Erinaceous is this week's On Language guest columnist, and as usual is made of awesome.
Zoe: Jayne. This is something the Captain has to do for himself. Mal: No! No, it's not!
'War Stories'
Natter 53: We could just avoid making tortured puns
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Jessica - Jul 29, 2007 4:39:37 am PDT #806 of 10001
If I want to become a cloud of bats, does each bat need a separate vaccination?
Matt the Bruins fan - Jul 29, 2007 4:59:26 am PDT #807 of 10001
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
I remember seeing an article once that posited barking as a marker of arrested development among dogs as it is a youthful play behavior that wolves grow out of.
tommyrot - Jul 29, 2007 5:04:53 am PDT #808 of 10001
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
From Erinaceous's article:
...the phenomenon of the weaponized spork is one that passed lexicographers and language researchers by until we saw the corpus evidence.
Totally a Buffista phrase....
brenda m - Jul 29, 2007 5:16:05 am PDT #809 of 10001
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there
For "play" barking, sure. I'd buy that. I'm not sure that "security" barking falls into that pattern though. Boredom barking is something I'd also consider separate from play barking.
Plus there are breeds that are simply barkers - most of your terrier classes, for ex - and breeds that generally are not - huskies are basically non-barkers, unless it's really encouraged in them. Most fall somewhere in between.
Lucy is basically not a very barky dog, and only in her security function. Mailmen, doorbells and knocks on the door, but especially other dogs passing by are her big triggers. ETA: And the other dog thing show how much the security concern is defending her own turf, rather than "oh, she's protecting you..." heh.
I should add another category, which is "hurry up and give me what I want" barking, which in her case mostly arises if she's out in the yard and wants to come in and you haven't responded to her scratches at the door quickly enough for her liking.
Dana - Jul 29, 2007 5:20:50 am PDT #810 of 10001
"I'm useless alone." // "We're all useless alone. It's a good thing you're not alone."
In my experience, Yorkies are certainly very vocal.
Zenkitty - Jul 29, 2007 6:13:36 am PDT #811 of 10001
Every now and then, I think I might actually be a little odd.
Mike had a Samoyed that never barked. The whole time I lived with him, like three years, I never heard that dog bark. Not even chasing squirrels.
Lee - Jul 29, 2007 6:27:11 am PDT #812 of 10001
The feeling you get when your brain finally lets your heart get in its pants.
So excited for the Ripper news.
Lee, what did you want to do in San Jose?
Turn left from San Carlos onto Market, since the hotel Cass was in was on Market. They had the whole area blocked off because of the race, so I couldn't get there.
Dana - Jul 29, 2007 6:49:49 am PDT #813 of 10001
"I'm useless alone." // "We're all useless alone. It's a good thing you're not alone."
Ha. Versus has lost their Tour de France feed in the middle of the last stage. Whoops.
DavidS - Jul 29, 2007 6:54:52 am PDT #814 of 10001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
David! The Memphis Flyer just namechecked your Oxford American review of Mike McCarthy movies.
I'm an authority!
Ahhhh, weaponized spork.
DavidS - Jul 29, 2007 7:00:43 am PDT #815 of 10001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Oh, well that explains the sporks...
The Oxford English Corpus — compiled from 32,000 different sources, ranging from news to fiction to blogs, all published since 2000, representing English from all over the world and growing every year — is a mother lode of such insights.
Buffistas are in the Corpus.