What was the "govende" meme all about?

[markowe]

Kind of meta but I used to lurk here many many years ago when it was still a Usenet group. And I remember Daniel McGrath's "govende" joke, but I can't for the life of me remember what the point of it was now? The only thing I can find online is this page:

http://wikibin.org/articles/govende-3.html

which doesn't seem to be up anymore, isn't cached anywhere and for which the Google snippet merely says:

"Govende is the name of a prank and game on the Usenet newsgroup alt.usage.english. The prank was initiated in 1996 by newsgroup participant Daniel McGrath"

I seem to remember the point was to troll new users into endlessly discussing the pronunciation of this non-existent word, was that it?

[J. J. Lodder]

markowe <mzda...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Kind of meta but I used to lurk here many many years ago when it was still
> a Usenet group.

It still is. It is just that gurglers no longer know it.

> And I remember Daniel McGrath's "govende" joke, but I can't for the life
> of me remember what the point of it was now? The only thing I can find
> online is this page:
>
> http://wikibin.org/articles/govende-3.html
>
> which doesn't seem to be up anymore, isn't cached anywhere and for which
> the Google snippet merely says:
>
> "Govende is the name of a prank and game on the Usenet newsgroup
> alt.usage.english. The prank was initiated in 1996 by newsgroup
> participant Daniel McGrath"
>
> I seem to remember the point was to troll new users into endlessly
> discussing the pronunciation of this non-existent word, was that it?

No, it wasn't. What's a non-existent word?

Jan

[markowe]

On Tuesday, 23 November 2021 at 11:51:56 UTC+1, J. J. Lodder wrote:
> wrote:
>
> > Kind of meta but I used to lurk here many many years ago when it was still
> > a Usenet group.
> It still is. It is just that gurglers no longer know it.

Correction: when it was still ONLY a Usenet group.

> >
> > I seem to remember the point was to troll new users into endlessly
> > discussing the pronunciation of this non-existent word, was that it?
> No, it wasn't. What's a non-existent word?
>
> Jan

I see, that's the way it is, is it?

[Peter Moylan]

On 23/11/21 21:35, markowe wrote:

> Kind of meta but I used to lurk here many many years ago when it was
> still a Usenet group.

It always was, and still is. If Google chooses to carry an echo of it,
that doesn't change the nature of the group. Some of us feel rather
strongly that it's unethical of Google to imply that it hosts the group.
Some have gone further and killfile any articles that come from Google
Gropus users.

> And I remember Daniel McGrath's "govende" joke, but I can't for the
> life of me remember what the point of it was now? The only thing I
> can find online is this page:
>
> http://wikibin.org/articles/govende-3.html
>
> which doesn't seem to be up anymore, isn't cached anywhere and for
> which the Google snippet merely says:
>
> "Govende is the name of a prank and game on the Usenet newsgroup
> alt.usage.english. The prank was initiated in 1996 by newsgroup
> participant Daniel McGrath"
>
> I seem to remember the point was to troll new users into endlessly
> discussing the pronunciation of this non-existent word, was that it?

Daniel wasn't a troll, although initially we thought he was. His autism
explained his quirks. One of those was an obsession with the word
"govende", which he insisted should be pronounced goo-vain. Why he was
obsessed with that word was never revealed.

You're probably familiar with the sort of cascade that goes:
What's an A?
It's a B. What's a C.
For a while we called those threads govendes, in honour of Daniel's word.

--
Peter Moylan Newcastle, NSW http://www.pmoylan.org

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

On 2021-11-23 11:40:36 +0000, Peter Moylan said:

> On 23/11/21 21:35, markowe wrote:
>
>> Kind of meta but I used to lurk here many many years ago when it was
>> still a Usenet group.
>
> It always was, and still is. If Google chooses to carry an echo of it,
> that doesn't change the nature of the group. Some of us feel rather
> strongly that it's unethical of Google to imply that it hosts the group.
> Some have gone further and killfile any articles that come from Google
> Gropus users.
>
>> And I remember Daniel McGrath's "govende" joke, but I can't for the
>> life of me remember what the point of it was now? The only thing I
>> can find online is this page:
>>
>> http://wikibin.org/articles/govende-3.html
>>
>> which doesn't seem to be up anymore, isn't cached anywhere and for
>> which the Google snippet merely says:
>>
>> "Govende is the name of a prank and game on the Usenet newsgroup
>> alt.usage.english. The prank was initiated in 1996 by newsgroup
>> participant Daniel McGrath"
>>
>> I seem to remember the point was to troll new users into endlessly
>> discussing the pronunciation of this non-existent word, was that it?
>
> Daniel wasn't a troll, although initially we thought he was. His autism
> explained his quirks. One of those was an obsession with the word
> "govende", which he insisted should be pronounced goo-vain.

