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Chuck Riggs
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 Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 7:43 pm Post subject: Re: Hopefully, someone can settle this family argument! |
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On 23 Jul 2008 12:56:35 -0700, R H Draney <dadoctah@spamcop.net>
wrote:
[quote]Brian M. Scott filted:
On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:47:51 -0700 (PDT), "Peter T. Daniels"
grammatim@verizon.net> wrote in
news:b794b97e-5f5b-4822-8e34-5595bc74ee88@27g2000hsf.googlegroups.com
in sci.lang,alt.usage.english:
On Jul 22, 3:41 pm, Nathan Sanders <nsand...@williams.edu> wrote:
I>m beginning to suspect you>re just pulling my chain now. Given you
already claimed not to have serious discussions, this seems like the
safest explanation.
Yanking my chain, surely? as opposed to pulling my leg?
What>s mildly interesting is that while 'pulling my chain'
will probably be interpreted correctly as 'yanking my
chain', 'yanking my leg' is just puzzling.
It>s used when people want to push your buttons....r
[/quote]
Which became popular how many years after people were pulling other
people>s chains? Thirty? Forty, maybe?
--
Regards,
Chuck Riggs
Near Dublin, Ireland |
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Peter T. Daniels
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| Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 9:22 pm Post subject: Re: Hopefully, someone can settle this family argument! |
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On Jul 24, 10:38 am, Chuck Riggs <chri...@eircom.net> wrote:
[quote]On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:59:19 -0400, "Maria C." <non...@sbcglobal.net
wrote:
Peter T. Daniels wrote:
How deprived that you never saw a 19th-century tenement toilet!...
Deprived? Maybe not. I recall having to use the ever-popular "outhouse"
on occasion. Now there>s a rich experience. Surely the sight of tenement
toilets can>t compare.
....The
tank was mounted near the ceiling, the chain opened the valve, and the
water flushed the bowl. It made efficient use of gravity.
Actually, I>ve seen pictures, and I>ve wondered if the tanks ever fall
on someone.
The things women worry about...
[/quote]
Well, water is heavy! |
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Purl Gurl
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| Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 9:58 pm Post subject: Re: Hopefully, someone can settle this family argument! |
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Skitt wrote:
[quote]Maria C. wrote:
Brian M. Scott wrote:
Peter T. Daniels wrote:
Nathan Sanders wrote:
I>m beginning to suspect you>re just pulling my chain now. Given
Yanking my chain, surely? as opposed to pulling my leg?
What>s mildly interesting is that while 'pulling my chain'
"Pulling my chain" is the phrase I use (though seldom). I>ve heard
Note: Without looking it up, I>d say that "pulling my chain" could be
related somehow to toilets which have chains to pull for flushing.
(I>ve only heard about those toilets; ignore this if what I>ve heard
is just a myth.)
We had one of those back in the 'thirties in Riga.
[/quote]
Chain yanking, reminds me of yet another story.
Most of you know, least in AUE, we own a lot of rental homes.
This is a good source of income but a price is often paid.
We have one rental we call the "Sewer Home" as a term of
loving endearment. This is a home which gave us sewer line
fits for a month and a half.
On a Sunday morning, a phone call from the Sewer Home,
"My toilet is overflowing!" Ok, ok, we know the routine,
go over to Home Depot, rent an expensive and heavy rooter
along with a couple pairs of throwaway leather gloves.
Ever operate an industrial rooter? I would need to resort
to ample cussing to best describe running a rooter snake
down into a sewer line, which always sets free the ageless
"Black Slime Monster" who delights in spinning off black
sludge, excrement and other nasties upon your hair, face,
teeth and clothes. I have never found throwaway faces at
our local Home Depot. Our clothes, we can throw away. No way
will I run crap and sludge laden clothes through my laundry.
We fight with the Black Slime Monster and eventually clear
the sewer line, about fifty feet out from our rental.
Following Sunday morning, "My toilet is overflowing!"
Same routine, do battle with the Black Slime Monster.
Next Sunday morning, "My toilet is overflowing!"
This time, a significant amount of cuss words are
heard around our peaceful Sunday morning household.
Nonetheless, we again defeat the Black Slime Monster.
Yet again, following week, Sunday morning phone call,
"My toilet is overflowing!"
This time I unpack my childhood bow and arrows, check
all over, ready to use and deadly as always. Slinging
my quiver, my husband stumbles into me, "What are you
doing?" I explain, "Sewer Home. I am going to kill that
(many cuss words) tenant of ours."
"Well, now, Taha, this ain>t Oklahoma. We can>t be killing
folks out here in California." I ask, "Why not?"
