I also wonder if it is proper to speak of a "raised" index finger when the manicule is almost exclusively shown with the pointer finger aimed sideways. I would say the finger is "extended."

I think the entire point of "manicule" is it's diminutive sense: a small hand. The pointing hands at sporting events clearly don't fit the description. In fact, they beg for a name that means BIG hand in some dead language.

That's a good question, Luke, and I would really like to hear the opinions of others on this one, too. Since the express purpose of the feast ("Fat Tuesday" in English) is gluttony and other irreligious behavior before the doctrinal curtain falls on Ash Wednesday, it would be hard to call ...

There were probably no short-sleeved shirts in existence at the time. I've never seen such a thing in old photos. In the American West, as in other desert areas, people dressed to cover themselves completely - convergent evolution, if you will. Think of Arab garments or African dashikis. The only ot...

It may not work so well in reverse, because of the lack of any cold-hardiness in most southern plants. East-to-west (and vice versa) probably is fairly common. I can imagine woodland plant seeds from the riparian environment along the Mississippi - or even prairie plants - being transported over the...

What has always caught my eye is that both words in English have no origins that have to do with rain, yet the objects themselves are used almost exclusively here for that purpose. "Little shadow" and "for the sun" reveal the original purpose of the devices, and one can still see...

Yes. Here in Florida we are frequently well-advised to take little umbrages with us outdoors in the summer afternoons.

Had I thought so, I'd've written it that way and hidden my ignorance. I was using my best Hollywood version of the Queen's English, and I actually considered keeping mum, since I've heard that the b-word is at least a five on the Dirty-Word Scale out there on the fringes of the English-speaking world.

Keeping mum is often a better choice than posting mummery. Keeping mums is another matter altogether.

That's exactly my point, S. It doesn't make us "pathetic" if we're unfamiliar with the holidays - the minor holidays, no less - of other nations, any more than it makes them pathetic for not knowing ours. I was taking umbrage at Luke's statement, above.

And "a bloody good show," as the fringes of the English-speaking world are know to say.

The taboo on double spacing isn't accidental. I attended a seminar recently on "improving presentations," and one of the first thing the young, techy instructor pointed out, abosultely incorrectly, was that the use of the single space returns us to proper, early usage. He said, as though i...

It's an infinite process. It can go on forever, too. Almost as if there were no end.

My Goodness! Are these the seeds of ironic hyperbole? I've never seen a post of yours more than merely dundant. Way to go, S!

Pathetic, some of we Americans. Some of all other nationalities, as well.

I doubt if most Ugandans, Bolivians, or Pakistanis could tell you much about our Thanksgiving Day.

Agreed. That's good info. For a while (and still, to some degree) people in the military would say, "That's good gouge." Go figure that one out for us. Military slang might even deserve its own thread.