duvet not a common American usage
spam>@att.net Joanne Marinelli
once or twice in "Body Art", the second longish short in her collection I
mentioned down below, but for the life of me, in my neck of the woods, it
isn't a common substitute for bed spread, and didn't sound like a healthy
Saxon survival in the British lexicon, and I guessed right on its etymology
being French.
Joanne-- who likes it better than bed spread
--
Raymond S. Wise
news:BjRzc.75177$Gx4....@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> Byatt is providing me with a refreshed diction apparently; she uses duvet
> once or twice in "Body Art", the second longish short in her collection I
> mentioned down below, but for the life of me, in my neck of the woods, it
> isn't a common substitute for bed spread, and didn't sound like a healthy
> Saxon survival in the British lexicon, and I guessed right on its
etymology
> being French.
>
> Joanne-- who likes it better than bed spread
I use the term "comforter."
--
Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com
Django Cat
That's because a bed spread is a different beast. Do you really not use
duvets in the states? Big, stuffed thing with a cover, more like an
eiderdown than a bedspread, saves all the tedium of fartarsing around with
sheets (except the undersheet) and blankets? They came in here in the
1970s, I've an idea its a vaguely Scandanavian thing.
DC
Harvey Van Sickle
> Byatt is providing me with a refreshed diction apparently; she
> uses duvet once or twice in "Body Art", the second longish short
> in her collection I mentioned down below, but for the life of me,
> in my neck of the woods, it isn't a common substitute for bed
> spread, and didn't sound like a healthy Saxon survival in the
> British lexicon, and I guessed right on its etymology being
> French.
>
> Joanne-- who likes it better than bed spread
But in UK usage, a bed spread and a duvet are entirely different
things.
Bed spreads are simple coverlets which go over a bed made up with
blankets. Duvets are filled with feathers/polyester stuff; they
replace blankets.
(A bed with a duvet won't have any blankets on it -- or at least if a
bed is made up with a duvet *and* blankets, you've found a fairly
eccentric bed-maker.)
--
Cheers, Harvey
Ottawa/Toronto/Edmonton for 30 years;
Southern England for the past 21 years.
(for e-mail, change harvey to whhvs)
Michael DeBusk
> That's because a bed spread is a different beast. Do you really not
> use duvets in the states?
What's a counterpane, then?
--
Michael DeBusk, Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place
Did he update http://home.earthlink.net/~debu4335/ yet?
Django Cat
sp...@att.net>> wrote:
When they were first introduced the term 'Continental Quilt' was used,
presumably because it was thought we couldn't cope with something as
foreign-sounding as a duvet, and probably take to the streets in protest
over the silent 't'. I think a 'quilt' is probably something else again
in the US.
There's a whole load of duvets here, http://tinyurl.com/2zogb , including
that racy black satin one... (yawn)
DC, planning to get a life one day
Keith Edgerley
"Django Cat" <nos...@please.com> wrote in message
news:opr9oew5...@news.freenetname.co.uk...
They certainly had them in Germany and Austria in the mid-50s.
Guardian readers knew what they were in the early 60s and they were already
available in England. I remember a discussion ca. 1964 about the merits of a
double duvet vs. two separate ones, assuming you were sharing your couch, of
course.
Apart from the French term "duvet", some people at that time tried to
re-popularize the (old) word "downie", but this never caught on. Shame
really.
--
Keith Edgerley
owe war sint verswunden
alliu miniu jar
Django Cat
wrote:
> On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 08:25:43 +0100, Django Cat <nos...@please.com> wrote:
>
>> That's because a bed spread is a different beast. Do you really not
>> use duvets in the states?
>
> What's a counterpane, then?
>
I *thought* it was the thing that goes round the actual bed below the
mattress and hides the top, but I'm on shaky ground here, and a Google
image search didn't help. Maybe it's a duvet in some parts.
DC, off to paint a shed, where the certainties of this life are.
Django Cat
No, hang on, I'm thinking of Holly Valance.
Harvey Van Sickle
> On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 08:25:43 +0100, Django Cat <nos...@please.com>
> wrote:
>
>> That's because a bed spread is a different beast. Do you really
>> not use duvets in the states?
>
> What's a counterpane, then?
Another word for "bedspread", I thought; not a duvet (as far as I
know).
raymond o'hara
What you are describing is what we call a puff in New England.
John Dean
> On 16 Jun 2004, Michael DeBusk wrote
>
>> On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 08:25:43 +0100, Django Cat <nos...@please.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> That's because a bed spread is a different beast. Do you really
>>> not use duvets in the states?
>>
>> What's a counterpane, then?
>
> Another word for "bedspread", I thought; not a duvet (as far as I
> know).
Right. A 'counterpane' is a coverlet or quilt. Though 'quilt' suggests
something with a fairly substantial filling. This was often eiderdown -
though the term 'eiderdown' was used in my yoof for the item itself,
regardless of what the filling was. How do you get down form a horse?
You don't, you get down from a duck.
A duvet ('continental quilt' as others have remarked) looks very similar
to a quilt, but where the quilt barely covered the surface of the bed,
the duvet is designed to overlap substantially.
The duvet is intended to be the only covering on the bed. We have a
winter duvet and a lighter summer duvet.
Further Obaeu - the heat retaining quality of the duvet is measured by
its tog rating. 'tog' is not an acronym - it's a unit of thermal
insulation. Thought to be derived from 'togs' as the earlier (US) unit
'clo' was derived from 'clothes'. The tog value of a garment equals ten
times the temperature difference between the inner and outer surfaces
(in degrees C) when the flow of heat equals one watt per square metre. a
tog of 10 is warm, a tog of 15 is toasting.
For economy of time in bedmaking and laundry, as well as equitable
partage of nocturnal insulation, the duvet is a work of genius.
--
John Dean
Oxford
Daniel James
> (A bed with a duvet won't have any blankets on it -- or at least if a
> bed is made up with a duvet *and* blankets, you've found a fairly
> eccentric bed-maker.)
That's because when a thingie stuffed with feathers is used as well as
blankets it's called an eiderdown, not a duvet.
When I first encountered duvets they were called "continental quilts",
it wasn't until some years later (about the time I first slept under one
- mid 1970s?) that I started to hear them called "DOOvays".
NSOED:
| duvet /"dju:veI, "du:-/ n.M18.
| [Fr. = DOWN n.2]
| A thick soft quilt used instead of other bedclothes. Also called
| /continental quilt/.
Mid C18th? I'd never have guessed ... and yet eiderdown (in the quilt
sense), which I would have guessed to be the older word, is said to be
late C19th!
Cheers,
Daniel.
Martyn
> sp...@att.net>> wrote:
>
> When they were first introduced the term 'Continental Quilt' was used,
> presumably because it was thought we couldn't cope with something as
> foreign-sounding as a duvet, and probably take to the streets in protest
> over the silent 't'.
Is it one of the 't's in 'Continental' or the one in 'Quilt' that's supposed
to be silent ?
Matti Lamprhey
> Harvey Van Sickle wrote:
> > On 16 Jun 2004, Michael DeBusk wrote
This is how beds were made up when I were a lad (Surrey, 1950s & 60s):
Bedspread
Eiderdown
Blanket
Top sheet
Bottom sheet
We didn't use the term "counterpane" but I was aware of it, and assumed
it meant the bedspread. This was about the same weight as a blanket but
usually decorated with embroidery or lace, unstuffed quilting or
patchwork, and was large enough to almost reach the floor on both sides
of the bed.
