shanghai

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William Hupy
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shanghai

Postby William Hupy » Wed Mar 20, 2013 9:31 am

This city was notorious for the activities of sailors in port. I went to great lengths to explain how the name of the city became associated with the nefarious activity associated with it.
William A. Hupy

Perry Lassiter
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Re: shanghai

Postby Perry Lassiter » Wed Mar 20, 2013 1:25 pm

Would that I had thought of that when I recently used "kidnapped" in an essay."Shanghaied" would have been the better choice and more distinctive.
pl

Philip Hudson
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Re: shanghai

Postby Philip Hudson » Wed Mar 20, 2013 11:28 pm

William: I do not quite understand your point. Shanghaiing did not take place in Shanghai. It took place primarily in San Francisco. The China trade was so brisk that the clipper ships were frequently short of able-bodied seamen. Strong young men were kidnapped and put to work on a ship in the China trade. It was so common that their destination became the name for this special kind of kidnapping.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

eberntson
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Re: shanghai

Postby eberntson » Thu Mar 21, 2013 9:04 am

So if Robert Louis Stevenson was better traveled his book might have been called "Shanghaied"? :-b
EBERNTSON
Fear less, hope more;
eat less, chew more;
whine less, breathe more;
talk less, say more,
and all good things will be yours.
--R. Burns

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Re: shanghai

Postby Philip Hudson » Fri Mar 22, 2013 1:24 am

RLS was among the most well traveled of his day. Scottish seamen were not impressed to the China trade so the book is still aptly named. One of the most famous British clipper ships is the Cutty Sark. I visited this fabled ship at Greenwich, England. The ship was named for its figurehead mounted under the bowsprit. A cutty sark is, in modern parlance, a mini-skirt or mini-skirted girl. Robert Burns created an character who was a mini-skirted witch named Nannie Dee and nicknamed Cutty-sark.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

Perry Lassiter
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Re: shanghai

Postby Perry Lassiter » Fri Mar 22, 2013 3:29 pm

Never heard the miniskirt thing. Until now, I thought Cutty Sark was a whiskey (wisque?)
pl

eberntson
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Re: shanghai

Postby eberntson » Sat Mar 23, 2013 2:43 pm

Nice history lesson, skoal!
The whiskey bottle label has a ship on it, cheers!
E
EBERNTSON
Fear less, hope more;
eat less, chew more;
whine less, breathe more;
talk less, say more,
and all good things will be yours.
--R. Burns

Perry Lassiter
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Re: shanghai

Postby Perry Lassiter » Sat Mar 23, 2013 6:18 pm

The label has a ship, and the ship has a skirt.

Welcome to GP-hood Philip!
pl

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Re: shanghai

Postby Philip Hudson » Sat Mar 23, 2013 11:29 pm

Thanks for noticing Perry.

Our source of the word whiskey is usquebaugh. Some have joked that it is all the English inherited from the Celts. Perry, did you mean uísque when you wrote wisque.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

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Re: shanghai

Postby Perry Lassiter » Sun Mar 24, 2013 1:52 pm

It meant I was too lazy to check the spelling against my hazy memory. Tat memory never was what it used to be.
pl

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David McWethy
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Re: shanghai

Postby David McWethy » Thu Mar 28, 2013 10:18 pm

If, as Dr. G. points out
the route taken by shanghiers would be a shanghaiway
would it not follow that the place to whence they traveled would be their "shanghaidaway"?
"The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things...."

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Slava
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Re: shanghai

Postby Slava » Thu Mar 28, 2013 10:36 pm

would it not follow that the place to whence they traveled would be their "shanghaidaway"?
Nice addition to the puns, but I cannot agree with the phrase "to whence."
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

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Re: shanghai

Postby David McWethy » Thu Mar 28, 2013 11:23 pm

Odds favor you being right, but if
"...his native country, from whence he came"


is acceptable, if in this scenario he forgot something and turned around to go back for it, why wouldn't
"...his native country, to whence he was traveling"
work as well?
"The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things...."

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Slava
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Re: shanghai

Postby Slava » Fri Mar 29, 2013 12:12 am

Because "from whence, " though generally considered an error, has been in the language for centuries; whereas "to whence," which means "to from where", is a rather nonsensical phrase.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

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Re: shanghai

Postby Perry Lassiter » Fri Mar 29, 2013 12:32 am

Down here, we'd say "Where'd he come from?"
pl


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