Frank, at 19:19 on Jun 11 1995, you wrote to Bill Grimsley...

FM> You don't *have* a barge pole!

BG> Funnily enough, until I sold my boat, I used to.  Not now though, hence my
BG> use of the non-specific "a" instead of the possessive
"my".  Capice?

FM> Wakarimasu.

Oh shit, what the fuck is that, or should I not ask?  Funnily enough, it's
actually easier to pronounce it in reverse!

FM> Or are you boasting again?

BG> Why would I want to do that?  I have no need.  |-)

FM> You're boasting again! :-)

No, not at all, but suffice to say that when I had my vasectomy done a few
years ago, Dr Bayliss asked me to bring my own block and tackle, as his was
completely inadequate for the task at hand.

BG> BTW, I'd be interested in your opinion of the current debacle re my use of
BG> the word "prosaic" in THAT message which Rod has chosen to
attack.  Be nice
BG> though, lest you accidentally offend David Scott, our new resident FRZ.

FM> Already did. I didn't collect mail from Monday to Saturday so quite a
FM> backlog. Killed much of it today, including a reply to that one *before*
FM> I'd seen the comments from many others.

I also killed much mail, but accidentally.  Ergo, I don't have my personal
messages from the last few days with me, so humble apologies in advance for
the 3 week delay which will now ensue.  Only with those ones though.  I'll
reply when I get back home at the end of the month.

FM> Actually *I'm* interested to know whether the Macquarie actually spells
FM> it out as 1. & 2. as you quoted. 

It was transcribed verbatim, directly from the Macquarie.  IOW, that is
precisely how it appeared, and in that specific order.

FM> The COD, while using almost exactly the same words, combines it in one 
FM> meaning which was also my "understanding" of the meaning
of the word before 
FM> this got started - ie, writing in a straightforward, matter-of-fact way in 
FM> the style of prose, rather than with the expression and possible deeper 
FM> meaning in the style of poetry.

Yeah, I thought that must have been how you interpreted it, but that's
quite at odds with the Macquarie's description of the two meanings.

FM> Who is David Scott, and what's an FRZ?

Just another form of arsehole IMO.  Specifically though, it's an acronym
for (F)undamental (R)eligious (Z)ealot.  You know, like Russ and Lew...  :)

Regards, Bill
@EOT:

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