What's your favorite all-purpose lens?

On 1/1/2011 7:34 PM Robert Coe spake thus:

On Sat, 01 Jan 2011 22:20:03 -0500, rwalker
wrote:

On Sat, 11 Dec 2010 08:20:18 -0500, Robert Coe
wrote:

I think "Yanks" is OK. But people are strange. I thought that
calling Brits, "Limeys" was OK, until somebody told me it was
considered an insult. I said, "Why? - They discovered that
eating limes prevents scurvey, and that's where the term comes
from. It shouldn't be an insult, but a term of admiration.

Whether "Limeys" is insulting or not, doesn't it refer only to
sailors in the British Navy? I believe they were the only ones
required to eat limes.

To some in the US, "Yanks" only refers to northerners, and more
specifically, to New Englanders. Those south of the Mason-Dixon
line will very much object to being called "Yanks."

Yeah, I know. I was born in Boston but grew up in Mississippi. In grade school
other kids called me a "Yankee" (sometimes good-naturedly, sometimes not),
even though I couldn't remember ever having lived in the north.

Dayum, you must have one messed-up accent!


N.B.: I found another reason not to use a cutesy non-standard quote
delimiter (like your ":"): Thunderbird doesn't recognize it when you use
the "rewrap" function ...


--
Comment on quaint Usenet customs, from Usenet

To me, the *plonk...* reminds me of the old man at the public hearing
who stands to make his point, then removes his hearing aid as a sign
that he is not going to hear any rebuttals.

On 2011-01-01 20:45:36 -0800, rwalker said:

On Sat, 01 Jan 2011 22:34:50 -0500, Robert Coe wrote:

: To some in the US, "Yanks" only refers to northerners, and more
: specifically, to New Englanders. Those south of the Mason-Dixon line
: will very much object to being called "Yanks."

Yeah, I know. I was born in Boston but grew up in Mississippi. In grade school
other kids called me a "Yankee" (sometimes good-naturedly, sometimes not),
even though I couldn't remember ever having lived in the north.

Bob

Which reminds me of the old joke: What's the difference between a
Yankee and a Damned Yankee? A Yankee comes to visit and goes home. A
damn Yankee comes and stays.

I'm originally from West Virginia, born about 3 miles south of the
Mason Dixon Line in Cumberland, MD. We lived on the WV side of the
Potomac. To Pennsylvanians, we were hillbillies and southerners. When
I was 12, we moved to Arkansas, where we were considered Yankees. This
despite at least 3 ancestors who were Confederate soldiers.

Now if I remember my history correctly, WV was not part of the
confederacy, but broke away from Virginia and was admitted as a part of
the Union in 1863.
Even though it is almost entirely below the Mason-Dixon Line and
considered a "Southern" state, those from true confederate states such
as Arkansas, would certainly have believed you to be a "Yankee",
regardless of the fact that volunteers from WV fought for both sides.
--
Regards,

Savageduck

On Sat, 01 Jan 2011 22:46:28 -0800, David Nebenzahl
wrote:
: On 1/1/2011 7:34 PM Robert Coe spake thus:
:
: On Sat, 01 Jan 2011 22:20:03 -0500, rwalker
: wrote:
:
: On Sat, 11 Dec 2010 08:20:18 -0500, Robert Coe
: wrote:
:
: I think "Yanks" is OK. But people are strange. I thought that
: calling Brits, "Limeys" was OK, until somebody told me it was
: considered an insult. I said, "Why? - They discovered that
: eating limes prevents scurvey, and that's where the term comes
: from. It shouldn't be an insult, but a term of admiration.
:
: Whether "Limeys" is insulting or not, doesn't it refer only to
: sailors in the British Navy? I believe they were the only ones
: required to eat limes.
:
: To some in the US, "Yanks" only refers to northerners, and more
: specifically, to New Englanders. Those south of the Mason-Dixon
: line will very much object to being called "Yanks."
:
: Yeah, I know. I was born in Boston but grew up in Mississippi. In
: grade school other kids called me a "Yankee" (sometimes good-naturedly,
: sometimes not), even though I couldn't remember ever having lived in
: the north.
:
: Dayum, you must have one messed-up accent!

I'm afraid so. Although I'm from the Boston area, as was my mother, both of my
parents grew up in the midwest. So I learned to talk with basically an Ohio
accent. I eventually picked up passable accents in the various places I've
lived, but to a native I always sound like I'm from somewhere else.

Bob

On Sat, 1 Jan 2011 23:17:06 -0800, Savageduck
wrote:

Now if I remember my history correctly, WV was not part of the
confederacy, but broke away from Virginia and was admitted as a part of
the Union in 1863.
Even though it is almost entirely below the Mason-Dixon Line and
considered a "Southern" state, those from true confederate states such
as Arkansas, would certainly have believed you to be a "Yankee",
regardless of the fact that volunteers from WV fought for both sides.
--
Regards,

Savageduck

Yes, that's correct. The thing is, I was from the eastern panhandle,
which really wanted to go with the rest of Virginia, but was
effectively kept in the union to keep the Potomac River, the C and O
Canal, and the B and O railroad all in Union hands. When the
referendum on forming the new state of W.Va. was held, Confederate
sympathizers were kept from voting. Something like half of the Civil
War veterans from the eastern panhandle wound up fighting on the
Confederate side.