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A Word for the Day

Started by Recusant, November 08, 2015, 08:20:40 AM

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No one


billy rubin

Quote from: Magdalena on August 02, 2020, 06:31:46 AM
Quote from: No one on August 02, 2020, 05:42:42 AM
The boonies.
Ah!
Thank you, No one:)

i\ve wondered about "sticks."

there used to be a phrase, "beyond the pale . . ." which some people claim referred to being beyond a frontier terriotry in ireland. i alwasys wondered whether it referred to being beyond the pale fence of a medieval fortification, so being "beyond the pale" would mean "outside established jurisdiction."

i just looked it up, and found that i wasn't first with the idea"
Quote
From pale ("jurisdiction of an authority, territory under an authority's jurisdiction"), suggesting that anything outside the authority's jurisdiction was uncivilized. The phrase was in use by the mid-17th century, and may be a reference to the general sense of boundary, but is often understood to refer specifically to the English Pale in Ireland. In the nominally English territory of Ireland, only the Pale fell genuinely under the authority of English law, hence the terms within the pale and beyond the pale. The boundary of the Ashdown Forest (a royal hunting forest) was also known as the Pale, consisting of a paled fence and a ditch inside, to allow deer to jump in, but not back out.

anyway, out "in the sticks," sounds suspiciously like an updated version of"beyond the pale" to me, so i've wondered whether there was a connection.



"I cannot understand the popularity of that kind of music, which is based on repetition. In a civilized society, things don't need to be said more than three times."

Randy

I don't know, Billy, I simply haven't a clue. It is something my father said often and I've picked it up. I've heard it a time or two from people my age. I don't know why "sticks" is used for "boondocks" either.
"Maybe it's just a bunch of stuff that happens." -- Homer Simpson
"Some people focus on the destination. Atheists focus on the journey." -- Barry Goldberg

No one

Sticks, is cityfolk speak for the woods.

Recusant

Quote from: No one on August 02, 2020, 11:09:35 PM
Sticks, is cityfolk speak for the woods.

Not just cityfolk. When I was growing up out in the sticks the term was commonly used there to mean "out in the woods; well away from civilization."
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth."
— H. L. Mencken


No one

You were cityfolk to those stickeins.

Dark Lightning

Pff. Where I grew up(southern California), it was sand, sagebrush and cacti! Might as well have been Australia, what with the rattlesnakes and the black widow spiders.  We didn't even HAVE trees! ;D

Recusant

Quote from: No one on August 03, 2020, 03:09:24 AM
You were cityfolk to those stickeins.

That explains a lot.  Now some things fall into perspective. :lol:
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth."
— H. L. Mencken


hermes2015

You guys with your reminiscences are heading in this direction.

"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

Davin

I've also hear BFE or "Bum Fuck Egypt" which means in the middle of nowhere. In case the place where you're at is way out there but not in the trees.
Always question all authorities because the authority you don't question is the most dangerous... except me, never question me.

Randy

Quote from: Dark Lightning on August 03, 2020, 03:27:30 AM
Pff. Where I grew up(southern California), it was sand, sagebrush and cacti! Might as well have been Australia, what with the rattlesnakes and the black widow spiders.  We didn't even HAVE trees! ;D
Ha! Where I grew up (Okefenokee Swamp in southern Georgia) we had pythons slithering down the trees and alligators swimming around with water moccasins. We lived on a raft we did made out of toothpicks. We had to space ourselves evenly so as not to capsize!

(In truth I was a military brat and lived in many places and had it nice. We were poor but somehow my parents managed to scrape by.)
"Maybe it's just a bunch of stuff that happens." -- Homer Simpson
"Some people focus on the destination. Atheists focus on the journey." -- Barry Goldberg

xSilverPhinx

I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Tank

I'm sure I've seen this before!
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

xSilverPhinx

I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Randy

"Maybe it's just a bunch of stuff that happens." -- Homer Simpson
"Some people focus on the destination. Atheists focus on the journey." -- Barry Goldberg