At the time, we were unfamiliar with covfefe, which is just a different
spelling of the same word.

> Why he was
> obsessed with that word was never revealed.
>
> You're probably familiar with the sort of cascade that goes:
> What's an A?
> It's a B. What's a C.
> For a while we called those threads govendes, in honour of Daniel's word.


--

Athel -- French and British, living mainly in England until 1987.

[CDB]

Tohu or bohu. What's a firmament?

[Tony Cooper]

A company that makes a ment.

What's profitable?



--

Tony Cooper Orlando Florida

[occam]

Someone who is in favour of fitables.
What's a for profiterole?

[CDB]

On 11/23/2021 10:41 AM, occam wrote:
> Tony Cooper wrote:

>> CDB <belle...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> J. J. Lodder wrote:
>>>> markowe <mzda...@gmail.com> wrote:

>>>>> Kind of meta but I used to lurk here many many years ago when
>>>>> it was still a Usenet group.

>>>> It still is. It is just that gurglers no longer know it.

>>>>> And I remember Daniel McGrath's "govende" joke, but I can't
>>>>> for the life of me remember what the point of it was now? The
>>>>> only thing I can find online is this page:

>>>>> http://wikibin.org/articles/govende-3.html

>>>>> which doesn't seem to be up anymore, isn't cached anywhere
>>>>> and for which the Google snippet merely says:

>>>>> "Govende is the name of a prank and game on the Usenet
>>>>> newsgroup alt.usage.english. The prank was initiated in 1996
>>>>> by newsgroup participant Daniel McGrath"

>>>>> I seem to remember the point was to troll new users into
>>>>> endlessly discussing the pronunciation of this non-existent
>>>>> word, was that it?

>>>> No, it wasn't. What's a non-existent word?

>>> Tohu or bohu. What's a firmament?

>> A company that makes a ment.

>> What's profitable?

> Someone who is in favour of fitables. What's a for profiterole?

A wad of bills in your back pocket. What's a pool hustler?

[Mack A. Damia]

Fast Eddie. Who's in the box tonight?

[Peter Moylan]

On 23/11/21 23:45, Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:
> On 2021-11-23 11:40:36 +0000, Peter Moylan said:

>> Daniel wasn't a troll, although initially we thought he was. His
>> autism explained his quirks. One of those was an obsession with the
>> word "govende", which he insisted should be pronounced goo-vain.
>
> At the time, we were unfamiliar with covfefe, which is just a
> different spelling of the same word.

Thanks for pointing that out. Until now I hadn't known how to pronounce
covfefe.

[Snidely]

on 11/23/2021, Mack A. Damia supposed :

Cracker Jack's. Who needs a lift?

/dps

--
The presence of this syntax results from the fact that SQLite is really
a Tcl extension that has escaped into the wild.
<http://www.sqlite.org/lang_expr.html>

[Quinn C]

* Snidely:

Billy the Kid. Who gets your goat?

--
The seeds of new thought, sown in a ground that isn't prepared
to receive them, don't bear fruit.
-- Hedwig Dohm (1874), my translation

[CDB]

On 11/24/2021 9:00 AM, Quinn C wrote:
> * Snidely:
>> Mack A. Damia supposed :

He done scaped. Who is the greatest?

--
maybe of all time, maybe not

[lar3ryca]

On Wednesday, November 24, 2021 at 11:06:52 AM UTC-6, CDB wrote:
> On 11/24/2021 9:00 AM, Quinn C wrote:
> > * Snidely:
> >> Mack A. Damia supposed :

> >>> CDB <belle...@snailmail.com> wrote:
> >>>> occam wrote:
> >>>>> Tony Cooper wrote:

> >>>>>> CDB <belle...@snailmail.com> wrote:
> >>>>>>> J. J. Lodder wrote:

More like "What is the greatest?"
The method used to determine if the grea is working properly.