The eiderdown was built much like a duvet nowadays, but reduced in size
to lay on top of the bed only. It was kept in place by the bedspread,
and was the first thing to go in the spring.
On really cold winter nights we'd add a second blanket to the mix.
Matti
Elle
"John Dean" <john...@frag.lineone.net> wrote in message
news:capf6t$tm4$1...@newsg1.svr.pol.co.uk...
I was used to term this thick thing with feathers inside as a comforter, the
thicker one being the "thick comforter" and the lighter one for summer as
"summer comforter". However, when I lived with an Irish family from Dublin,
duvet became the common term. No more questions asked.
Elle
Harvey Van Sickle
-snip-
> For economy of time in bedmaking and laundry, as well as equitable
> partage of nocturnal insulation, the duvet is a work of genius.
Couldn't agree more; brilliant solution to bedding.
What I've seen many times, though, is the use of a *top* (as well as
bottom) sheet with a duvet -- using the duvet as a sort of over-
blanket. I'm not sure why people do this: one of the beauties of a
duvet is the ability to wrap it around you.
Perhaps it's a class marker?
Matti Lamprhey
> On 16 Jun 2004, John Dean wrote
>
> -snip-
>
> > For economy of time in bedmaking and laundry, as well as equitable
> > partage of nocturnal insulation, the duvet is a work of genius.
>
> Couldn't agree more; brilliant solution to bedding.
>
> What I've seen many times, though, is the use of a *top* (as well as
> bottom) sheet with a duvet -- using the duvet as a sort of over-
> blanket. I'm not sure why people do this: one of the beauties of a
> duvet is the ability to wrap it around you.
Because it's easier to change and wash a sheet than a duvet cover? And
there are many nights when it's too hot for the duvet but I still want a
sheet over me.
>
> Perhaps it's a class marker?
Anyone got a smiley for "guffawing"?
Matti
Tony Cooper
>Byatt is providing me with a refreshed diction apparently; she uses duvet
>once or twice in "Body Art", the second longish short in her collection I
>mentioned down below, but for the life of me, in my neck of the woods, it
>isn't a common substitute for bed spread, and didn't sound like a healthy
>Saxon survival in the British lexicon, and I guessed right on its etymology
>being French.
>
>Joanne-- who likes it better than bed spread
But a "duvet" is not the same as a bedspread. A bedspread is a single
layer of cloth that is more decorative than functional. In the
summer, when we have a bedspread on the bed, it's pulled down or
removed when we go to bed.
A duvet is either filled with something (usually eiderdown) or
pocketed so something can be inserted in it to make a more-warming
layer. The duvet is functional, and might be covered by a bedspread
during the day. The closest US term would be "comforter".
Tony Cooper
wrote:
>On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 05:57:53 GMT, Joanne Marinelli <the-palsied-poet<no
>sp...@att.net>> wrote:
>
>> Byatt is providing me with a refreshed diction apparently; she uses duvet
>> once or twice in "Body Art", the second longish short in her collection I
>> mentioned down below, but for the life of me, in my neck of the woods, it
>> isn't a common substitute for bed spread, and didn't sound like a healthy
>> Saxon survival in the British lexicon, and I guessed right on its
>> etymology
>> being French.
>>
>> Joanne-- who likes it better than bed spread
>>
>> --
>>
>
>That's because a bed spread is a different beast. Do you really not use
>duvets in the states?
We do. We had no trouble purchasing one, so I assume it's common
enough here. Florida stores carry them, so I assume they'd be even
more common in colder climes.
Harvey Van Sickle
> "Harvey Van Sickle" <harve...@ntlworld.com> wrote...
>> On 16 Jun 2004, John Dean wrote
>>
>> -snip-
>>
>>> For economy of time in bedmaking and laundry, as well as
>>> equitable partage of nocturnal insulation, the duvet is a work
>>> of genius.
>>
>> Couldn't agree more; brilliant solution to bedding.
>>
>> What I've seen many times, though, is the use of a *top* (as well
>> as bottom) sheet with a duvet -- using the duvet as a sort of
>> over- blanket. I'm not sure why people do this: one of the
>> beauties of a duvet is the ability to wrap it around you.
>
> Because it's easier to change and wash a sheet than a duvet cover?
Hmmm....we wash the duvet cover as often as we would a top sheet; it
doesn't seem that much of a pain and (to me) not worth giving up the
"wrappability" of the thing.
> And there are many nights when it's too hot for the duvet but I
> still want a sheet over me.
Isn't that why you have summer and winter duvets? We have a pair which
are 4.5 tog for summer and 9 tog for autumn/spring -- they clip
together to make a 13 tog winter duvet -- and when it's too hot for a
4.5 tog (like the past week), I find I don't want a cover of any kind.
>> Perhaps it's a class marker?
>
> Anyone got a smiley for "guffawing"?
Dunno: seemed a reasonable query to me!
Matti Lamprhey
> Matti Lamprhey wrote
> > "Harvey Van Sickle" <harve...@ntlworld.com> wrote...
> >> On 16 Jun 2004, John Dean wrote
> >>
> >> -snip-
> >>
> >>> For economy of time in bedmaking and laundry, as well as
> >>> equitable partage of nocturnal insulation, the duvet is a work
> >>> of genius.
> >>
> >> Couldn't agree more; brilliant solution to bedding.
> >>
> >> What I've seen many times, though, is the use of a *top* (as well
> >> as bottom) sheet with a duvet -- using the duvet as a sort of
> >> over- blanket. I'm not sure why people do this: one of the
> >> beauties of a duvet is the ability to wrap it around you.
> >
> > Because it's easier to change and wash a sheet than a duvet cover?
>
> Hmmm....we wash the duvet cover as often as we would a top sheet; it
> doesn't seem that much of a pain and (to me) not worth giving up the
> "wrappability" of the thing.
>
> > And there are many nights when it's too hot for the duvet but I
> > still want a sheet over me.
>
> Isn't that why you have summer and winter duvets? We have a pair
> which are 4.5 tog for summer and 9 tog for autumn/spring -- they clip
> together to make a 13 tog winter duvet -- and when it's too hot for a
> 4.5 tog (like the past week), I find I don't want a cover of any kind.
Yes, but although I like to be several togs below the norm I still need
that sheet! It's probably persychological. I don't see how a duvet
cover affects "wrappability" either...
>
> >> Perhaps it's a class marker?
> >
> > Anyone got a smiley for "guffawing"?
>
> Dunno: seemed a reasonable query to me!
I just couldn't see any basis for its being a class marker, I'm afraid,
and I still can't imagine how it might work that way. Top sheet =
higher class or lower class?
Matti
Django Cat
You've been listening to Ian Wright's accent haven't you? No, it's the
't' in duvet.
Harvey Van Sickle
> "Harvey Van Sickle" <harve...@ntlworld.com> wrote...
>> Matti Lamprhey wrote
>>> "Harvey Van Sickle" <harve...@ntlworld.com> wrote...
>>>> Perhaps it's a class marker?
>>>
>>> Anyone got a smiley for "guffawing"?
>>
>> Dunno: seemed a reasonable query to me!
>
> I just couldn't see any basis for its being a class marker, I'm
> afraid, and I still can't imagine how it might work that way. Top
> sheet = higher class or lower class?
I'm not sure...pondering it a bit, I think I've always related wanting
a "top sheet between me and the duvet cover" as being overly fastidious
(rather than making the sort of functional choice that you've
described: I hadn't thought of it that way).
