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Phraseology Tidbits

:D

Seriously though, is it a phrase with other connotations?
 
RED TAPE
When vets of the civil war wanted their pensions they had to report in person to collect their money. The books with their names and details were bound with red tape so the clerks had to go through the Red Tape to find out if they were eligible for and how much to pay.
 
SeaUrchin_STG_M said:
RED TAPE
When vets of the civil war wanted their pensions they had to report in person to collect their money. The books with their names and details were bound with red tape so the clerks had to go through the Red Tape to find out if they were eligible for and how much to pay.
Click to expand...

Good term--but Kipfer says it's because of the red or pink tape used to bind and secure official documents--which seems closer to the meaning (and top secret documents in the United States do have a red tape strip on them--set diagonally in the upper left corner, beside a strip of black tape). (Did they have tape at the time of the Civil War?)
 
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sr71plt said:
Good term--but Kipfer says it's because of the red or pink tape used to bind and secure official documents--which seems closer to the meaning (and top secret documents in the United States do have a red tape strip on them). (Did they have tape at the time of the Civil War?)
Click to expand...

From Wikipedia

All American Civil War veterans' records were bound in red tape, and the difficulty in accessing them led to the modern American use of the term, but there is evidence (as detailed above) that the term was in use in its modern sense sometime before this.

Tape has been around since at least the middle ages. The Vatican has Photographs of documents dating back to the middle ages showing them bound in red tape.
 
Speaking of red

The term "red-handed," meaning caught in the act of doing a crime or misdeed, is dated to 1819 (both by Kipler and Webster's), with the term found in Scottish legal documents to depict a murderer caught with blood on his hands.
 
SeaUrchin_STG_M said:
From Wikipedia

All American Civil War veterans' records were bound in red tape, and the difficulty in accessing them led to the modern American use of the term, but there is evidence (as detailed above) that the term was in use in its modern sense sometime before this.

Tape has been around since at least the middle ages. The Vatican has Photographs of documents dating back to the middle ages showing them bound in red tape.
Click to expand...

Wiki isn't the most reliable source though. ;)
 
But, all's fine. There's rarely a definitive explanation for these phrases. It's fun to see the variations.
 
And at least SeaUrchin gives a source up front. Most of those who smugly "correct" me here don't bother to give a source even when challenged to do so.
 
One for the teetotalers

The origin of "On the wagon," is said to come from the days before paved roads, when horse-drawn water wagons sprayed the streets to settle the dust. Anyone who had sworn abstinence from alcohol was said to have "climbed aboard the water wagon." Over time this got shortened to "on the wagon."

As far as the word "teetotaler," one legend is that it originated with the Prentice Temperance Society in England in the 1820s, when one of the members had a stammer when he declared a "total abstinence" pledge, not being able to get beyond "tee-tee-total."
 
sr71plt said:
The origin of "On the wagon," is said to come from the days before paved roads, when horse-drawn water wagons sprayed the streets to settle the dust. Anyone who had sworn abstinence from alcohol was said to have "climbed aboard the water wagon." Over time this got shortened to "on the wagon."

As far as the word "teetotaler," one legend is that it originated with the Prentice Temperance Society in England in the 1820s, when one of the members had a stammer when he declared a "total abstinence" pledge, not being able to get beyond "tee-tee-total."
Click to expand...

Why do you insist on driving me crazy?

What I have witnessed is a a story where a condemned man (to hang) on the way tbey would offer the prisoner a last drink. If he "got off the wagon" for a last drink then this was so, otherwise he would be hamged.

But it doesn't matter what I have input. The self-annointed only-editor SR is always right. Because I am no editor. So don't PM me. PM SR71.

He rules supreme.
 
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AsylumSeeker said:
Why do you insist on driving me crazy?

What I have witnessed is a a story where a condemned man (to hang) on the way tbey would offer the prisoner a last drink. If he "got off the wagon" for a last drink then this was so, otherwise he would be hamged.
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Do you have a source for your version, AS?
 
MistressLynn said:
Do you have a source for your version, AS?
Click to expand...

t's only a website. So be it. I choose to believe it.

And since SR has invalidated all others as editors then I suggest writers assail him. Since he s apparently the only competent editor here he should shoulder the responsibility of editing.

Let's see. The arrogant little bastard won't, of cpourse.

He's too busy being self-important whle making all others appear to be "second readers".

So I wil continue to refer readers tohim when seeking an editor.

You asked for it, ypu got it SR.

l
 
AsylumSeeker said:
t's only a website. So be it. I choose to believe it.

And since SR has invalidated all others as editors, then I suggest writers assail him. Since he s apparently the only competent editor here, he should shoulder the responsibility of editing.

Let's see. The arrogant little bastard won't, of cpourse.

He's too busy being self-important whle making all others appear to be "second readers".

So I wil continue to refer readers (readers or writers, AS?) tohim when seeking an editor.

You asked for it, ypu got it, SR.

l
Click to expand...
Consider what your post says about you as an editor, AS.
 
MistressLynn said:
Wiki isn't the most reliable source though. ;)
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Academically, yes. If someone is found quoting wiki, then their paper will be rejected straightaway. In fact, all website references, except for links to actual published papers are rejected blindly.

wiki is enough for sr, though.
 
cocput said:
Academically, yes. If someone is found quoting wiki, then their paper will be rejected straightaway. In fact, all website references, except for links to actual published papers are rejected blindly.

wiki is enough for sr, though.
Click to expand...

There are many websites that are authoritative (put up there and maintained by the home organization) that are perfectly acceptable for academic study use.

And for this thread, wikipeadia is as good as (but not better than) most other sources--but that's only because there isn't one authoritative source for questions of phrase origins.
 
I guess the question is whether AS will sober up enough to get the point too--and remember it. I'll bet not.
 
sr71plt said:
There are many websites that are authoritative (put up there and maintained by the home organization) that are perfectly acceptable for academic study use.
Click to expand...

I am sorry my friend. I can be authoritative in that regards, as I have already been a reviewer of technical conferences. Any reference that is not a published book, conference paper, or journal, goes to "reject" box straightaway.

I can refer to a white paper in class only if the white paper is from a respectable online resource of a specific organization. Otherwise, it has to be hypothetical discussion.

--scorpio
 
cocput said:
I can refer to a white paper in class only if the white paper is from a respectable online resource of a specific organization. Otherwise, it has to be hypothetical discussion.

--scorpio
Click to expand...

Well, yes. That's exactly what I posted. English isn't your native language, is it?
 
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