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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Displaced Adjective Noun Connections
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Kaplan Corday
Shipmate
# 16119
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Posted
I have just come across the expression “social Darwinians”, which comes across as a description of gregarious, convivial evolutionists rather than, as obviously intended in context, proponents of Social Darwinism.
Other examples are “Cold Warriors” and (regularly used by the media in any story about Ronnie Biggs) “Great Train Robber”.
The first suggests soldiers battling it out in the icy wastes (“The snow shall be their winding sheet”), perhaps on WWII’s Eastern Front, instead of ideological opponents in the Cold War of the late forties onward.
The second evokes a picture of a physically and legendarily formidable bandit, instead of a seedy, small-time crook who happened to participate in the Great (in terms of amount of money stolen) Train Robbery.
Any other examples?
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
Not sure what effect you're looking for?
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Adam.
Like as the
# 4991
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Posted
He's looking for nominal phrases in which the underlying structure is not clear from what's on the surface. Like the fact that, syntactically, "Great Train Robber" could be "[Great Train] Robber" (ie. a robber of a great train) or a "Great [Train Robber]" (ie. someone who is a great robber of trains). I would have thought that any three word adj/noun compound would have this property. Eg. a "tiny book store" could be a store that sells tiny books, or a tiny store that sells books. In speech, prosody generally distinguishes for us.
The situation does get a little more interesting in the earlier examples, like "social darwinist." Clearly, what's intended is an adherent to "social darwinism." The rule of English that replacing an "ism" with an "ist" makes a kind of agent noun (where the tacit verb is adhering to or some such), has here been applied to a noun phrase rather than just a noun.
I think on some level that can be hard to recognize. We want to take the adjective as modifying the noun we see, not the "ism" noun. An example that riles many, including me, is "illegal immigrant." What people who use this actual mean is a participant in illegal immigration, but it sounds so much like calling a person illegal (rather than a process) that many find it objectionable.
[ 10. December 2012, 11:18: Message edited by: Hart ]
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Ave Crux, Spes Unica!
Preaching blog
Posts: 8164 | From: Notre Dame, IN | Registered: Sep 2003
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Angloid
Shipmate
# 159
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Posted
I always have a mental image of a Lego figure when I hear the phrase 'plastic surgeon'. Similarly, a toddler in a white coat for 'child psychiatrist'.
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Brian: You're all individuals!
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Lone voice: I'm not!
Posts: 12927 | From: The Pool of Life | Registered: May 2001
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
Does anyone else think "Triffid!" when they see a "Heavy Plant" warning?
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
Industrial Light and Magic. It sounds like something from Harry Potter, but its a movie special effects company.
People who say things like "terribly lovely" to "how are you today" also make me rather puzzled.
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Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
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Jonah the Whale
Ship's pet cetacean
# 1244
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Posted
Near where I studied were some offices of the Ministry of Defence. One of the turnings into it was just afte a blind corner so motorists were warned to be careful: "Concealed Entrance". A friend of mine admitted to me that she spent four year wondering why the MoD would go to all that trouble to conceal the entrance and then advertise it.
[ 10. December 2012, 15:56: Message edited by: Jonah the Whale ]
Posts: 2799 | From: Nether Regions | Registered: Aug 2001
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
Does anyone else think "Triffid!" when they see a "Heavy Plant" warning?
No, but I've never seen a "Heavy Plant" warning and can't imagine what it is. (And I've only heard of Triffids on SoF!)
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
I've never seen a "Heavy Plant" warning and can't imagine what it is. (And I've only heard of Triffids on SoF!)
Plant = machinery
Triffids
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
Does anyone else think "Triffid!" when they see a "Heavy Plant" warning?
Yep!
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
No, but I've never seen a "Heavy Plant" warning and can't imagine what it is. (And I've only heard of Triffids on SoF!)
These signs are very common in the UK - there are three on the moors where I travel to visit Mum.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
"This door is alarmed"
(No it isn't, but I might be if someone tries to break through it)
"Corinthian Casuals" (are neither Corinthian nor casual in any current sense)
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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The Rhythm Methodist
Shipmate
# 17064
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Posted
Round these parts, there are trucks proudly emblazoned with the legend "Bob Gay Plant Hire"....which I, at least, found initially confusing.
In Kent, our continental visitors used to be greeted by a sign on the main road which said "No cat's eyes for 15 miles". I don't know if they viewed this as some sort of peculiar prohibition, or if they undestood it as a warning that there may be blind felines wandering into the road. Perhaps they just thought it was an indication that the local roadside restaurants were unable to cater for all tastes - who knows?