A little bit like leaving the cellophane on the lampshades to keep them
clean: Hyacinth Bucket-ish.
Django Cat
<harve...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> On 16 Jun 2004, Matti Lamprhey wrote
>> "Harvey Van Sickle" <harve...@ntlworld.com> wrote...
>>> Matti Lamprhey wrote
>>>> "Harvey Van Sickle" <harve...@ntlworld.com> wrote...
>
> Re: top sheet and duvet
>
>>>>> Perhaps it's a class marker?
>>>>
>>>> Anyone got a smiley for "guffawing"?
>>>
>>> Dunno: seemed a reasonable query to me!
>>
>> I just couldn't see any basis for its being a class marker, I'm
>> afraid, and I still can't imagine how it might work that way. Top
>> sheet = higher class or lower class?
>
> I'm not sure...pondering it a bit, I think I've always related wanting
> a "top sheet between me and the duvet cover" as being overly fastidious
> (rather than making the sort of functional choice that you've
> described: I hadn't thought of it that way).
>
> A little bit like leaving the cellophane on the lampshades to keep them
> clean: Hyacinth Bucket-ish.
>
Much of the joy of duvets is not waking up with untucked sheets tangled
round you.
DC
Pat Durkin
> On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 08:51:12 GMT, Michael DeBusk <m_de...@despammed.com>
> wrote:
>
> > On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 08:25:43 +0100, Django Cat <nos...@please.com>
wrote:
> >
> >> That's because a bed spread is a different beast. Do you really not
> >> use duvets in the states?
> >
> > What's a counterpane, then?
> >
>
> I *thought* it was the thing that goes round the actual bed below the
> mattress and hides the top, but I'm on shaky ground here, and a Google
> image search didn't help. Maybe it's a duvet in some parts.
>
A counterpane is usually (was, actually, since it is not a term in common
use these days) a bedspread.
What you have described is a "dust ruffle", kind of a petticoat for the bed,
so that the dust or items stored beneath the bed are not visible. Some
bedspreads extend far enough off the bed so as to hide the junk, dirty
clothes, old shoes, boogie-men etc, while others are abbreviated so as to
display ornamental sheets, blankets, and, of course, the dust ruffle.
Laura F Spira
> On 16 Jun 2004, Matti Lamprhey wrote
>
>>"Harvey Van Sickle" <harve...@ntlworld.com> wrote...
>>
>>>Matti Lamprhey wrote
>>>
>>>>"Harvey Van Sickle" <harve...@ntlworld.com> wrote...
>>>
>
> Re: top sheet and duvet
>
>
>>>>>Perhaps it's a class marker?
>>>>
>>>>Anyone got a smiley for "guffawing"?
>>>
>>>Dunno: seemed a reasonable query to me!
>>
>>I just couldn't see any basis for its being a class marker, I'm
>>afraid, and I still can't imagine how it might work that way. Top
>>sheet = higher class or lower class?
>
>
> I'm not sure...pondering it a bit, I think I've always related wanting
> a "top sheet between me and the duvet cover" as being overly fastidious
> (rather than making the sort of functional choice that you've
> described: I hadn't thought of it that way).
>
> A little bit like leaving the cellophane on the lampshades to keep them
> clean: Hyacinth Bucket-ish.
>
Wish I'd thought of that: lampshades are extremely difficult to clean.
But Matti's right: it's much easier to launder a sheet than a duvet cover.
After experiencing the "under-duvet" (I have no idea of the technical
term, in spite of living with an expert on such things) in Scandinavian
hotels, we now sleep on a duvet as well as under one. Very comfy.
--
Laura
(emulate St. George for email)
Pat Durkin
> On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 05:57:53 GMT, Joanne Marinelli <the-palsied-poet<no
> sp...@att.net>> wrote:
>
> > Byatt is providing me with a refreshed diction apparently; she uses
duvet
> > once or twice in "Body Art", the second longish short in her collection
I
> > mentioned down below, but for the life of me, in my neck of the woods,
it
> > isn't a common substitute for bed spread, and didn't sound like a
healthy
> > Saxon survival in the British lexicon, and I guessed right on its
> > etymology
> > being French.
>
> duvets in the states? Big, stuffed thing with a cover, more like an
> eiderdown than a bedspread, saves all the tedium of fartarsing around with
> sheets (except the undersheet) and blankets? They came in here in the
> 1970s, I've an idea its a vaguely Scandanavian thing.
Of course I live in the hinterlands of the States, but I think I never heard
of duvet before the early '80s, except while reading some novels of France.
I first became aware of "duvet" when the popularity of waterbeds was in
severe decline, and futons started becomeing the "in" thing, especially for
college students.
Here is M-W Online for "futon"
Main Entry: fu·ton
Pronunciation: 'fü-"tän
Etymology: Japanese
: a usually cotton-filled mattress used on the floor or in a frame as a bed
In fact, in still customary usage, futon _is_ the frame, which may or may
not come with padding (the original sense of the futon). Thus, duvets
became known as the appropriate padding/mattresses for futon frames.
This may be a regional usage. I can't say I have that many nieces and
nephews who unfold the futon when unexpected company comes by. They are all
parents, now. (Maybe the futons are in the children's rooms.)
Laura F Spira
> "Django Cat" <nos...@please.com> wrote in message
> news:opr9oew5...@news.freenetname.co.uk...
>
>>On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 05:57:53 GMT, Joanne Marinelli <the-palsied-poet<no
>>sp...@att.net>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Byatt is providing me with a refreshed diction apparently; she uses
>>
> duvet
>
>>>once or twice in "Body Art", the second longish short in her collection
>>
> I
>
>>>mentioned down below, but for the life of me, in my neck of the woods,
>>
> it
>
>>>isn't a common substitute for bed spread, and didn't sound like a
>>
> healthy
>
>>>Saxon survival in the British lexicon, and I guessed right on its
>>>etymology
>>>being French.
>>>
>>>Joanne-- who likes it better than bed spread
>>>
>>>--
>>>
>>
>>That's because a bed spread is a different beast. Do you really not use
>>duvets in the states? Big, stuffed thing with a cover, more like an
>>eiderdown than a bedspread, saves all the tedium of fartarsing around with
>>sheets (except the undersheet) and blankets? They came in here in the
>>1970s, I've an idea its a vaguely Scandanavian thing.
>
>
> They certainly had them in Germany and Austria in the mid-50s.
Long before in Eastern Europe. My Lithuanian grandmother brought very
similar items with her to England before WW1. She called them perennas (sp?)
Peter Duncanson
In my home, then and now, an underblanket is put between the mattress and
the bottom sheet.
>We didn't use the term "counterpane" but I was aware of it, and assumed
>it meant the bedspread. This was about the same weight as a blanket but
>usually decorated with embroidery or lace, unstuffed quilting or
>patchwork, and was large enough to almost reach the floor on both sides
>of the bed.
>
>The eiderdown was built much like a duvet nowadays, but reduced in size
>to lay on top of the bed only. It was kept in place by the bedspread,
>and was the first thing to go in the spring.
>
Peeping though bedroom doors in other people's homes (Hertfordshire 1940s &
1950s):
Sometimes the eiderdown would be placed on top of the bedspread,
particularly if the bedspread was plainer than the eiderdown.
>On really cold winter nights we'd add a second blanket to the mix.
Oh yes!