He sweet talks me into calling a professional plumber and
to be sure this plumber has a video camera on a snake.
Ok, only an extra $200 to have a plumber out on a Sunday.
We have already spent that much on Home Depot rooter rent
over the past several Sundays.
We meet with the plumber who is unloading a rooter the
size of a concrete truck. We help him unload a computer,
a television screen, a radio transceiver and equipment
fit for a CIA spook operation.
He runs his rooter which has a snake as thick as my arm.
The sewer line clears, water flows through. We are watching
all this on a television screen through his video camera
which is chasing along behind his cutting snake. Pretty cool,
living color, high definition, even a distance reading down
to the inch. Suddenly a huge gray colored mass appears,
"Is that Moby Dick?" I ask. Plumber tells us he will snag
it and work at retrieval. Eventually, from 75 feet 3 inches
out, he pulls out this wad of whatever. Paper towels,
Brawny brand paper towels which never fall apart when wet.
Great brand, certainly long lasting, use them at home.
My husband chases after me as I leave in a hurry, "Where
yall going?" I pause, "I>m going home to fetch my bow and
arrows, the boy is too big and strong for me to choke to
death with my bare hands."
A bit about romance. The boy is ok while his girlfriend
lives with him. However, his girl has had enough of him
and leaves him a couple of months back. Of course, he
reverts to his instinctive Neandertal Man White Trash
behaviors without the guiding hand of the fairer sex.
My husband talks with this caveman while keeping himself
between me and the asswipe Neandertal, "Why did you flush
paper towels down the toilet?" This ignorant apeman explains,
"I ran out of toilet paper so I used paper towels."
I watch my husband feel of his pocket to make sure he has
our truck keys so I cannot leave to fetch my bow and arrows.
All works out ok. At home, we shower together, take turns
scrubbing off black freckle Al Jolson makeup. I am miffed
but calming down after the plumber charged us $575 to give
our Sewer Home sewer lines a good cleaning and inspection.
This Sunday afternoon, I fill out eviction papers. Sixty
days later, no more monkey boy living in our Sewer Home.
But wait! There is more.
We invest a lot of work and money into our Sewer Home for
equity value growth. New tile floors, paint, new bathtub,
new toilet, vanity, sink, carpet, baseboards, lots and lots
of hard work and money. Our Sewer Home is primo.
This time, I rent to three girls, all graduates of a local
Baptist college, all single and all Jesus Freaks. I figure
with blessing like this, nothing can go wrong, certainly
with all three having career type employment.
They move in on a Sunday. I fail to recognize this ominous
warning of a Sunday move-in. Sunday is sewer line day.
Tuesday morning, about six, "My girlfriend is taking a
shower and the bathtub and toilet are overflowing water.
What should we do?"
Within my empty head, there is a sudden hot fullness of
an atomic bomb detonating, "Well, yall get in there and
tell her to turn off the shower, right now." I listen to
her through her cell phone, "Turn off the shower!"
I mean, you are standing knee deep in bathtub water coming
over the tub edge and the toilet is an artesian well and
not enough common sense enough to turn off the water?
Praise the Lord. There goes our fresh tile floor, our oak
vanity, our baseboards, our carpet....
My husband catches me again dusting off my bow and arrows.
He wants to know, "Well, I figure there are three girls
over there. I can only choke one to death, the other two
will take off running. I need my bow and arrows to be sure
I can kill all three, even if on the run."
Ok, ok, Home Depot, drop the credit card, load a two ton
rooter, drive over to the rental and cuss. Only change this
time, this is a Tuesday morning not a Sunday morning.
I walk into our rental to have a look at the damage. The girls
are all off to work. My God! I count them all. 10,563 knickknacks.
Statues of angels, praying hands, crucifixes, candles, hand
woven Biblical sayings, Bibles, paintings of the Virgin Mother,
lots of candle holders which look suspiciously Jewish. Our
Sewer Home has been rendered the Vatican, but Baptist style.
I cover my bra-less nipples with one arm, place a hand over my
big butt, figuring a bolt of lightning will strike me at any
moment with my being a very sinful pagan Indian. I don>t believe
in this Anglican god, but you never know.
Damage is minor. We spend literally all day working, sweating,
cussing, trying to clear the sewer line. Something big and
powerful is in there; the Black Slime Monster. Remove the toilet,
snake becomes stuck, takes an hour or two to pull the snake back
out. Through an outside clean-out fitting, snake tangles up on
something, pulled out, cutting tips are snapped off.