What's a testicle?

[Peter T. Daniels]

Ollie, ollie, oxen free. Who's on the team?

[Snidely]

lar3ryca used thar keyboard to writen:

Taking your finals on a glacier. What's this about a glacée?

/dps

--
Who, me? And what lacuna?

[Snidely]

Lo, on the 11/24/2021, Peter T. Daniels did proclaim ...

Ollie's long gone, but Brady hangs in there. What's a buccaneer?

/dps

--
I have always been glad we weren't killed that night. I do not know
any particular reason, but I have always been glad.
_Roughing It_, Mark Twain

[Peter Moylan]

The thing on the side of your buccanhead. What's a headwind?

[Quinn C]

* Snidely:

Makes the finest gloves. What's chamois?

--
- You all packed?
- Vagabond shoes and all. And pepper spray. For if we run into
that Trump character.
-- Veronica Mars, S02E22 (2006)

[Tony Cooper]

French for Private Detective.

What's a prank?

[CDB]

On 11/24/2021 11:06 PM, Tony Cooper wrote:
> Quinn C <lispa...@crommatograph.info> wrote:
>> * Snidely:
>>> lar3ryca used thar keyboard to writen:

Bilabial hotdog. What's a foodle?

[Steve Hayes]

On Tue, 23 Nov 2021 02:35:07 -0800, markowe wrote:

> Kind of meta but I used to lurk here many many years ago when it was
> still a Usenet group. And I remember Daniel McGrath's "govende" joke,
> but I can't for the life of me remember what the point of it was now?
> The only thing I can find online is this page:
>
> http://wikibin.org/articles/govende-3.html

It still exists on Facebook.


--
Steve Hayes http://khanya.wordpress.com

[bil...@shaw.ca]

On Thursday, November 25, 2021 at 10:35:20 PM UTC-8, Steve Hayes wrote:
> On Tue, 23 Nov 2021 02:35:07 -0800, markowe wrote:
>
> > Kind of meta but I used to lurk here many many years ago when it was
> > still a Usenet group. And I remember Daniel McGrath's "govende" joke,
> > but I can't for the life of me remember what the point of it was now?
> > The only thing I can find online is this page:
> >
> > http://wikibin.org/articles/govende-3.html
> It still exists on Facebook.
>

I wasn't around for either the govende joke, whatever that was, or for the
invention of the game, possibly called govende by some, which we still play.
(What's a xxx? Punning answer. What's a yyy? opening more space for puns,
etc.

What's afoot?

[markowe]

> I wasn't around for either the govende joke, whatever that was, or for the
> invention of the game, possibly called govende by some, which we still play.
> (What's a xxx? Punning answer. What's a yyy? opening more space for puns,
> etc.
>
> What's afoot?

It's when you haven't got a leg to stand on.

OK, I remember now! Although the part about the word "govende" being an obsession of Daniel McGrath's, possibly related to him being on the spectrum, escaped me at the time, I just thought it was funny to debate the meaning and pronunciation of a word that meant nothing, I saw nothing autistic in that.

So what's disseminate?

[Peter Moylan]

Much the same as datseminate, I imagine.

Extra detail for those who don't know the history. Initially we thought
that Daniel was some sort of troll. At some point his mother posted a
message to AUE, explaining that he was autistic, that the newsgroup was
important to him, and could we please not be too rough on him. After
that he became almost a sort of mascot for the group.

His obsessions were intense, though. The pronunciation of govende was
just one example. He was very worried about the name of the Pacific
Ocean, since we all know that it can have stormy weather that is far
from pacific. There were a few other cases like that. Later, when he was
institutionalised, he had a nurse called J (not Jay), and he was
bothered by the fact that someone could have a name that was just one
letter.

If we step back far enough, we can see that we all get disturbed by
little things like that. The difference is that for most people the
level of disturbance is so small as to be hardly noticeable. For anyone
stuck on an obsession, the level can be magnified to a "seriously
troubled" point.