--
Peter Duncanson
UK
(posting from a.e.u)
Peter Duncanson
<la...@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote:
>
>After experiencing the "under-duvet" (I have no idea of the technical
>term, in spite of living with an expert on such things) in Scandinavian
>hotels, we now sleep on a duvet as well as under one. Very comfy.
>
They are advertised as "mattress toppers". I have been considering buying
one for several weeks. Your comment has nudged me a little closer to action.
Professor Redwine
I grew up thinking this was normal. It was certainly common (indeed, the
norm) amongst the people whose beds I saw in Australia. The first
experience I had of a duvet (in fact, a doona, see other subthread...)
without a topsheet was when I married an English girl. I quickly convinced
her... Having also experienced it "without" in Germany, even in a New
Zealand girl's bed (no, she was just a friend) I decided it was probably
an Australian thing.
--
Redwine
Hamburg
(previously: Berlin, Northants, Derbs, Staffs, NSW, Tasmania,
Melbourne, rural Victoria, in that and many other orders)
Professor Redwine
>> That's because a bed spread is a different beast. Do you really not
>> use duvets in the states? Big, stuffed thing with a cover, more like
>> an eiderdown than a bedspread, saves all the tedium of fartarsing
>> around with sheets (except the undersheet) and blankets? They came in
>> here in the 1970s, I've an idea its a vaguely Scandanavian thing.
>
> What you are describing is what we call a puff in New England.
If you said that in Northern (Old) England you may be considered
homophobic...
Professor Redwine
> Apart from the French term "duvet", some people at that time tried to
> re-popularize the (old) word "downie", but this never caught on. Shame
> really.
In Australia we always called this thing a "doona". I only encountered the
term "duvet" when I moved to England, although I recently encountered
"duvet" in an Australian newspaper. Has the term taken over down under?
And is "doona" etymologically related to "duvet"?
meirman
<durk...@peoplepc.com> posted:
>
>"Django Cat" <nos...@please.com> wrote in message
>news:opr9ombp...@news.freenetname.co.uk...
>> On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 08:51:12 GMT, Michael DeBusk <m_de...@despammed.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 08:25:43 +0100, Django Cat <nos...@please.com>
>wrote:
>> >
>> >> That's because a bed spread is a different beast. Do you really not
>> >> use duvets in the states?
>> >
>> > What's a counterpane, then?
>> >
>>
>> I *thought* it was the thing that goes round the actual bed below the
>> mattress and hides the top, but I'm on shaky ground here, and a Google
>> image search didn't help. Maybe it's a duvet in some parts.
>>
>
>A counterpane is usually (was, actually, since it is not a term in common
>use these days) a bedspread.
>
>What you have described is a "dust ruffle", kind of a petticoat for the bed,
Is that also called a bed skirt?
>so that the dust or items stored beneath the bed are not visible. Some
>bedspreads extend far enough off the bed so as to hide the junk, dirty
>clothes, old shoes, boogie-men etc, while others are abbreviated so as to
>display ornamental sheets, blankets, and, of course, the dust ruffle.
>
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
Baltimore 20 years
Christopher Green
> On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 05:57:53 GMT, Joanne Marinelli <the-palsied-poet<no
> sp...@att.net>> wrote:
>
> > Byatt is providing me with a refreshed diction apparently; she uses duvet
> > once or twice in "Body Art", the second longish short in her collection I
> > mentioned down below, but for the life of me, in my neck of the woods, it
> > Saxon survival in the British lexicon, and I guessed right on its
> > etymology
> > being French.
> >
> > Joanne-- who likes it better than bed spread
> >
> > --
> >
>
> eiderdown than a bedspread, saves all the tedium of fartarsing around with
> sheets (except the undersheet) and blankets? They came in here in the
> 1970s, I've an idea its a vaguely Scandanavian thing.
>
We call the thing filled with down or batting a "comforter", the cover
that goes over it a "duvet cover", and the whole thing either a
"duvet" or a "comforter". "Duvet cover" and "comforter" are used by
stores that sell these, too.
--
Chris Green
(Southern California, where there really isn't much use for them)
John Dean
> On 16 Jun 2004, John Dean wrote
>
> -snip-
>
>> For economy of time in bedmaking and laundry, as well as equitable
>> partage of nocturnal insulation, the duvet is a work of genius.
>
> Couldn't agree more; brilliant solution to bedding.
>
> What I've seen many times, though, is the use of a *top* (as well as
> bottom) sheet with a duvet -- using the duvet as a sort of over-
> blanket. I'm not sure why people do this: one of the beauties of a
> duvet is the ability to wrap it around you.
>
> Perhaps it's a class marker?
You hold classes in your bed? What do you teach? Is there a waiting
list?
--
John Dean
Oxford
Laura F Spira
Beware. Some of the items sold as mattress toppers are not the same
thing - too thin. And the foam ones just make you hot. If you find a
feather/down filled mattress topper, please let me know.
John Dean
> "Harvey Van Sickle" <harve...@ntlworld.com> wrote...
>> On 16 Jun 2004, John Dean wrote
>>
>> -snip-
>>
>>> For economy of time in bedmaking and laundry, as well as equitable
>>> partage of nocturnal insulation, the duvet is a work of genius.
>>
>> Couldn't agree more; brilliant solution to bedding.
>>
>> What I've seen many times, though, is the use of a *top* (as well as
>> bottom) sheet with a duvet -- using the duvet as a sort of over-
>> blanket. I'm not sure why people do this: one of the beauties of a
>> duvet is the ability to wrap it around you.
>
> Because it's easier to change and wash a sheet than a duvet cover?
Same difference - you lob them in the washing machine & VIOLA!
> And there are many nights when it's too hot for the duvet but I still
> want a sheet over me.
At which point we would have a sheet *instead of* the duvet.
BTW, did I mention we use a king-size duvet on a regular double bed?
Lots of extra wiggle room.
--
John Dean
Oxford
meirman
<durk...@peoplepc.com> posted:
>
I've lived on the East Coast for 33 years, but I never heard the word
until an episode of "Frazier" maybe 6 or 7 years ago. The show just
ended a month ago. Frazier and his brother were straight but
incredibly interested in home decorating (not just painting),
furniture, men's fashion, wine and stuff like that. (And they were
snooty, elitist, and high spending, just shy of obnoxious, about it.
Not obnoxious mostly because they primarily talk to each other.)
At the end of the episode, when he is breaking up with yet another
girlfriend, they are trading insults. (not profanities, but insults)
Her last one was "Man who uses the word duvet". This corresponds to
my experience, because, although they might sell things by that name
in some stores, those are exactly the stores I don't go to.
>In fact, in still customary usage, futon _is_ the frame, which may or may
>not come with padding (the original sense of the futon). Thus, duvets
>became known as the appropriate padding/mattresses for futon frames.
John Dean
> Harvey Van Sickle wrote:
>> On 16 Jun 2004, Matti Lamprhey wrote
>>
>>
>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Anyone got a smiley for "guffawing"?
>>>>
>>>> Dunno: seemed a reasonable query to me!
>>>
>>> I just couldn't see any basis for its being a class marker, I'm
>>> afraid, and I still can't imagine how it might work that way. Top
>>> sheet = higher class or lower class?
>>
>>
>> I'm not sure...pondering it a bit, I think I've always related
>> wanting a "top sheet between me and the duvet cover" as being overly
>> fastidious (rather than making the sort of functional choice that
>> you've described: I hadn't thought of it that way).