About the time those Jesus Freaks return home from work, we are
both tugging and pulling on our snake; we caught something. Rooter
is going round and round, snake is spinning, we are both pulling
on this snake trying to free its head from the Black Slime Monster.
Explosively, the snake head flies out of the clean-out fitting.
We are spin plastered with black slime, crap and whatever.
Captured by our snake head, there is a Q-tip. No, not a literal
Johnson & Johnson Q-tip. This one is a foot long, six inches
thick and spun wound like a wet roll of toilet paper. I see
a string hanging down.
This is the second time this year I enjoy an atomic bomb detonating
inside my vacant head. Husband looks and looks and finally asks,
"What in tarnations is that?"
"Tampons, a big wad of God damn tampons." I stomp off.
He hollers, "Now, Taha, don>t go killing those girls." I don>t plan
to, not right off. This will be a slow and painful killing for them.
Marching those girls outside, out back, each is shackled, hands and
feet, lead rope looped around their necks, "You girls see that," I point
to the wad held by our snake head, "those are God damn (cuss words)
tampons from your (cuss words) bloody (cuss words, female body part)
you (cuss words) flushed down our brand new (cuss words) toilet. How
could you be so (cuss words) stupid, you airheaded (cuss words) bimbos.
I should choke each of you to death on (cuss words) cold mash potatoes."
Two of the girls cross themselves, the other asks, "Cold mash potatoes?"
I am furious, "Ain>t you ever choked on cold mash potatoes, you dimwit...."
My husband cuts me off, "Ladies, nothing to worry and fret over. I am
sure you were unaware flushing feminine hygiene products down a toilet
will clog a sewer line. Please avoid doing this in the future."
Oh, he is so eloquent in speech when speaking to girls, to ladies,
especially three young heavenly pretty girls with high moral values
who are so easily seduced by a silver tongued devil. That>s my husband.
Couple of hours, we have reset the toilet, scrubbed the walls, washed
down the filthy sewer water from the tub, mopped up water for our
brand new carpet and all that.
I notice all those thousands of angels, Virgin Mothers, even Jesus,
have turned red in the face with embarrassment with hearing so damn
many cuss words in my native tongue, Choctaw. Never dawned on me
God and His crew understand Choctaw. My husband won>t allow me to
vent in English but allows me to vent in Choctaw. Sometimes he
winces with my words; he is fluent in Choctaw.
After a Home Depot return of our rooter snake, my husband makes
our communal showering much fun, delicious fun.
I am settled down, in a good mood again, and take to admiring
some small gifts those three Jesus Freaks gave us to take home.
Right nice of them to give of themselves, for our pleasure.
Some of our little treasures from the girls I brought home,
http://www.purlgurl.net/aue/aue_rag.jpg
--
Purl Gurl
--
So many are stumped by what slips right off the top of my mind
like a man>s bad fitting hairpiece. |
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Mike Page
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 10:24 pm Post subject: Re: Hopefully, someone can settle this family argument! |
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Peter T. Daniels wrote:
[quote]On Jul 24, 9:40 am, Fred Springer <fred.sprin...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
Mike Page wrote:
K. Edgcombe wrote:
In article
b32ffab9-4821-47bb-bfae-13bee85d3...@d1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>,
Peter T. Daniels <gramma...@verizon.net> wrote:
On Jul 23, 2:43 pm, "Maria C." <non...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Note: Without looking it up, I>d say that "pulling my chain" could be
related somehow to toilets which have chains to pull for flushing.
(I>ve
only heard about those toilets; ignore this if what I>ve heard is
just a
myth.)
How deprived that you never saw a 19th-century tenement toilet! The
tank was mounted near the ceiling, the chain opened the valve, and the
water flushed the bowl. It made efficient use of gravity.
You don>t have to go to a 19th century tenement, unless a Cambridge
College
can rightly be so described. In between reading this thread and
replying to
it, I have made use of just such a device, down the corridor from my
office.
(and when I was growing up in London they were absolutely standard in
my home
and those of my friends).
Much to be said for them, since the high level flush scours the bowl
very effectively. They do seem to get cantankerous with age - one may
need to 'surprise' a worn one. Or pull the chain repeatedly, thus
announcing noisily to all and sundry what one is about. The mechanism
doesn>t include a valve (except on the ballcock); a bell shaped device
is lifted, when one pulls the chain, creating a syphon so that water
pours down the pipe. This simplicity generally ensures a long, service
free, life.