Posts: 202 | From: Wales | Registered: Apr 2012
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Morlader
Shipmate
# 16040
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Posted
Antiquarian Bookseller. Most of them are, too ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
The Beeb had a "Royalty correspondent" at one time, but have now reverted to "Royal correspondent", but he isn't royal.
They also have "Wales correspondents", although they sound pretty Welsh to me.
Finally the old saw "monumental mason" who can be of any stature.
[ 10. December 2012, 17:07: Message edited by: Morlader ]
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.. to utmost west.
Posts: 858 | From: Not England | Registered: Nov 2010
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Kaplan Corday
Shipmate
# 16119
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Posted
Many decades ago, when my children were small enough to be a captive audience in the back seat of the car, I regularly enquired, when passing a Pedstrians Cross Here sign, as to what had so infuriated the walkers at that particular spot.
I think they might have smiled wanly on the very first occasion.
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
I have always marvelled at child psychologists.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
Then there's SLOW CHILDREN PLAYING
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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balaam
Making an ass of myself
# 4543
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Posted
Youth worker. We start them young.
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Last ever sig ...
blog
Posts: 9049 | From: Hen Ogledd | Registered: May 2003
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Dogwalker
Shipmate
# 14135
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Posted
A restaurant near here serves "half baked chicken".
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If God had meant for us to fly, he wouldn't have given us the railways. - Unknown
Posts: 155 | From: Milford, MA, USA | Registered: Sep 2008
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Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
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Posted
The sort of place that Ken mentions where "this door is alarmed" often also includes, and the same door may even also be signed,
"Disabled Access"
(i.e. it doesn't work)
Is a "foreign correspondent" a French adulterer?
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Brexit wrexit - Sir Graham Watson
Posts: 7610 | From: Bristol UK(was European Green Capital 2015, now Ljubljana) | Registered: Nov 2008
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Gill H
Shipmate
# 68
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Posted
My mum once got the giggles when ordering 'Twelve black men's cassocks' as she wondered how they would differ from white men's cassocks.
I know what you mean about 'disabled seatin etc. Last week I spotted 'Disable Seating' - a very posh sign embossed on wood and in a newly refurbished venue.
Underneath was 'Please respect this area'. Oh, I do. But not the people who were too stingy to pay for a proofreader.
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*sigh* We can’t all be Alan Cresswell.
- Lyda Rose
Posts: 9313 | From: London | Registered: May 2001
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latecomer
Apprentice
# 8966
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Posted
slightly tangential, but how about this;
sign
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Keep it simple - I can do simple
Posts: 27 | From: Somerset | Registered: Jan 2005
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Sparrow
Shipmate
# 2458
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Posted
I remember many years ago seeing a farm shop sign saying "new laid eggs drive in here".
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For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Posts: 3149 | From: Bottom right hand corner of the UK | Registered: Mar 2002
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Angloid
Shipmate
# 159
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Posted
There is a local firm here called Lacy Roofing. I always think that must be very impractical, especially in our climate.
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Brian: You're all individuals!
Crowd: We're all individuals!
Lone voice: I'm not!
Posts: 12927 | From: The Pool of Life | Registered: May 2001
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
![[Killing me]](graemlins/killingme.gif)
Love that sign, latecomer!
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Bob Two-Owls
Shipmate
# 9680
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Posted
Not quite in the sense of the OP but I used to deal with a company called Sargent's PC Repairs which always gave me the impression of a kindly man with three stripes putting a plaster on the knee of a rookie constable. Mr Sargent was puzzled by this.
A client of mine calls himself a "Canine Therapist", I told him that just changing species would not fool the taxman.
Posts: 1262 | Registered: Jul 2005
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georgiaboy
Shipmate
# 11294
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Posted
A (now deceased) friend used to prepare a hugely popular dinner featuring 'Seven Boy Black-Butter Curry.'
However, much hilarity was caused because she always managed to call it 'Seven Black Boys and Butter Curry.'
I think/hope she was unaware of her mangling of the name. (Or maybe I hope she wasn't!) ![[Devil]](graemlins/devil.gif)
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You can't retire from a calling.
Posts: 1675 | From: saint meinrad, IN | Registered: Apr 2006
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Kaplan Corday
Shipmate
# 16119
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Bob Two-Owls:
A client of mine calls himself a "Canine Therapist", I told him that just changing species would not fool the taxman.
I once knew a vet who had a book on her shelf titled Canine Surgery.
No doubt performed by one of the more intelligent breeds - Border Collies, perhaps, or Kelpies.
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Kaplan Corday
Shipmate
# 16119
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Posted
Just come across in the paper a similar example to those in my OP: "organised criminal".