>>
>> A little bit like leaving the cellophane on the lampshades to keep
>> them clean: Hyacinth Bucket-ish.
>>
>
> Wish I'd thought of that: lampshades are extremely difficult to clean.
> But Matti's right: it's much easier to launder a sheet than a duvet
> cover.
>
you didn't know)
Product reference 4652 et Robert est votre oncle.
--
John Dean
Oxford
Laura F Spira
> Matti Lamprhey wrote:
>
>>"Harvey Van Sickle" <harve...@ntlworld.com> wrote...
>>
>>>On 16 Jun 2004, John Dean wrote
>>>
>>>-snip-
>>>
>>>
>>>>For economy of time in bedmaking and laundry, as well as equitable
>>>>partage of nocturnal insulation, the duvet is a work of genius.
>>>
>>>Couldn't agree more; brilliant solution to bedding.
>>>
>>>What I've seen many times, though, is the use of a *top* (as well as
>>>bottom) sheet with a duvet -- using the duvet as a sort of over-
>>>blanket. I'm not sure why people do this: one of the beauties of a
>>>duvet is the ability to wrap it around you.
>>
>>Because it's easier to change and wash a sheet than a duvet cover?
>
>
> Same difference - you lob them in the washing machine & VIOLA!
Is that the name of your laundry maid? You obviously relish the
challenge of fitting the duvet into its cover. Some of us prefer to
reduce the number of times we need to do this.
Of course, much depends on the frequency with which one changes one's
bed linen. Our son is currently living in a flat without any laundry
facilities so he is bringing his washing here to do. I have declined the
opportunity of becoming closely involved in this process but I have
observed from a distance that, while towels and articles of clothing
appear regularly, bed linen rarely does.
Laura F Spira
Sadly, these are not at all effective on my fabric lampshades. The only
Lakeland product that I have ever been disappointed by. (I didn't want
to mention this in case Rudolf was around.)
david56
By "regularly", did you mean "frequently"?
Once a month, on the 17th without fail, is regularly.
--
David
=====
david56
> John Dean wrote:
>
> > Lakeland et toujours votre ami ( http://www.lakelandlimited.com/ - as if
> > you didn't know)
> > Product reference 4652 et Robert est votre oncle.
>
> Sadly, these are not at all effective on my fabric lampshades. The only
> Lakeland product that I have ever been disappointed by. (I didn't want
> to mention this in case Rudolf was around.)
You've got me searching the Lakeland site now, in case there's any
good Stuff I've missed.
WRT:
Mushroom Brush
Ideally mushrooms should be brushed, not washed. This little brush
has super-soft bristles that won't bruise the delicate skin.
a) surely life is too short to brush mushrooms? I wash them by
dunking them in boiling curry sauce.
b) what is an "ideally mushroom" anyway?
--
David
=====
Laura F Spira
Every Monday is also regularly.
I mean what I say, most of the time.
Harvey Van Sickle
> Harvey Van Sickle wrote:
-snip re: top sheets and duvets-
>> Perhaps it's a class marker?
> You hold classes in your bed? What do you teach? Is there a waiting
> list?
[Thinks: there *must* be a pun to spin here...]
I don't hold or attend classes there, but that's where I'm currently
reading history, Jeremy (or Bamber, as was).
raymond o'hara
"Professor Redwine" <paul.c...@berlin.de> wrote in message
news:pan.2004.06.16....@berlin.de...
> On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 11:37:08 +0000, spake raymond o'hara thus:
>
> >> That's because a bed spread is a different beast. Do you really not
> >> use duvets in the states? Big, stuffed thing with a cover, more like
> >> an eiderdown than a bedspread, saves all the tedium of fartarsing
> >> around with sheets (except the undersheet) and blankets? They came in
> >> here in the 1970s, I've an idea its a vaguely Scandanavian thing.
> >
> > What you are describing is what we call a puff in New England.
>
> If you said that in Northern (Old) England you may be considered
> homophobic...
That's poof here.
Laura F Spira
> Laura F Spira typed thus:
>
>
>>John Dean wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Lakeland et toujours votre ami ( http://www.lakelandlimited.com/ - as if
>>>you didn't know)
>>>Product reference 4652 et Robert est votre oncle.
>>
>>Sadly, these are not at all effective on my fabric lampshades. The only
>>Lakeland product that I have ever been disappointed by. (I didn't want
>>to mention this in case Rudolf was around.)
>
>
> You've got me searching the Lakeland site now, in case there's any
> good Stuff I've missed.
>
> WRT:
>
> Mushroom Brush
> Ideally mushrooms should be brushed, not washed. This little brush
> has super-soft bristles that won't bruise the delicate skin.
>
> a) surely life is too short to brush mushrooms?
Indeed. I note that Shirley Conran, who freed generations of women from
tedious mushroom stuffing, got an honour this week. I don't think the
citation had anything to do with mushrooms, though.
I wash them by
> dunking them in boiling curry sauce.
Not very helpful if you want to make mushrooms a la grecque or a
mushroom omelette.
[..]
Harvey Van Sickle
The prof knows his stuff, Raymond: "poof" is one available
pronunciation for "puff" in some parts of t'North.
mUs1Ka
QVCUK do them. They are made by Northern Nights. (They are referred to as
feather beds). I have bought two, a single and a double. They are fairly
expensive, but good value.
--
Ray
Django Cat
<harve...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> On 16 Jun 2004, raymond o'hara wrote
>> "Professor Redwine" <paul.c...@berlin.de> wrote in message
>> news:pan.2004.06.16....@berlin.de...
>>> On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 11:37:08 +0000, spake raymond o'hara thus:
>
>>>>> That's because a bed spread is a different beast. Do you
>>>>> really not use duvets in the states? Big, stuffed thing with a
>>>>> cover, more like an eiderdown than a bedspread, saves all the
>>>>> tedium of fartarsing around with sheets (except the undersheet)
>>>>> and blankets? They came in here in the 1970s, I've an idea
>>>>> its a vaguely Scandanavian thing.
>>>>
>>>> What you are describing is what we call a puff in New England.
>>>
>>> If you said that in Northern (Old) England you may be considered
>>> homophobic...
>
>> That's poof here.
>
> The prof knows his stuff, Raymond: "poof" is one available
> pronunciation for "puff" in some parts of t'North.
>
And appropriate spelling for Viz readers.
Laura F Spira
They are a bit pricey, aren't they? Probably cheaper to use an ordinary
duvet. But thanks for the pointer to QVC - first time I've ever seen a
shopping channel!
John Dean
> John Dean wrote:
>> Matti Lamprhey wrote:
>>
>>> "Harvey Van Sickle" <harve...@ntlworld.com> wrote...
>>>
>>>> On 16 Jun 2004, John Dean wrote
>>>>
>>>> -snip-
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> For economy of time in bedmaking and laundry, as well as equitable
>>>>> partage of nocturnal insulation, the duvet is a work of genius.
>>>>
>>>> Couldn't agree more; brilliant solution to bedding.
>>>>
>>>> What I've seen many times, though, is the use of a *top* (as well
>>>> as bottom) sheet with a duvet -- using the duvet as a sort of over-
>>>> blanket. I'm not sure why people do this: one of the beauties of
>>>> a duvet is the ability to wrap it around you.
>>>
>>> Because it's easier to change and wash a sheet than a duvet cover?
>>
>>
>> Same difference - you lob them in the washing machine & VIOLA!
