G'Day Mike,

On 15-04-95, Mike Bilow said to Ian Timms the following :

 IT>> I knew VioWrtTTY was a furphy for some reason. ;-) 

 MB> What is a "furphy?"

Normally it means a rumour, or a lie.  But it can mean that something
promised to be something, and turned out that is wasn't. [red herring?]

 IT>>  Internet:itimms{at}ariel.ucs.unimelb.edu.au

 MB> Maybe I don't want to know...

:-)  Now you've done it, I'm going to tell you the whole story.

It comes from 'John Furphy' who was a manufacturer of water and sanitation
carts, during the First World War, people (note I didn't say women
) would gather around them and spread gossip.  It was mainly used
in Victoria, where the carts were produced and used.

There you have it :-)

[in his best New York accent] 'Have a nice day'  

Regards,


       Jason Meaden
       - TeamOS/2

--- FleetStreet 1.03 #18