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

On 2021-11-26 10:23:12 +0000, Peter Moylan said:

> On 26/11/21 20:56, markowe wrote:
>>
>>> I wasn't around for either the govende joke, whatever that was, or
>>> for the invention of the game, possibly called govende by some,
>>> which we still play. (What's a xxx? Punning answer. What's a yyy?
>>> opening more space for puns, etc.
>>>
>>> What's afoot?
>>
>> It's when you haven't got a leg to stand on.
>>
>> OK, I remember now! Although the part about the word "govende" being
>> an obsession of Daniel McGrath's, possibly related to him being on
>> the spectrum, escaped me at the time, I just thought it was funny to
>> debate the meaning and pronunciation of a word that meant nothing, I
>> saw nothing autistic in that.
>>
>> So what's disseminate?
>
> Much the same as datseminate, I imagine.
>
> Extra detail for those who don't know the history. Initially we thought
> that Daniel was some sort of troll. At some point his mother posted a
> message to AUE, explaining that he was autistic, that the newsgroup was
> important to him, and could we please not be too rough on him. After
> that he became almost a sort of mascot for the group.
>
> His obsessions were intense, though. The pronunciation of govende was
> just one example.

Another that came up often was his dislike of the word "rare".

> He was very worried about the name of the Pacific
> Ocean, since we all know that it can have stormy weather that is far
> from pacific. There were a few other cases like that. Later, when he was
> institutionalised, he had a nurse called J (not Jay), and he was
> bothered by the fact that someone could have a name that was just one
> letter.
>
> If we step back far enough, we can see that we all get disturbed by
> little things like that. The difference is that for most people the
> level of disturbance is so small as to be hardly noticeable. For anyone
> stuck on an obsession, the level can be magnified to a "seriously
> troubled" point.


--

[markowe]

On Friday, 26 November 2021 at 12:11:21 UTC+1, Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:

> >
> > Extra detail for those who don't know the history. Initially we thought
> > that Daniel was some sort of troll. At some point his mother posted a
> > message to AUE, explaining that he was autistic, that the newsgroup was
> > important to him, and could we please not be too rough on him. After
> > that he became almost a sort of mascot for the group.
> >
> > His obsessions were intense, though. The pronunciation of govende was
> > just one example.
> Another that came up often was his dislike of the word "rare".
> > He was very worried about the name of the Pacific
> > Ocean, since we all know that it can have stormy weather that is far
> > from pacific. There were a few other cases like that. Later, when he was
> > institutionalised, he had a nurse called J (not Jay), and he was
> > bothered by the fact that someone could have a name that was just one
> > letter.
> >
> > If we step back far enough, we can see that we all get disturbed by
> > little things like that. The difference is that for most people the
> > level of disturbance is so small as to be hardly noticeable. For anyone
> > stuck on an obsession, the level can be magnified to a "seriously
> > troubled" point.
>
>
> --

Thanks for that background, I had absolutely no idea, I bowed out of Usenet when spam levels became intolerable. Daniel's level of intense feeling about certain points of language didn't stand out that much to me at the time. I don't know what that says about me! Though those were also the days of Bun Mui (now what happened to him/her?!), so I probably also just thought he was a troll (though not in a bad sense, just someone who liked to perpetuate weird in-jokes).

Damn, there is something about those days when Usenet was in its prime and you had some real Internet characters around in these communities, that mostly got lost a long time ago, especially when forums largely died a death.

[CDB]

On 11/24/2021 8:46 PM, Peter Moylan wrote:

> Snidely wrote:
>> Peter T. Daniels did proclaim ...

Little Regan could do those. What's an extortionist?

[CDB]

On 11/26/2021 7:09 AM, markowe wrote:
> Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:
[That was Peter, not Athel]

These days we favour a more ambiguous pronoun. Or sometimes more ambiguous.

And now! Here they are! Bun! and Mui! What's a dolly?

[Snidely]

CDB is guilty of <sno46e$c3m$1...@gioia.aioe.org> as of 11/25/2021 5:47:57
AM

A garment with a folded headcovering. Oh, wait, what the ... ell?

Maybe we're getting the French Labra.

Either way, what's plush?

/dps

--
"What do you think of my cart, Miss Morland? A neat one, is not it?
Well hung: curricle-hung in fact. Come sit by me and we'll test the
springs."
(Speculative fiction by H.Lacedaemonian.)

