Whose Wednesdays are hump-days? How 'bout a CAPTION as you climb over????

[skip fox]

W. is saying" "And with Portman in at Budget, we'll be even MORE fiscally responsible!"

[TheBaldyMan]

1. My fellow Amphibians, it's true my right hand doesn't know what my left is

doing, but togetherer than we have been, we can dream of an enstrengthened Republic.

[AndyA]

2. "It's not my fault I'm so low in the polls. No one's asked me how

I'm doing, and if they did I'd tell them great!"

[dipsydoodle]

3. I have a strong suspicion

that your use of the word hump in the USA may differ materially from our use in the UK which broadly speaking is a euphemism for something else. That is unless **** (the president formerly known as whatever) is saying "go f*ck yourselves"

[skip fox]

7. Actually I was thinking about that this a.m. We do share the sexual

denotation of the slang word "hump," but not, I think, in this instance. "Humb-day" probably comes from G.I.'s "humping" a long way with full packs (ca. Vietnam, I'm guessing). Thus it's the "hump" in the middle or toward the end of the week one has to perform or endure. (No doubt, many today think of a hill in their path and not of heavy hauling, but then the G.I.s had a hill in their "humping" as well in that most of the time they used the word, in novels and so forth, they were crawling up and down hills in the brush. Full packs.)

When I get to the office I'll look it up in _The American Heritage Dictionary of American Slang_. They're damn good, 3 vols. (only two done), a historical dictionary like the _OED_.

(Although I hadn't thought of it, I'll gladly accept the sexual reading. Even soak in it. . . . Opps.)

[dipsydoodle]

14. The following link may be of future use to you

and nevernose too.

http://www.effingpot.com/slang.shtml

Was originally published as a book and is now officially free on their website.

I think your slang dictionary differs from ours which is called the Dictionary of slang and unconventional english. That's on old publication which from memory is quite expensive. Many words have nautical origins eg. naff is an acronym for not a free f*ck i.e. payment necessary.

[skip fox]

17. Thanks for the link. I've added to my favorites. _The American Heritage

Dictionary is superior to Parrington (I think it was)--this is the dict. to which you're referring--and Parrington was superior to Wentworth (who copied his mind and drive for an American slang dict.). Yes,Parrington's old, as is Wentworth.

The three volumes of the American Heritage version are the size of volumes in the _OED_ but are in a slightly smaller font.

(I used to teach a mandatory grad course in bibliography and research methods . . . when I was young and dumb.)

I'll report on the American slang word "hump" in the next 90 mins.

[dipsydoodle]

18. Just found the english Partridge

It's £94 / $ 162 in hardback ! For that I'd want it in a peartree.
I recall paying £15 for The Ashley Book of Knots , don't laugh, about 30 years ago which seemed a bit steep at the time. That however is not a patch on Akira Tsumura's 1001 Banjos copies of which never change hands for less than $1000.

[skip fox]

20. Yes, sorry, Partridge. My mistake. I have an old hardbound, a

library discard, with a back falling off.

It was great. Esp. for studying British novels that used period slang.

Out to the office, finally, to check out "hump." Got delayed by coffee house.

[Nevernose]

11. Could be used either way

1. You can go over a hump (combining the nouns "bump" and "hill"), figuratively or literally.
2. You can hump a heavy backpack through the swamp (Americans love turning nouns into verbs).
3. You can hump in the backseat of your car; requires a partner.

Personally, I think definition three is a great way to deal with definition one. :)

[skip fox]

12. Sweet. . . . I love a ripe intelligence!

"Ripe"? With humor, of course. (Although there are other possibilities glistening in the wings.)

[skip fox]

21. HUMP DAY: "The day that is at the midpoint in a given period of

work; (often) Wednesday, the middle of the work week."

_Random House Dictionary of American Slang_ (Boy, did I have the name wrong! Good thing I'm no longer a bibliographer.) They have it in this fashion, two words meaning Wednesday, back to 1955. But I suspect that the "hump" US soldiers in Viet Nam went over (4th or 5th example), meaning midway in their tour of duty, also derived from the daily or weekly trudge many of the foot soldiers did so often has come into our current usage, especially in jobs like mine where the middle of the week is not necessarily the hardest day. If you teach a graduate seminar on Tuesday night, then Tuesday's your "hump day." (And you're tired from working all weekend!)

I also suspect that the idea of "humping" packs through the brush (so ubiquitious in Viet Nam novels) has a lot to do with the current popularity of the phrase.


Lovely to think through all this. Right or wrong.

[Crankie Avalon]

4. "Nine trillion dollar debt ceiling, huh? Well, whataya gonna do?...

...good thing neither of us are gonna have to pay that back--right, Portman? Heheheheheheheh..."

[Crankie Avalon]

5. "It was hard, hard work thinking this up...

...but I've decided my nickname for this one is gonna be Port-a-Pot!"

[shenmue]

6. "He has my identical hair..."

"that's why he's qualified."

[skip fox]

8. W. is "saying": "Listen, I've known Portman since he was fifteen, and in

that ten years he's always been obedient and loyal. That makes him MORE than qualified, right? . . . And beside . . . I've looked into his eyes."

[paparush]

9. Bush: "Who wants to give me a hug...huh...can't I get a hug?

Well, fuck you all then. here's the new guy in charge of the budget thing...he'll do exactly what Cheney and Mr. Rove tell him to do. God Bless Amurika.

[Catshrink]

10. How about a song?

I gotta be me, what else can I be?

or

I did it my way!

or

What kind of fool am I?

or

There's no bizness like show bizness ...

[skip fox]

13. W. is saying: "Karl's not going to like this, but I'm going off-speech

. . . 'cause I got something really to say. . . . Like I was thinking last night before I fell asleep, . . . if we just privatize money and let everybody make their own, for a fee, then we'll get lots of money and they'll all have a bunch . . . Then nobody will squawk about gas prices or the national debt. . . . Yeah, . . . It's win-win. . . . I'll bet Karl will even like this when he thinks about it . . . and he won't bat me around like the last time. . . . Wow. . . And I'm going to get Portman, here, right on it."

[MsTryska]

15. My Wednesday is Thursday this week.

i love having every other friday off.

[peekaloo]

16. I'm in so over my head I've begun measuring my ineptitude in widths.

:crazy:

[dusmcj]

19. Fuck yeah ! They've finally found their Alfred E Newman figurehead

There's a deadly resemblance between Portman and AEN. Excellent !!!

"What, me worry ?" as the new caption for Doober economic policy. (Like it wasn't already.)

[Rocknrule]

22. "Well don't stare at me like I'm frickin' Frankenstein, give me a hug"