Hi, Anton!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

AH>  Also being pedantic, I think of the businessman in London
AH>  who never opens his neatly furled umbrella because it would
AH>  require so much time & effort to restore the thing to its
AH>  original condition whereas many people around these parts
AH>  don't seem to bother trying.

AS>  Being one of such men, I know what you mean. Luckily, my
AS>  father taught me to furl an umbrella nice and tidy in a
AS>  jiffy, so now I feel a quiet superiority over people I
AS>  meet with poorly furled umbrellas.


           Mine is reasonably neat, but not up to London standards.  :-)



AS>  Even clerks in fashion boutiques can't furl them as well
AS>  as I do!


           On the basis of my own experience, I'm not surprised.  If you hadn't
already acquired this skill I'd recommend consulting the folks at a traditional
haberdashery which offers "men's furnishings" or "gentlemen's apparel"....  :-Q



AH>  I see that my CANADIAN OXFORD defines "furl" as meaning
AH>  "roll up and secure".

AS>  Does really "roll up" an umbrealla?


           I'd say so.  Once closed it can be rolled around the equivalent of a
tent pole... officially known as the "shaft"... and secured by a matching piece
of cloth with snap fasteners or Velcro or whatever on both ends.  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+