[Snidely]

Peter Moylan submitted this idea :

Braids. What's a Mohawk?

[Snidely]

bil...@shaw.ca speculated:

The end of a ruler. What's a royal marriage?

/dps

--
"Inviting people to laugh with you while you are laughing at yourself
is a good thing to do, You may be a fool but you're the fool in
charge." -- Carl Reiner

[J. J. Lodder]

Not here.
Looking back, aue has about the same posting volume
that it had ten years ago.
The long term worry is that it is carried by fewer people,
and they have gotten older.

Many regular posters have disappeared,
but new faces are seen, once in a while,
and some of them remain,

Jan

[J. J. Lodder]

Snidely <snide...@gmail.com> wrote:

> bil...@shaw.ca speculated:
> > On Thursday, November 25, 2021 at 10:35:20 PM UTC-8, Steve Hayes wrote:
> >> On Tue, 23 Nov 2021 02:35:07 -0800, markowe wrote:
> >>
> >>> Kind of meta but I used to lurk here many many years ago when it was
> >>> still a Usenet group. And I remember Daniel McGrath's "govende" joke,
> >>> but I can't for the life of me remember what the point of it was now?
> >>> The only thing I can find online is this page:
> >>>
> >>> http://wikibin.org/articles/govende-3.html
> >> It still exists on Facebook.
> >>
> > I wasn't around for either the govende joke, whatever that was, or for the
> > invention of the game, possibly called govende by some, which we still play.
> > (What's a xxx? Punning answer. What's a yyy? opening more space for puns,
> > etc.
> >
> > What's afoot?
>
> The end of a ruler. What's a royal marriage?

A pre-production agreement. How long is the line?

Jan

[Jerry Friedman]

On Friday, November 26, 2021 at 3:23:16 AM UTC-7, Peter Moylan wrote:

[DGMcG]

> His obsessions were intense, though. The pronunciation of govende was
> just one example. He was very worried about the name of the Pacific
> Ocean, since we all know that it can have stormy weather that is far
> from pacific. There were a few other cases like that. Later, when he was
> institutionalised, he had a nurse called J (not Jay), and he was
> bothered by the fact that someone could have a name that was just one
> letter.

...

Pretty sure her name was K (not Kay).

--
Jerry Friedman

[Mack A. Damia]

Reverse ejaculation. What is a gamete?

[markowe]

> >
> >So what's disseminate?
> Reverse ejaculation. What is a gamete?

Gamburgers. What's a manouevre?

[musika]

Yes. I was going to post that Daniel went one further (USE and alt UKE
"farther".)

--
Ray
UK

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

That's what I thought.

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

Before his mother told us about his autism he gave a clear hint in his
posting name of Daniel al-Autisqi (or something like that), but I'm not
sure we all picked that up.

[Peter T. Daniels]

The one I saw the most, alongside "Pacific," was "send." I knew nothing
about Sam Cooke or where that had come from, but every time that
meaning comes up in a crossword puzzle, I remember Dan fondly.

[Peter T. Daniels]

A Finger Lake. What's a ladyfinger?

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Friday, November 26, 2021 at 9:38:46 AM UTC-5, J. J. Lodder wrote:
> markowe <mzda...@gmail.com> wrote:

> > Damn, there is something about those days when Usenet was in its prime and
> > you had some real Internet characters around in these communities, that
> > mostly got lost a long time ago, especially when forums largely died a
> > death.
>
> Not here.
> Looking back, aue has about the same posting volume
> that it had ten years ago.
> The long term worry is that it is carried by fewer people,
> and they have gotten older.
>
> Many regular posters have disappeared,
> but new faces are seen, once in a while,
> and some of them remain,

But some come back: recently "lar" from Canada, and just today,
markowe.

Both from long enough ago to be before my time.

[Mack A. Damia]

Dr. Mary checking your prostate. What is a gland?

[Anders D. Nygaard]

Den 24-11-2021 kl. 06:28 skrev Snidely:
> on 11/23/2021, Mack A. Damia supposed :
>> On Tue, 23 Nov 2021 10:55:08 -0500, CDB <belle...@gmail.com> wrote:

>>
>>> On 11/23/2021 10:41 AM, occam wrote:
>>>> Tony Cooper wrote:
>>>>> CDB <belle...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> J. J. Lodder wrote:
>>>>>>> markowe <mzda...@gmail.com> wrote:

>>>>>>>> Kind of meta but I used to lurk here many many years ago when
>>>>>>>> it was still a Usenet group.
>>>

>>>>>>> It still is. It is just that gurglers no longer know it.