In Germany, loos are generally flushed directly from the pipe, with no
intermediate storage cistern -- rather like the arrangement aboard ship,
but using fresh water. This requires of course a higher water pressure
than is found in the normal domestic water pipe in the UK. The lavatory
bowl itself also often differs from the usual British pattern, with a
wide expanse of porcelain a few inches below the rim,
That sounds like the American model. Apartment houses these days
usually have "flushometers," a device for building up pressure
directly from the water supply, so there is no delay between flushes
while a tank fills up.
on which one may
examine the outcome of one>s efforts before consigning it (them?) to the
municipal sewers. Many Germans of my acquaintance do seem rather
obsessive about their bowel movements.
If there>s a plumber reading this I>d be interested to know why British
domestic plumbing normally relies on a storage tank in the loft rather
than the simpler system found in Germany. Mind you, if there is a
plumber reading this I>d also like to know why she has so much time to
waste when all her customers are clamouring for her services.
Sounds like the Brits don>t modernize their plumbing when improvements
come along.
[/quote]
It would be hard to describe the Germanic toilet with its noxious shelf
as an improvement, unless you have a particular obsession with, er,
going through the motions.
UK standards for domestic water are influenced by a paranoia about back
flushing into the main. The system of having a tank in the loft to feed
bathroom taps is, I think, partly to make sure that water doesn>t get
back into the main and also, probably, is a relict of the time when
mains pressures could be very low so that feed into a direct system
might be slow. A header tank is also needed for all but the most recent
hot water systems. The syphonic flushing system has the advantage that a
defective valve doesn>t continually leak into the toilet. This
potentially loses huge amounts of water, since customers have little
incentive to get it fixed. The alternative of having an overflow from a
flush system with a ball cock ensures that faults result in a flow of
water down the outside of the building, which most householders notice,
and get fixed, pretty quickly.
--
Mike Page
Google me at port.ac.uk if you need to send an email. |
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Maria C.
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:42 pm Post subject: Re: Hopefully, someone can settle this family argument! |
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R H Draney wrote:
[quote]
It>s used when people want to push your buttons....r
[/quote]
Old line: "Dont push my buttons unless you want to turn me on."
--
Maria C. |
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Maria C.
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:56 pm Post subject: Re: Hopefully, someone can settle this family argument! |
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Nathan Sanders wrote:
[quote]Maria C. wrote:
Nathan Sanders wrote:
analyst41 wrote:
Maybe this explains why the language is still resisting
"hopefully".
The language isn>t resisting. Some people are intentionally trying
to hold it back, but the language itself long ago evolved to have
sentential "hopefully".
It>s just like split infinitives, preposition stranding, or any
other prescriptive rule that gets broken constantly in ordinary
speech. The fact that grammar mavens aren>t being listened to is
proof that the language itself is in favor of breaking the rule.
How does the language itself do this?
For the sake of discursive continuity, allow me the minimal artistic
leeway necessary to preserve analyst>s initial anthropomorphization of
language.
(I>d like to see angelgloww try to reword *that* using only Germanic
roots!)
[/quote]
/I/ certaintly couldn>t "reword" it. Hell, I can>t even understand it.
--
Maria C. |
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Maria C.
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:08 am Post subject: Re: Hopefully, someone can settle this family argument! |
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Adam Funk wrote:
[quote]
I>m not sure if you can still buy new high-flushing toilets, but I
have seen them in good working order in respectable places indoors in
the UK.
I think they are more efficient since the water pressure coming into
the pan is greater for a given height of water in the cistern (since
the pressure is proportial to the head of water, including the height
of the connecting pipe), so you should be able to get an effective
flush with considerably less water.
[/quote]
In a fit of remodeling a year or two ago, we got one of the
new-and-improved toilets with the smaller, holds-less-water tank. (Note
that the older, larger-tank types aren>t for sale*, unless you buy a
used toilet from a junk dealer.)
Anyway, the thing actually works very well. We had doubts beforehand.
*IIRC, there was some new government mandate requiring that all toilets
made from that date forward hold only 1.6 gallons. I don>t remember what
the old tanks held, but it was more.
--
Maria C. |
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Adam Funk
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:29 am Post subject: Re: Hopefully, someone can settle this family argument! |
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On 2008-07-24, Maria C. wrote:
[quote]*IIRC, there was some new government mandate requiring that all toilets
made from that date forward hold only 1.6 gallons. I don>t remember what
the old tanks held, but it was more.
[/quote]
I think the design principle for toilets used to be: don>t worry about
water consumption, just make sure everything *always* disappears!
--
The President: "Call the FBI, the CIA and the Pentagon. Find out who
won that game!" (Edwards 1976) |
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Adam Funk
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:31 am Post subject: Re: Hopefully, someone can settle this family argument! |
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On 2008-07-24, Maria C. wrote:
[quote]For the sake of discursive continuity, allow me the minimal artistic
leeway necessary to preserve analyst>s initial anthropomorphization of
language.
