago Times today (concerning Harriet Miers)

"I don't think it was a lifelong ambition that she had harbored for many
years," Durbin said.

Doesn't 'lifelong' mean throughout one's life? Apparently not in
Chicago.

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John Briggs - 27 Oct 2005 20:05 GMT

> From the Chigago Times today (concerning Harriet Miers)
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Doesn't 'lifelong' mean throughout one's life? Apparently not in
> Chicago.

It's probably 10 years. I remember seeing a programme about university
fundraising. I think it was a US university which said that a certain sum
would mean that a building could be named after you in perpetuity. "How
long is perpetuity?" queried one potential donor. "20 years," was the
answer!

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John Briggs

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Phil C. - 27 Oct 2005 21:22 GMT

>> From the Chigago Times today (concerning Harriet Miers)
>>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>long is perpetuity?" queried one potential donor. "20 years," was the
>answer!

That's about the same as "life imprisonment" isn't it?

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Phil C.

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Molly Mockford - 27 Oct 2005 22:07 GMT

At 21:22:42 on Thu, 27 Oct 2005, Phil C. <philstoxicwaste@fsmail.net>
wrote in <bmd2m1166otb2vcq6ee0b1m5710kmcqgvo@4ax.com>:

>>> Doesn't 'lifelong' mean throughout one's life? Apparently not in
>>> Chicago.
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
>That's about the same as "life imprisonment" isn't it?

New vicar (to elderly farmer): "And have you lived in this village all
your life?"

Elderly farmer: "Not yet."

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Molly Mockford
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety - Benjamin Franklin
(My Reply-To address *is* valid, though may not remain so for ever.)

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Erick Andrews - 28 Oct 2005 00:31 GMT

<snip>

> New vicar (to elderly farmer): "And have you lived in this village all
> your life?"
>
> Elderly farmer: "Not yet."

That's precious!

It reminds me of the old New England, yankee farmer, who went to
Texas to visit a rancher, maybe a hundred years ago --

Texan: 'My farm is so big it takes me a whole day to drive around it.'

Yankee farmer: 'Yep, I used to have a car like that myself.'

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Erick Andrews
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Molly Mockford - 28 Oct 2005 07:47 GMT

At 23:31:00 on Thu, 27 Oct 2005, Erick Andrews <eandrews@bogusstar.net>
wrote in <sGi8lzkop2Rq-pn2-pgUcx4DVy7qZ@HAL9000>:

><snip>
>
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
>Yankee farmer: 'Yep, I used to have a car like that myself.'

Ah well, since we're doing this sort of thing:

New vicar to elderly villager: "I must say, Amos, between you and the
Lord, you've made a pretty good job of that garden."

Amos: "Ay, vicar, but you should have seen the state it was in when the
Lord did it all himself."

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Erick Andrews - 29 Oct 2005 02:29 GMT

> At 23:31:00 on Thu, 27 Oct 2005, Erick Andrews <eandrews@bogusstar.net>
> wrote in <sGi8lzkop2Rq-pn2-pgUcx4DVy7qZ@HAL9000>:
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> Amos: "Ay, vicar, but you should have seen the state it was in when the
> Lord did it all himself."

Thanks!

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Erick Andrews
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Discussion Groups / British English / October 2005

English as she is spoked