>>>>>>>> And I remember Daniel McGrath's "govende" joke, but I can't
>>>>>>>> for the life of me remember what the point of it was now? The
>>>>>>>> only thing I can find online is this page:
>>>>>>>> http://wikibin.org/articles/govende-3.html

>>>>>>>> which doesn't seem to be up anymore, isn't cached anywhere
>>>>>>>> and for which the Google snippet merely says:
>>>>>>>> "Govende is the name of a prank and game on the Usenet
>>>>>>>> newsgroup alt.usage.english. The prank was initiated in 1996
>>>>>>>> by newsgroup participant Daniel McGrath"

>>>>>>>> I seem to remember the point was to troll new users into
>>>>>>>> endlessly discussing the pronunciation of this non-existent
>>>>>>>> word, was that it?
>>>
>>>>>>> No, it wasn't.  What's a non-existent word?
>>>>>> Tohu or bohu.  What's a firmament?
>>>
>>>>> A company that makes a ment.
>>>
>>>>> What's profitable?
>>>
>>>> Someone who is in favour of fitables. What's a for profiterole?
>>>
>>> A wad of bills in your back pocket.  What's a pool hustler?
>>
>>  Fast Eddie.  Who's in the box tonight?
>
> Cracker Jack's.  Who needs a lift?

Mr. Otis. What are reregrets?

/Anders, Denmark

[bil...@shaw.ca]

A rer type of egrets. What's on the wing?

[lar3ryca]

A bell on the end. What's a party?

[Kerr-Mudd, John]

A gleat amount biggel than a ton. What's a long weight?

--
Bah, and indeed Humbug.

[Richard Heathfield]

"Your call is important to us." What's a white lie?

--
Richard Heathfield
Email: rjh at cpax dot org dot uk
"Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999
Sig line 4 vacant - apply within

[Peter Moylan]

Yes, you're right. My remembery is not what it used to be.

[Peter Moylan]

On 26/11/21 23:09, markowe wrote:

> Thanks for that background, I had absolutely no idea, I bowed out of
> Usenet when spam levels became intolerable. Daniel's level of
> intense feeling about certain points of language didn't stand out
> that much to me at the time. I don't know what that says about me!

And about the rest of us. The point has been made several times that a
number of AUE regulars are sitting somewhere in the autism spectrum. I
go further, and claim that the obsession and focus that is
characteristic of the spectrum is almost a prerequisite for success in
science, in engineering research, in mathematics, and a few similar
areas of human endeavour. In aspects, as it happens, that attract people
to AUE.

> Though those were also the days of Bun Mui (now what happened to
> him/her?!), so I probably also just thought he was a troll (though
> not in a bad sense, just someone who liked to perpetuate weird
> in-jokes).

Someone claimed to have spotted Bun Mui when at a boink, but I think
that was a false alarm. I'm convinced that it was a regular who was
playing a long-running role. The very name is a giveaway, because in
some parts of the Chinese-speaking world it's a put-down for a
low-status Filipina worker.

> Damn, there is something about those days when Usenet was in its
> prime and you had some real Internet characters around in these
> communities, that mostly got lost a long time ago, especially when
> forums largely died a death.

As it happens - as it was meant to happen - I was trying to explain the
history of this to someone the other day. Long ago, people abandoned the
mailing lists for the newsgroups. (Or was it the other way around?)
Eventually the arrival of Google Groups lowered the standards, and not a
lot later many regulars moved to Facebook. By now, I gather, the young
people are complaining that Facebook is only for old people, and they
have moved on to other platforms I don't care to investigate.

[CDB]

On 11/26/2021 11:03 AM, musika wrote:

> Jerry Friedman wrote:
>> Peter Moylan wrote:

>> [DGMcG]

>>> His obsessions were intense, though. The pronunciation of govende
>>> was just one example. He was very worried about the name of the
>>> Pacific Ocean, since we all know that it can have stormy weather
>>> that is far from pacific. There were a few other cases like that.
>>> Later, when he was institutionalised, he had a nurse called J
>>> (not Jay), and he was bothered by the fact that someone could
>>> have a name that was just one letter.
>> ...