(I>d like to see angelgloww try to reword *that* using only Germanic
roots!)
/I/ certaintly couldn>t "reword" it. Hell, I can>t even understand it.
[/quote]
As Kibo said, "Take it? I can>t even parse it!"
--
Bob just used 'canonical' in the canonical way. [Guy Steele] |
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Skitt
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 3:42 am Post subject: Re: Hopefully, someone can settle this family argument! |
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Peter T. Daniels wrote:
[quote]Chuck Riggs wrote:
"Maria C." wrote:
Peter T. Daniels wrote:
How deprived that you never saw a 19th-century tenement toilet!...
Deprived? Maybe not. I recall having to use the ever-popular
"outhouse" on occasion. Now there>s a rich experience. Surely the
sight of tenement toilets can>t compare.
....The
tank was mounted near the ceiling, the chain opened the valve, and
the water flushed the bowl. It made efficient use of gravity.
Actually, I>ve seen pictures, and I>ve wondered if the tanks ever
fall on someone.
The things women worry about...
Well, water is heavy!
[/quote]
Yeah, but it is not heavy water that>s in the tank.
--
Skitt (AmE) |
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Robert Bannister
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 5:56 am Post subject: Re: Hopefully, someone can settle this family argument! |
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Maria C. wrote:
[quote]analyst41 wrote:
CDB wrote:
"Polite", of course, could equally well be "snotty".
Have "snotty" and "snooty" merged in American English?
Not that I>ve heard, and I, personally, don>t merge them. They have two
separate meanings to me.
Snotty: rude on purpose; spiteful; showing pettiness and/or nastiness
Snooty: snobbish; disdainful; having an "I>m-better-than-you" attitude.
Note: I rarely use "snotty." In fact, I rarely hear "snotty" being used
these days.
[/quote]
I only use "snotty" in the phrase "snotty nose" when talking about
children with colds.
--
Rob Bannister |
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Maria C.
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 11:15 pm Post subject: Re: Hopefully, someone can settle this family argument! |
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Skitt wrote:
[quote]Peter T. Daniels wrote:
Chuck Riggs wrote:
"Maria C." wrote:
Actually, I>ve seen pictures, and I>ve wondered if the tanks ever
fall on someone.
The things women worry about...
Well, water is heavy!
Yeah, but it is not heavy water that>s in the tank.
[/quote]
Um, what sort of water is not heavy?
--
Maria C. |
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Rambler III
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 12:06 am Post subject: Re: Hopefully, someone can settle this family argument! |
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"Fred Springer" <fred.springer@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:%C%hk.13363$GI1.12084@newsfe05.ams2...
[snip]
[quote]If there>s a plumber reading this I>d be interested to know why
British domestic plumbing normally relies on a storage tank in the
loft rather than the simpler system found in Germany.
[/quote]
Unless the temperature never falls below freezing or you have a heated
loft, you>re only asking for trouble. |
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Evan Kirshenbaum
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:47 am Post subject: Re: Hopefully, someone can settle this family argument! |
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"Maria C." <noname@sbcglobal.net> writes:
[quote]Skitt wrote:
Peter T. Daniels wrote:
Chuck Riggs wrote:
"Maria C." wrote:
Actually, I>ve seen pictures, and I>ve wondered if the tanks ever
fall on someone.
The things women worry about...
Well, water is heavy!
Yeah, but it is not heavy water that>s in the tank.
Um, what sort of water is not heavy?
[/quote]
The sort that has relatively little deuterium in it.
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |He seems to be perceptive and
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |effective because he states the
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |obvious to people that don>t seem
|to see the obvious.
kirshenbaum@hpl.hp.com |
(650)857-7572 | Tony Cooper
http://www.kirshenbaum.net/ |
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Skitt
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 3:37 am Post subject: Re: Hopefully, someone can settle this family argument! |
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Maria C. wrote:
[quote]Skitt wrote:
Peter T. Daniels wrote:
Chuck Riggs wrote:
"Maria C." wrote:
Actually, I>ve seen pictures, and I>ve wondered if the tanks ever
fall on someone.
The things women worry about...
Well, water is heavy!
Yeah, but it is not heavy water that>s in the tank.
Um, what sort of water is not heavy?
[/quote]
Whoosh? (Look up "heavy water".) Deuterium cames into play, and I did a
play on words, sort of.
--
Skitt (AmE)
It ain>t heavy -- it>s just water ... |
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