>
> Is that the name of your laundry maid? You obviously relish the
> challenge of fitting the duvet into its cover. Some of us prefer to
> reduce the number of times we need to do this.
Two foolproof methods.
Method A. Climb into duvet cover. Pull duvet in after you. Climb out.
Method B. Turn duvet cover inside out. Pull duvet over your head. Grasp
corners of duvet through closed corners of duvet cover (and do NOT let
go). Encourage anyone nearby to pull duvet cover right side out. OR
encourage nearby person to hold unclosed duvet cover corners while you
back out of duvet.
Wallah!
>
> Of course, much depends on the frequency with which one changes one's
> bed linen. Our son is currently living in a flat without any laundry
> facilities so he is bringing his washing here to do. I have declined
> the opportunity of becoming closely involved in this process but I
> have observed from a distance that, while towels and articles of
> clothing appear regularly, bed linen rarely does.
It's a guy thing. If you go round there (which he won't let you) you'll
discover he's not living in a flat without laundry facilities, he's
living in a flat without a mother.
--
John Dean
Oxford
John Dean
> Laura F Spira typed thus:
>
>> John Dean wrote:
>>
>>> Lakeland et toujours votre ami ( http://www.lakelandlimited.com/ -
>>> as if you didn't know)
>>> Product reference 4652 et Robert est votre oncle.
>>
>> Sadly, these are not at all effective on my fabric lampshades. The
>> only Lakeland product that I have ever been disappointed by. (I
>> didn't want to mention this in case Rudolf was around.)
>
> You've got me searching the Lakeland site now, in case there's any
> good Stuff I've missed.
I can guarantee there is *always* good stuff you've missed on the
Lakeland site.
My wife always checks out the catalogues and discovers there are tools
for cleaning household objects she was unaware could or should be
cleaned. Me, I love the Australian liquorice.
--
John Dean
Oxford
John Dean
> On 16 Jun 2004, John Dean wrote
>
>> Harvey Van Sickle wrote:
>
> -snip re: top sheets and duvets-
>
>>> Perhaps it's a class marker?
>
>> You hold classes in your bed? What do you teach? Is there a waiting
>> list?
>
> [Thinks: there *must* be a pun to spin here...]
>
> I don't hold or attend classes there, but that's where I'm currently
> reading history, Jeremy (or Bamber, as was).
Ah. I'm reading the History of the Industrial Revolution in Lancashire
in the dirt under my fingernails ...
--
John Dean
Oxford
Laura F Spira
When will the instructional video be available?
Clothes pegs are useful. At one time I think Lakeland sold clips to do
the trick.
[..]
Django Cat
<harve...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> On 16 Jun 2004, John Dean wrote
>
>> Harvey Van Sickle wrote:
>
> -snip re: top sheets and duvets-
>
>>> Perhaps it's a class marker?
>
>> You hold classes in your bed? What do you teach? Is there a waiting
>> list?
>
> [Thinks: there *must* be a pun to spin here...]
>
> I don't hold or attend classes there, but that's where I'm currently
> reading history, Jeremy (or Bamber, as was).
>
I've just clicked, right, University Challenge.
There's a Jeremy Bamber who is doing 20 years+ for wiping out his family,
but still protests his innocence. Couldn't quite work him into the contest
somehow...
DC
Django Cat
wrote:
Ah, you've tapped into one of my favourite quotes:-
"Life is too short to *stuff a mushroom" - Shirley Conran, 'Cooking in a
Bedsitter'.
DC
Django Cat
context
Daniel James
David56 wrote:
> Mushroom Brush
.. good for getting lemon zest out of graters too ...
Cheers,
Daniel.
Boggled by the amount of utter crap lakeland sell as well as the
really good, useful stuff.
Martyn
>
> In Australia we always called this thing a "doona". I only encountered the
> term "duvet" when I moved to England, although I recently encountered
> "duvet" in an Australian newspaper. Has the term taken over down under?
> And is "doona" etymologically related to "duvet"?
They used to called Eiderdowns, therefore I would guess that 'doona' is
short for 'Eiderdoona'.
John Dean
I said that
--
John Dean
Oxford
Pat Durkin
"meirman" <mei...@invalid.com> wrote in message
news:7d51d09dpcmvv4dd2...@4ax.com...
> In alt.english.usage on Wed, 16 Jun 2004 17:06:09 GMT "Pat Durkin"
> <durk...@peoplepc.com> posted:
>
> >
> >Django Cat said:
> >>
> >> I *thought* it was the thing that goes round the actual bed below the
> >> mattress and hides the top, but I'm on shaky ground here, and a Google
> >> image search didn't help. Maybe it's a duvet in some parts.
> >>
> >
> >A counterpane is usually (was, actually, since it is not a term in common
> >use these days) a bedspread.
> >
> >What you have described is a "dust ruffle", kind of a petticoat for the
bed,
>
> Is that also called a bed skirt?
>
I expect some people might use your term. I haven't used it or heard it
(that I can recall), and I use the term "petticoat" because the "dust
ruffle" is frequently lacy.
Django Cat
It's a valence.
DC
Pat Durkin
"Django Cat" <nos...@please.com> wrote in message
news:opr9q3dw...@news.freenetname.co.uk...
OK.
I associate valances with window treatments, but can accept the term for bed
accessories, as well.
david56
I very nearly bought a bag of that on Monday, in their shop in
Solihull which is in the shopping centre where we go to get
sandwiches, directly opposite our office in the town. They had both
red and black. I didn't buy any because Wife is a licorice snob as
her family all came from near Pontefract, and she would probably have
turned her nose up at it.
--
David
=====
Alan Jones
"Pat Durkin" <durk...@peoplepc.com> wrote in message
news:kcjAc.15295$Y3....@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
I think the BrE word for the dust ruffle is "valance" (rhymes with
'balance'). Valances used to be narrow ruffled strips that had to be
fastened to the sides of the mattress or base, but now they are sewn to a
sheet that covers the base on which the mattress is set, and that current
form is called (I think) a valanced sheet. I say "I think", because perhaps
a 'valanced sheet' goes on top of the mattress and its ruffle is therefore
very deep, and the thing I referred to as a 'valanced sheet' is now called
just a "valance".
Concerning duvets, it's noticeable that a duvet cover and two matching
pillow cases are now sold in the UK as a "duvet set", and that sheets are
generally sold only singly: not so long ago it was sheets that were sold
with matching pillow-cases. (Grander shops do still sell sheets with
turn-down tops embroidered to match the ends of the pillow cases.)
Alan Jones
Michael DeBusk
> Well, maybe. I don't believe that my mother, grandmothers or great
> grandmothers ever stuffed a mushroom, nor felt bad for not having
> done so. Some practices do not make it far out of London.
This past week, I took a lady to lunch, and she ordered a portobello
stuffed with crab meat and topped with mozzerella and some sort of
lemon pepper cream sauce. The damn-near-sexual sounds she was making as
she ate it have led me to the opinion that learning to stuff a mushroom
would be worth the effort.
That said, I've never actually seen a STUFFED mushroom. They all seem
to have been TOPPED with something, though.
--
Michael DeBusk, Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place
Did he update http://home.earthlink.net/~debu4335/ yet?
Michael DeBusk
> I didn't buy any because Wife is a licorice snob as her family all
> came from near Pontefract, and she would probably have turned her
> nose up at it.