>> Pretty sure her name was K (not Kay).

> Yes. I was going to post that Daniel went one further (USE and alt
> UKE "farther".)

I'm with them. If the word describes a spatial relationship, either
real or metaphorical (as here), I write "farther". But I will not
impose further on your patience.

[CDB]

On 11/26/2021 8:37 AM, Snidely wrote:
> CDB is guilty of:

This was great pun in the initial plush of enthusiasm, but now I think
I'll plush any further farticipation on my fart.

[Anders D. Nygaard]

A thing to go with a partx. What's a gizmo?

/Anders, Denmark

[Snidely]

On Sunday or thereabouts, Anders D. Nygaard declared ...

A generous donor. What's a generic doner?

/dps

--
As a colleague once told me about an incoming manager,
"He does very well in a suck-up, kick-down culture."
Bill in Vancouver

[Snidely]

Just this Friday, Richard Heathfield puzzled about:

Where the cue ball is. What's in the pocket?

[Snidely]

On Saturday or thereabouts, CDB declared ...

Well, that's the end of that.

/dps

--
"What do you think of my cart, Miss Morland? A neat one, is not it?
Well hung: curricle-hung in fact. Come sit by me and we'll test the
springs."
(Speculative fiction by H.Lacedaemonian.)

[Snidely]

Just this Friday, markowe puzzled about:

>>>
>>> So what's disseminate?
>> Reverse ejaculation. What is a gamete?
>
> Gamburgers. What's a manouevre?

He's over a bottomless pit. What's a top hat?

/dps

--
"That's a good sort of hectic, innit?"

" Very much so, and I'd recommend the haggis wontons."
-njm

[Snidely]

On Friday or thereabouts, J. J. Lodder declared ...

Long enough that you can hold the line. What's a sheet in the wind?

/dps

--
But happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue. One must have a reason
to 'be happy.'"
Viktor Frankl

[Lewis]

A dull kebab. What's a gyro?



--
I WILL NOT GREASE THE MONKEY BARS Bart chalkboard Ep. 7F17

[Mack A. Damia]

On Sun, 28 Nov 2021 03:16:07 -0800, Snidely <snide...@gmail.com>
wrote:

The staff of life. What is sourdough?

[Sam Plusnet]

Something you should _not_ do to windward. What's a blowback?


--
Sam Plusnet

[bil...@shaw.ca]

Someone with a gear loose. What's Greek to me?

bill

[Quinn C]

* bil...@shaw.ca:

Du Chinois. What's a peeking Duck?

--
https://omniglot.com/language/idioms/incomprehensible.php

[Snidely]

Snidely presented the following explanation :

What's tight?

/dps

--
Killing a mouse was hardly a Nobel Prize-worthy exercise, and Lawrence
went apopleptic when he learned a lousy rodent had peed away all his
precious heavy water.
_The Disappearing Spoon_, Sam Kean

[lar3ryca]

A frog's arsehole. What's a salamander?

[Snidely]

Mack A. Damia blurted out:

When you spill vinegar on your dollar bills. What's a billhook?

/dps

--
Maybe C282Y is simply one of the hangers-on, a groupie following a
future guitar god of the human genome: an allele with undiscovered
virtuosity, currently soloing in obscurity in Mom's garage.
Bradley Wertheim, theAtlantic.com, Jan 10 2013

[Snidely]

On Sunday, lar3ryca exclaimed wildly:

The left-over side in the refrigerator. What's chilling?

[J. J. Lodder]

Something you catch babies with. What's above Nirvana?

Jan

[Quinn C]

* Snidely:

That this thread is still going. What's binging?

--
There is a whole cottage industry devoted to people who are
upset by the idea of others being outraged.
-- Washington Post 2019-09-18

[Sam Plusnet]

Let me google that for you. What's a Wiki?

--
Sam Plusnet

[Kerr-Mudd, John]

A backward New Zealander? What time is high noon in Brokenwood?

[lar3ryca]

Never. It's always pointing down.

What's a woodpecker?