From: "David Gerard" dgerard@gmail.com
So ... written any good articles lately?
No, but I've really _enjoyed_ making a stab at "Free lunch," http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_lunch , and expanding "Raines law," http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raines_law .
For me, probably the most enjoyable thing about WIkipedia is the discovery of self-assigned research projects on topics I'm curious about and know absolutely nothing about.
Having read old novels, I was vaguely aware of the institution known as the "free lunch." I still haven't got the whole picture, but obviously it went out with prohibition and I _believe_ it never came back, presumably since after prohibition there was no need whatsoever to promote saloons, and probably because depression economics didn't make it feasible for saloon keepers. I don't have a clear picture of its rise and fall, or its regional aspects. I kind of have the idea the saloon's "free lunch" was universal in big cities but not in small towns. But I'm sure it was strongly influenced by local regulations regarding alcohol licensing.
(It's always annoyed me that people that quote "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" don't understand that it is a specific reference to the "free lunches" offered by saloons).
The fascinating thing about "Raines law" and "Raines law hotel" is that they are such totally _unfamiliar_ phrases, although when I started poking into "free lunch" I found dozens of references to them... in New York State it seems to have been conspicuous and disliked a law, and as much of a topic of public discourse, as prohibition itself was later.
On 11/26/06, Daniel P. B. Smith wikipedia2006@dpbsmith.com wrote:
(It's always annoyed me that people that quote "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" don't understand that it is a specific reference to the "free lunches" offered by saloons).
Well, I didn't. But you can't know the derivation of *every* saying...
Do you say "the spitting image" or the "spit and image"? Do you say "chomping at the bit" or "champing at the bit"? Do you say "one foul swoop" or "one fell swoop"?
Steve
Steve Bennett wrote:
On 11/26/06, Daniel P. B. Smith wikipedia2006@dpbsmith.com wrote:
(It's always annoyed me that people that quote "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" don't understand that it is a specific reference to the "free lunches" offered by saloons).
Well, I didn't. But you can't know the derivation of *every* saying...
Do you say "the spitting image" or the "spit and image"? Do you say "chomping at the bit" or "champing at the bit"? Do you say "one foul swoop" or "one fell swoop"?
Interesting questions!
It appears that "chomp" is a dialectical variation of the verb "champ", and goes back at least to the 17th century. Give "champ" a more British pronunciation, and that becomes understandable. That "champ" could be used to express two different types of biting adds to the confusion. The reference to a succession of quick bites seems more indicative of impatience. "Coffee and opium are taken down, tobacco but in smoke, and betel is but champed in the mouth with a little lime." Francis Bacon as quoted in Johnson's Dictionary.
"Spitting image" seems to be a relatively recent variation. See http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxspitan.html . The claim there is that "spitting image" first appeared in 1901, yet a Google book search gave me an entry from the "American Annals of the Deaf" dated 1886. The earlier "fire-spitting image" (1846) appears to take us in a different direction.
"Fell swoop" appears correct. The adjective "fell" means "evil" even though the evil denotation appears to have fallen away in recent years. It's most famous use is in Shakespeare's Macbeth (Act IV, Scene III) where Macduff comments "What, all my pretty chickens and their dam / At one fell swoop?" upon hearing that his family had been murdered.
Ec