That's a reason to buy it. More for you! :)
david56
> On Thu, 17 Jun 2004 20:53:30 +0100, david56 <bass.c...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
> > I didn't buy any because Wife is a licorice snob as her family all
> > came from near Pontefract, and she would probably have turned her
> > nose up at it.
>
> That's a reason to buy it. More for you! :)
I considered that, but the bag was rather large and one has to
consider one's waistline.
--
David
=====
John Dean
You eat a bag of that stuff and the problems are centred a little below
the waistline. They're not Pomfret cakes, but then they don't pretend to
be.
--
John Dean
Oxford
Laura F Spira
I read somewhere recently that liquorice had been found to be good for
the failing memory. The only allsorts I could find were fruit flavoured
(what is the world coming to?) and I had considerable difficulty in
finding Pontefract cakes locally but finally tracked them down in a
sweet shop in Thame. Trouble is, I can't for the life of me remember
where I've put them.
Daniel James
> They used to called Eiderdowns, therefore I would guess that 'doona'
> is short for 'Eiderdoona'.
Somone in this thread mentioned a feather-filled thingy being called a
"downie". I can equate that with "doona" in my mind even more easily
(and still more so in a Scots accent).
Cheers,
Daniel.
John Dean
I've just seen a cordless phone advertised on Price-Drop TV that has a
special button on the base unit that causes the handsets to make a noise
so you can locate them when you've forgotten where you left them.
The presenter thought it was a brilliant idea because she was forever
ringing her own mobile at home to find out where she'd left it.
--
John Dean
Oxford
Laura F Spira
I used to have a key ring that beeped when you clapped your hands, but
I've lost it and no amount of hand-clapping will find it. Eventually I
expect someone will market a device that can be attached to any item and
performs a similar locating function.
What is Price-Drop TV?
david56
> I've just seen a cordless phone advertised on Price-Drop TV that has a
> special button on the base unit that causes the handsets to make a noise
> so you can locate them when you've forgotten where you left them.
> The presenter thought it was a brilliant idea because she was forever
> ringing her own mobile at home to find out where she'd left it.
That's been standard on digital cordless phones for years. We have
two cordless handsets; most evenings finds us holding one of them
and phoning the other, while walking around the house trying to work
where the ringing sound is coming from.
--
David
=====
Peter Duncanson
<la...@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote:
>
>What is Price-Drop TV?
>
Are you sure you wish to know?
http://www.price-drop.tv/
<quote>
Welcome to price-drop.tv, the worlds only TV & Web channel that drops the
price until every winner pays the lowest closing price. Price-drops are
easy, fun and full of massive savings. Why not price-drop today and see how
much you could save!
</quote>
It is available on digital TV (including Freeview terrestrial).
Please note the apostrophe missing in the quoted text. They must have sold
out of them.
--
Peter Duncanson
UK
(posting from a.e.u)
Michael DeBusk
> I considered that, but the bag was rather large and one has to
> consider one's waistline.
If you ate the whole bagful, you'd have a more considerable waistline.
Michael DeBusk
<john...@frag.lineone.net> wrote:
> You eat a bag of that stuff and the problems are centred a little
> below the waistline.
Made with real licorice root, is it? Wow...
John Dean
And sister channel to Bid Up TV. I took it that Laura's posting the
other day saying she had seen a shopping channel meant she has access to
digital TV.
--
John Dean
Oxford
mb
> > Method A. Climb into duvet cover. Pull duvet in after you. Climb out.
> > Method B. Turn duvet cover inside out. Pull duvet over your head. Grasp
> > corners of duvet through closed corners of duvet cover (and do NOT let
> > go). Encourage anyone nearby to pull duvet cover right side out. OR
> > encourage nearby person to hold unclosed duvet cover corners while you
> > back out of duvet.
> > Wallah!
>
> When will the instructional video be available?
>
> Clothes pegs are useful. At one time I think Lakeland sold clips to do
> the trick.
You mean you really don't know?
Make a 4-inch slit in the side seam near upper corners. Slip hands
through slits. Hold appropriate duvet corners, et voila. If living in
a duvet culture, buy cover with ready slits. Eventually you'll become
a professional and learn to hold the corners through the cover with no
need for slits.
Laura F Spira
I do, but I never watch it. I have learned (most recently from my
experience with newsgroups) that I am easily prey to addiction to most
forms of media so I have to be very disciplined. My new MP3 player
allows me to indulge my radio drama addiction and I am waiting for the
portable device that will allow me to save TV programmes and watch them
anywhere.
Laura F Spira
Slits? The wimp's way out! I know *how* to do it [1]: my point earlier
in the thread was that I don't *like* doing it, so the use of a top
sheet reduces the necessity.
[1] I think I know - or knew and have forgotten - almost all there is to
know about bed linen: my husband has been selling it for more than a
quarter of a century.
Gwilym Calon
news:40D3E912...@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk...
> I am waiting for the portable device that will allow me to save TV programmes
> and watch them anywhere.
Here it is:
http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=8434
-------
GC
Laura F Spira
Amazing. Find me a gadget that will do all that *and* the ironing and I
shall be eternally in your debt.
Daniel James
David56 wrote:
> > ... a cordless phone [with] a special button on the base unit
> > that causes the handsets to make a noise so you can locate them
> > when you've forgotten where you left them.
> two cordless handsets; most evenings finds us holding one of them
> and phoning the other, while walking around the house trying to work
> where the ringing sound is coming from.
Wait a year or two and the batteries will be so knackered that if you
don't keep the handsets on their chargers even that useful function
will be unable to function.
[Do these phones really have such a ring function that isn't linked to
an intercom facility?]
Cheers,
Daniel.
John Dean
> In article news:<MPG.1b3d1f79a...@news.individual.net>,
> David56 wrote:
>>> ... a cordless phone [with] a special button on the base unit
>>> that causes the handsets to make a noise so you can locate them
>>> when you've forgotten where you left them.
> [snip]
>> That's been standard on digital cordless phones for years. We have
>> two cordless handsets; most evenings finds us holding one of them
>> and phoning the other, while walking around the house trying to work
>> where the ringing sound is coming from.
>
> Wait a year or two and the batteries will be so knackered that if you
> don't keep the handsets on their chargers even that useful function
> will be unable to function.
Then that would be a good time to replace the batteries, no?
--
John Dean
Oxford
Django Cat
That must be a pain if you have to keep replacing it all the time; have
you thought of asking him to stop?
Recent reports from the war on terror included the SAS raiding a Central
London department store; they'd heard Bed Linen was on the third floor...
DC
david56
Engineer that I am, I chose a model with standard AAA rechargeable
batteries, easily purchased in Maplins. So when they wear out, I
will change them.
OTOH, when my fairly old Braun rechargeable shaver's batteries
started to fail, I figured out how to open it up without destroying
it, unsoldered the batteries and soldered new ones in their place.
Cost - about £5 for 4 batteries (of which I only used 2) instead of
£120 for a new whizzy shaver. Doesn't everybody do this?
I've just today bought a cordless wireless mouse in Microdirect for
less than half their normal price (I think the box had been opened).
The mouse unit has batteries of course, but it came with a set of
spares which are recharged by the wireless base unit from the USB
power. Genius (literally - http://tinyurl.com/2omj4). Standard
rechargeable, of course.
--
David
=====
david56
Not separate - you can "phone" the other handset or the base unit -
it rings differently from an incoming call.