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Lucia
Looking for light
# 15201
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Posted
Talking of crossing signs (as we were further up the thread!) how about the tricky question of what to do about deer crossings ?
Posts: 1075 | From: Nigh golden stone and spires | Registered: Oct 2009
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ToujoursDan
Ship's prole
# 10578
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Posted
Not quite the same, but an old style (show tunes around a piano) gay bar here in New York holds "Summer Camp" with the cross-dressing acts held in front of camping equipment.
I am old enough to always have a mental picture (and taste) of chocolate chips when am told to clear my "browser cookies".
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"Many people say I embarrass them with my humility" - Archbishop Peter Akinola
Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/toujoursdan
Posts: 3734 | From: NYC | Registered: Oct 2005
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Heavenly Anarchist
Shipmate
# 13313
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Posted
Another slight tangent, From 1066 and all that, Test Paper III: 'Why do you picture John of Gaunt as a rather emaciated grandee?'
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'I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.' Douglas Adams
Dog Activity Monitor
My shop
Posts: 2831 | From: Trumpington | Registered: Jan 2008
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Matt Black
Shipmate
# 2210
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The Rhythm Methodist:
Round these parts, there are trucks proudly emblazoned with the legend "Bob Gay Plant Hire"....which I, at least, found initially confusing.
Round here we have Beaver Tool Hire: are they tools only used by beavers or some kind of marital aid?
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"Protestant and Reformed, according to the Tradition of the ancient Catholic Church" - + John Cosin (1594-1672)
Posts: 14304 | From: Hampshire, UK | Registered: Jan 2002
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Matt Black
Shipmate
# 2210
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Posted
I'm not making it up!
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"Protestant and Reformed, according to the Tradition of the ancient Catholic Church" - + John Cosin (1594-1672)
Posts: 14304 | From: Hampshire, UK | Registered: Jan 2002
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que sais-je
Shipmate
# 17185
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Posted
Recently I've seen several vans with the Cathedral Hygiene logo. Not sure what special needs cathedrals have. The website's FAQ doesn't alas explain the name but the home address is Tamworth which may be the mundane explanation.
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"controversies, disputes, and argumentations, both in philosophy and in divinity, if they meet with discreet and peaceable natures, do not infringe the laws of charity" (Thomas Browne)
Posts: 794 | From: here or there | Registered: Jun 2012
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
I wonder if they use a lot of hyssop?
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Bob Two-Owls
Shipmate
# 9680
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Posted
Conversation heard in the office this morning:
Alan: The man is an intellectual dwarf!
Bob: He isn't that short, nor is he particularly intellectual.
Posts: 1262 | Registered: Jul 2005
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mdijon
Shipmate
# 8520
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Posted
"Small chips please".
(Chip size being as categorized by European Union standards.)
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mdijon nojidm uoɿıqɯ ɯqıɿou
ɯqıɿou uoɿıqɯ nojidm mdijon
Posts: 12277 | From: UK | Registered: Sep 2004
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Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
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Posted
Some years ago (the prices indicate that), I saw on a farm gate post, a sign that read approximately as follows.
HORSE MANURE
50p per bag
BAG YOUR OWN
25p per bag
PLEASE PROVIDE OWN BAG
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Brexit wrexit - Sir Graham Watson
Posts: 7610 | From: Bristol UK(was European Green Capital 2015, now Ljubljana) | Registered: Nov 2008
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Angloid
Shipmate
# 159
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Posted
After fighting through the Christmas shopping crowds I always want to say 'I can see why' when I see a sign saying Menswear.
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Brian: You're all individuals!
Crowd: We're all individuals!
Lone voice: I'm not!
Posts: 12927 | From: The Pool of Life | Registered: May 2001
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Angloid
Shipmate
# 159
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Posted
I'm sure there are a few criminal lawyers around but I don't know why they want to advertise the fact.
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Brian: You're all individuals!
Crowd: We're all individuals!
Lone voice: I'm not!
Posts: 12927 | From: The Pool of Life | Registered: May 2001
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
I'm sure that Laurie Wakeham isn't the only one.
They could be in need of a criminal lawyer.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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The Machine Elf
Irregular polytope
# 1622
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Bob Two-Owls:
A client of mine calls himself a "Canine Therapist", I told him that just changing species would not fool the taxman.
Do you have to see someone else if your molars need therapy?
There was a oldie from the news quiz which mentioned a letter to the Guardian complaining of racism because they described the perpetrator of a crime as a "black cab driver".
[ 15. December 2012, 10:16: Message edited by: The Machine Elf ]
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Elves of any kind are strange folk.
Posts: 1298 | From: the edge of the deep green sea | Registered: Oct 2001
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