www.alphadictionary.com

Not to worry bamaboy. If an ant were increased to the size of a human, the structure of its body would be so weak compared to its size that it would be crushed by gravity.

There have been insects of various sizes over time, the largest I believe were giant underwater scorpions. These six-legged scorpions, called Hibbertopterus, allegedly measured 1.5 meters in length and 1 meter in width, and the tracks covered an area of approximately 6 meters. The problem that insects have, and the blessing we benefit from is that they depend on their shells which become to heavy the larger they get. also, because oxygen levels are lower now a days, their respiration method limits their size. This said there still are some large critters out their, but most are smaller then they were other millennium.

E

A man walks out to the street and catches a taxi just going by.

> > He gets into the taxi, and the cabbie says, 'Perfect timing. You're just
> > like Frank.'
> >
> > Passenger: 'Who?'

> > Cabbie: 'Frank Feldman.. He's a guy who did everything right all the
> > time. Like my coming along when you needed a cab, things happened like that to
> > Frank Feldman every single time.'

Passenger: 'There are always a few clouds over everybody.'

Cabbie: 'Not Frank Feldman. He was a terrific athlete. He could have won
> > the Grand-Slam at tennis. He could golf with the pros. He sang like an
> > opera baritone and danced like a Broadway star and you should have heard him
> > play the piano. He was an amazing guy.'


> > Passenger: 'Sounds like he was something really special.'

Cabbie: 'There's more. He had a memory like a computer. He remembered
> > everybody's birthday. He knew all about wine, which foods to order and which
> > fork to eat them with. He could fix anything. Not like me. I change a fuse,
> > and the whole street blacks out. But Frank Feldman, could do everything
> > right.'
> >
> > Passenger: 'Wow, some guy then.'
> >

> > Cabbie: 'He always knew the quickest way to go in traffic and avoid
> > traffic jams. Not like me, I always seem to get stuck in them. But Frank, he
> > never made a mistake, and he really knew how to treat a woman and make her
> > feel good. He would never answer her back even if she was in the wrong; and
> > his clothing was always immaculate, shoes highly polished too. He was the
> > perfect man! He never made a mistake. No one could ever measure up to Frank
> > Feldman.'

Passenger: 'An amazing fellow. How did you meet him?'

Cabbie: 'Well... I never actually met Frank. He died, and I married his
> > wife.

Xxxxx-the sound of one hand clapping.

Thankee.

How did Frank end up being listed under Myrmidon?

"That hen-pecked twerp, Ben Dover, is nothing but his wife's chief myrmidon."


Just brought the story to mind.

Check. I missed the tie in.

Thanks for the laugh, Luke.

Back to giant insects, I remember fuzzily an Edgar Rice Burroughs' comic book in which the hero (Tarzan?) and Dr. McWhorter confront giant spiders. And who could forget "Them!" the "big bug" 50's science fiction/horror film in which James Arness battles giant ants. (Remember, everything was bigger and better in the past, just like Frank Feldman)

But there are good physical reasons why insects do not reach gargantuan ("behemothic"?) proportions. First, the volume and therefore the mass of insects increases as the cube, while a crossection of its supporting legs, a circle, increases as the square. After a while an insect's increasing mass becomes too heavy for its legs to support. Also an insect's mass is supported by an exoskeleton which correspons to its surface area. The ratio of an insect's surface area (square) to its mass/volume (cube) becomes another limiting factor. Giant sea scorpions more than eight feet in length-- the largest arthropods which ever existed-- were subject to the same limitations. Water helped support their weight. Finally (as if that weren't enough) the giant insects lived in an oxygen-rich atmosphere which does not exist today.

So rest easy. Don't look for "Them" to come crawling over your chimney anytime soon. Congress poses a more immediate threat.

Well that is good to know.
(And thanks for the Frank Feldman reference.)

And I think the same is true of people sprouting wings.
We could never support our weight on them things.
Our breast bones, the sternum in particular, would break.
And I suppose there are other factors as well, but not
knowing all that much about things like huge bugs
and breast bones, I am really not sure.

Perhaps because I have been aware of the Myrmidons of Greek legend, I have always associated myrmidons with "muscle" such as henchmen for mob bosses or legal counsel for business tycoon. Per Merriam Webster "a subordinate who executes orders unquestioningly or unscrupulously".

In contrast, the word minion connotes for me connotes powerlessness, servility, and drudgery - perhaps because it sounds like minimal. It also connotes for me their insignificance in the mind of their superior.

If ever I achieved boundless fortune and fame, I would hire several minions to attend to tasks like making coffee, walking the dog, washing my car, and dry cleaning my clothes. I would also retain a few myrmidons to ward off paparazzi and to police my private parties.

I would be interested in how others perceive these two words.

gwray: Thanks for pulling this old chestnut out of the ashes of time. Having mildly and meditatively mulled the mundane matter of myrmidon vs. minion, alas, I have come to no conclusion vis-à-vis your well put question. I did, however, discover, via Google, a myriad of minions that I had heretofore missed. They seem to be little yellow creatures that (who?) are about as inept as I am in my dotage. They do seem to have a rather advanced linguistic bent.

Ants, of course, falling into the category of "creeping things that "creepeth."

Ripley's "Believe It or Not" for today 4-19-15 says:

"ANTi-dote:many birds crush ants and rub them
on their feathers. The insect's formic acid helps
ward off parasites."

Both myrmidons and minions strike me as a sort of Greek chorus, most often plural and in the background. I would NOT use them go make coffee. As president of worldwide coffeeholics, I am the only person to make coffee properly if I am to drink it.