--
David
=====
John Dean
> John Dean typed thus:
>
>> Daniel James wrote:
>>> In article news:<MPG.1b3d1f79a...@news.individual.net>,
>>> David56 wrote:
>>>>> ... a cordless phone [with] a special button on the base unit
>>>>> that causes the handsets to make a noise so you can locate them
>>>>> when you've forgotten where you left them.
>>> [snip]
>>>> That's been standard on digital cordless phones for years. We have
>>>> two cordless handsets; most evenings finds us holding one of them
>>>> and phoning the other, while walking around the house trying to
>>>> work where the ringing sound is coming from.
>>>
>>> Wait a year or two and the batteries will be so knackered that if
>>> you don't keep the handsets on their chargers even that useful
>>> function will be unable to function.
>>
>> Then that would be a good time to replace the batteries, no?
>
> Engineer that I am, I chose a model with standard AAA rechargeable
> batteries, easily purchased in Maplins. So when they wear out, I
> will change them.
>
NiCad, the present one uses NiMh which is even better. Good old Maplins.
--
John Dean
Oxford
meirman
Lamprhey" <matti-...@totally-official.com> posted:
>"Harvey Van Sickle" <harve...@ntlworld.com> wrote...
>>
>> > And there are many nights when it's too hot for the duvet but I
>> > still want a sheet over me.
>>
>> Isn't that why you have summer and winter duvets? We have a pair
>> which are 4.5 tog for summer and 9 tog for autumn/spring -- they clip
>> together to make a 13 tog winter duvet -- and when it's too hot for a
>> 4.5 tog (like the past week), I find I don't want a cover of any kind.
>
>Yes, but although I like to be several togs below the norm I still need
>that sheet! It's probably persychological.
It was for me. But eventually, largely because my old apartment had
no air conditioning, I learned how to sleep with nothing on top of me.
I think I had earlier learned to sleep naked. Omitting the top sheet
made me able to be comfortable when it was, I think, 10 degrees
Fahrenheit hotter than with the sheet. That included most of the
summer. (although I still slept on the roof a few nights each summer,
on the west side of the stairwell, so the morning sun didn't wake me
at dawn.
A few years later, I learned how to sleep outside without a tent, just
a plastic sheet and a sleeping bag. Finally I came up with a plan to
combine the two, and about a year later there was a camping trip to a
NJ campground where our group had its own island, iirc, within a lake,
connected by a foot bridge only. Before dark I scouted the island,
and it seemed like no one else left the immediate area of the
campground. I went to sleep after just about everyone else had, and I
always like to sleep away from the crowd, so they don't wake me up
when they eat breakfast.
So I went to an open area about 50 or 100 yards away from the rest of
them. It was a warm and very humid night, everyone was already asleep,
so I slept naked, on top of my sleeping bag, outdoors, all night. It
was still humid but it wasn't bad. No one noticed me, because if they
had, they would have teased me.
I've never camped anyplace that humid at any other time, and I don't
think I'll do that again, but it's nice to know I can if necessary.
>I don't see how a duvet
>cover affects "wrappability" either...
>
>>
>> >> Perhaps it's a class marker?
>> >
>> > Anyone got a smiley for "guffawing"?
>>
>> Dunno: seemed a reasonable query to me!
>
>I just couldn't see any basis for its being a class marker, I'm afraid,
>and I still can't imagine how it might work that way. Top sheet =
>higher class or lower class?
>
>Matti
>
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
Baltimore 20 years
mb
> in the thread was that I don't *like* doing it, so the use of a top
> sheet reduces the necessity.
>
> [1] I think I know - or knew and have forgotten - almost all there is to
> know about bed linen: my husband has been selling it for more than a
> quarter of a century.
Hmm. I would have expected better from a professional by association.
Anyone trained to do it right from childhood on will tell you that it
is simpler and faster (with trainer slits if needed) than spreading
and folding sheets, not to mention the bother with the damn top sheets
while sleeping or rearranging the bed.
Tony Cooper
wrote:
>A few years later, I learned how to sleep outside without a tent, just
>a plastic sheet and a sleeping bag. Finally I came up with a plan to
>combine the two, and about a year later there was a camping trip to a
>NJ campground where our group had its own island, iirc, within a lake,
>connected by a foot bridge only. Before dark I scouted the island,
>and it seemed like no one else left the immediate area of the
>campground. I went to sleep after just about everyone else had, and I
>always like to sleep away from the crowd, so they don't wake me up
>when they eat breakfast.
>
You have left me wondering how one "learns" to sleep, and how one does
post-graduate working in sleeping by learning how to sleep naked.
Are you self-taught or were classes and tutors involved? Are there
text books on this subject? When learning to sleep, is it best to
first learn to cat-nap and doze off, or does the lesson plan take you
directly from wakefullness to deep slumber?
If you could reply by lunch I would appreciate it. I think that right
after lunch I would be most receptive to sleep lessons.
Robert Lieblich
[ ... ]
> You have left me wondering how one "learns" to sleep, and how one does
> post-graduate working in sleeping by learning how to sleep naked.
Psychologists have a much broader view of the word "learn" than you
do, C**p. Behavior can be learned through repetition. No classroom
instruction involved. You get to sleep naked the same way you get
to Carnegie Hall.
--
Liebs
ZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Daniel James
> > [Do these phones really have such a ring function that isn't
> > linked to an intercom facility?]
>
> Not separate - you can "phone" the other handset or the base unit
> - it rings differently from an incoming call.
OK, that's similar to what I have. You can't actually make calls from
the base station but you can call any handset (or all at once) from
any other. Dead useful when I'm working downstairs and SWMBO is
working upstairs and one of us answers a call for the other...
These (Philips "onis") handsets are a few years old and their NiCd
batteries are getting distinctly unwilling to hold a charge ... they
*are* standard AA types and I *have* replaced them, but strangely they
still don't seem to hold the charge as well as when new.
[Yes, I did get the right sort of replacement batteries]
Cheers,
Daniel.
John Dean
NiMh.
NiCads need a degree of nurturing comparable to young fledglings
preparatory to release into the wild. Charging them up to the hilt
before daring to insert them in an appliance is only the beginning. Only
recharging them when they are exhausted helps to prevent the 'halo'
effect where they become less and less able to hold a charge. My wife
couldn't understand why I was so insistent that our Onis handsets (with
NiCad) must not live on the rechargers and that we therefore had blank
periods when neither handset was useable.
--
John Dean
Oxford
spam>@att.net Joanne Marinelli
"Laura F Spira" <la...@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote in message
news:40D2C93C...@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk...
> John Dean wrote:
> > david56 wrote:
> >
> >>Michael DeBusk typed thus:
> >>
> >>
> >>><bass.c...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>> I didn't buy any because Wife is a licorice snob as her family all
> >>>> came from near Pontefract, and she would probably have turned her
> >>>> nose up at it.
> >>>
> >>>That's a reason to buy it. More for you! :)
> >>
> >>consider one's waistline.
> >
> >
> > be.
>
> I read somewhere recently that liquorice had been found to be good for
> the failing memory. The only allsorts I could find were fruit flavoured
> (what is the world coming to?) and I had considerable difficulty in
> finding Pontefract cakes locally but finally tracked them down in a
> sweet shop in Thame. Trouble is, I can't for the life of me remember
> where I've put them.
>
> Laura
> (emulate St. George for email)
>
coordination, at least in rats.
Joanne
Laura F Spira
Since I eat blueberries nearly every morning, it would appear that I am
not a rat. I'm quite pleased to know that.