Snopes on the "picnic" issue: [link]
Picnic' began life as a 17th-century French word — it wasn't even close to being an American invention. A 1692 edition of Origines de la Langue Françoise de Ménage mentions 'piquenique' as being of recent origin marks the first appearance of the word in print. As for how the French came by this new term, it was likely invented by joining the common form of the verb 'piquer' (meaning "to pick" or "peck") and a nonsense rhyming syllable coined to fit the first half of this new palate-pleaser.
Yeah, I was gonna say, OED has it with french origins.
French pique-nique (1694 in repas à piquenique; 1718 denoting a meal at which each person pays for his share or at which each person contributes a share of the food; subsequently also denoting a meal eaten out of doors, perh. after English), prob. < piquer (see PICK v.1) + nique (14th or 15th cent. in Middle French in sense ‘nothing whatever’, second half of the 15th cent. in sense ‘small copper coin’; prob. ult. of imitative origin), although the latter word is app. rare after the end of the 16th cent. In early use perh. partly via German Picknick (first half of the 18th cent.; 2nd half of the 19th cent. denoting a meal eaten out of doors, prob. after English); cf. quot. 1748 at sense A. 1a. Cf. Swedish picknick (first half of the 18th cent.). Cf. KNICK-KNACK n. 2b.]
Ratt & Poison are touring together again and coming to town.
Oh ... dear. Nope, gonna skip that one, even tho' I saw the original tour for that. No, I am going to instead concentrate on modern-day boys-in-eyeliner-with-guitars tours. Heaven help me if Projekt Revolution actually announces a Seattle date, because then I will have to decide if I want to see MCR and Placebo (and HIM, bwah!) enough to put up with Linkin Park and Snoop Dog.
OED would say that, thought. It's a tool of The Man, trying to deny us our right to our valid modes of expression anyway.
As for Snopes, they never let anyone have any fun. I know it's white people running it too. I can
tell.
Heaven help me if Projekt Revolution actually announces a Seattle date, because then I will have to decide if I want to see MCR and Placebo (and HIM, bwah!) enough to put up with Linkin Park and Snoop Dog.
The IL date is significantly distant enough from me that I probably would've given it a pass, but I just took another look and realized that I'll be in Atlanta for Dragon*Con that day, anyway.
thanks-- I guess I could have snopes it myself, but I didn't think it would be there! I figured it was just something like the niggardly problem...
Did I just see ita's eyes roll across the floor?
I'll be in Atlanta for Dragon*Con that day, anyway.
I'm considering Dragon*Con again, as I do every year. Who else is going? If Buffistas will be there, it's far more likely I'd go.