Page 1 of 1

A Burning Question

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 3:20 pm
by Slava
To an arsonist, would burning things up and burning things down be sinonymous (sic)?

Burning Up and Down

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:52 pm
by Dr. Goodword
I'm not sure but it would burn me up if he burned my house down.

Re: Burning Up and Down

Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 11:00 am
by Perry
I'm not sure but it would burn me up if he burned my house down.
Oh my Doctor! You have been hanging around us too long. 8)

Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:39 pm
by Slava
Aren't we the hangers-on? After all, it was the Good Doctor who started the whole shebang here on the Agora.

Re: Burning Up and Down

Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 10:36 pm
by Stargzer
I'm not sure but it would burn me up if he burned my house down.
Oh my Doctor! You have been hanging around us too long. 8)
You haven't been paying attention to some of the names up with which he comes! 8)

Re: Burning Up and Down

Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 10:41 pm
by Slava
You haven't been paying attention to some of the names up with which he comes! 8)
Like, perhaps, from "consensus" on 8/5/06?

Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 9:00 pm
by Perry
Of course I have. it is something up with, I am glad to put. :roll:

Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 11:19 pm
by Stargzer
Speaking of arsonists:

In the John Ford movie Rio Grande starring John Wayne as Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke, Maureen O'Hara as Mrs. Kathleen Yorke, and Victor McLaughlin as Sgt. Major Timothy Quincannon, every time Mrs. Yorke looks at the Sgt. Major she calls him an "ARSonist," with heavy emphasis on the first syllable, and the Sgt. Major cringes, looks away, and seems genuinely disturbed and embarrassed by the accusation.

In the back story we learn that during the American Civil War, Lt. Col. Yorke and his troops, including the Sgt. Major, had burned Lt. Col. Kirby's plantation in Virginia, which Mrs. Kirby had inherited from her family. The "ARSonist" harrangue occurs several times during the film.

Finally, late in the movie, The Sgt. Major asks the Regimental Surgeon, Dr. Williams (Chill Wills) what exactly is an arsonist. The Doctor replies that an arsonist is a person who gets enjoyment from starting fires and watching things burn. "Oh!" says the Sgt. Major with great relief, "Is THAT all it means?"

One can only guess what that manly post-Bellum soldier thought it meant! :wink:

Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 12:59 pm
by Perry
He was obviously attuned to British enunciation. :P