the busboy
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the busboy
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Robert Bannister
Guest
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 6:30 am    Post subject: Re: the busboy Reply with quote
Will wrote:

Quote:
Tony Cooper wrote:
[...]

Should it be brought up that if you add an "s" to bus that it makes it
more romantic?


Would you be referring to the sense of "bussing" meaning kissing (if
indeed it does mean kissing)? I was going to ask about that, but I
didn't want to offend Donna, and I don't have a gmail address.

What else could "bussing" mean? Still, "busing" does smack of "abusing".
Quote:

I also want to know why Leftpondians call a fringe of hair "bangs".
When I first became aware of this usage, in relation to hair rather
than explosions or exclamation marks (probably around the time I read
"A for Alibi" by Sue Grafton), I assumed that it meant those
fantastically depending curls beloved of the Pre-Raphaelites. It came
as a real shock when I realised it was the squitty bit hiding the brow.

Similarly, I thought for years it meant "kiss curls" until aue taught me
better.

--
Rob Bannister
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Robert Bannister
Guest
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 6:35 am    Post subject: Re: the busboy Reply with quote
Tony Cooper wrote:


Quote:
It might be important here, but the sequence of the development of
words and formations from words is generally not important in defining
a word. If someone asks about busboy, they are usually interested in
the current meaning and usage. Thus, a busboy is a person that clears
the table and takes the dishes to the kitchen, and to clear the table
is to bus the table, is the explanation that the person is looking
for.

That would not explain it at all to someone who did not know the word
"busboy", since "busing tables" makes no sense outside North America
(and I'm not sure about Canada).
--
Rob Bannister
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Tony Cooper
Guest
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 7:08 am    Post subject: Re: the busboy Reply with quote
On Thu, 6 Oct 2005 23:44:31 +0100, "John Dean"
<john-dean@frag.lineone.net> wrote:

Quote:
Tony Cooper wrote:
On Thu, 6 Oct 2005 15:55:30 +0200, trio@euronet.nl (Donna Richoux)
wrote:

Will <billrigby@hotmail.com> wrote:


Would you be referring to the sense of "bussing" meaning kissing (if
indeed it does mean kissing)? I was going to ask about that, but I
didn't want to offend Donna, and I don't have a gmail address.

Americans know that meaning only from Shakespeare, vaguely.

I'm not sure about that. Those of us who know the word and the
meaning of the word acquired this knowledge somewhere, but I doubt
that it was acquired from reading Shakespeare. We just pick up odd
bits of knowledge along the way, and some is passed person-to-person.
I could know of "buss" without ever reading Shakespeare or even
hearing it or seeing it used by someone that has never read
Shakespeare.


Lots of people used it. OED has cites from Fielding, Browning, Tennyson,
Richardson and more besides. But maybe you lived in a community where
the word was still in use?

I don't know, but I doubt it. I don't have an Areffian memory that
allows me to recall the date, time, and place I first heard or saw a
word. I want to say I always knew the word, but that can't be true.
Sometimes the mind just absorbs things and doesn't leave a record like
that card that used to be in a library book that shows when it was
first checked out and when each subsequent check-out took place.

I don't even know how old I was when I learned to read. I can't
remember not being able to, but I can't remember much of anything
earlier than when I was six. I see people here post that they could
do this or that when they were three years old and it amazes me. Not
that they did it, but that they can remember the age at which they did
it.








--

Making an effort to include a condemnable term in every posting.
Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL
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Tony Cooper
Guest
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 7:08 am    Post subject: Re: the busboy Reply with quote
On Fri, 07 Oct 2005 08:35:46 +0800, Robert Bannister
<robban@it.net.au> wrote:

Quote:
Tony Cooper wrote:


It might be important here, but the sequence of the development of
words and formations from words is generally not important in defining
a word. If someone asks about busboy, they are usually interested in
the current meaning and usage. Thus, a busboy is a person that clears
the table and takes the dishes to the kitchen, and to clear the table
is to bus the table, is the explanation that the person is looking
for.

That would not explain it at all to someone who did not know the word
"busboy", since "busing tables" makes no sense outside North America
(and I'm not sure about Canada).

The sentence explains what bussing the table means: "to clear the
table is to bus the table". I suppose there are countries where
"clear the table" needs further explanation, but we rarely get
inquiries from these areas. If the further explanation is "clear the
table" means to remove the dishes and silverware from the table, then
the posters from these same countries might ask "What are dishes?".






--

Making an effort to include a condemnable term in every posting.
Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL
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Skitt
Guest
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 7:08 am    Post subject: Re: the busboy Reply with quote
Tony Cooper wrote:
Quote:
"John Dean" wrote:
Tony Cooper wrote:
(Donna Richoux) wrote:
Will wrote:

Would you be referring to the sense of "bussing" meaning kissing
(if indeed it does mean kissing)? I was going to ask about that,
but I didn't want to offend Donna, and I don't have a gmail
address.

Americans know that meaning only from Shakespeare, vaguely.

I'm not sure about that. Those of us who know the word and the
meaning of the word acquired this knowledge somewhere, but I doubt
that it was acquired from reading Shakespeare. We just pick up odd
bits of knowledge along the way, and some is passed
person-to-person. I could know of "buss" without ever reading
Shakespeare or even hearing it or seeing it used by someone that
has never read Shakespeare.

Lots of people used it. OED has cites from Fielding, Browning,
Tennyson, Richardson and more besides. But maybe you lived in a
community where the word was still in use?

I don't know, but I doubt it. I don't have an Areffian memory that
allows me to recall the date, time, and place I first heard or saw a
word. I want to say I always knew the word, but that can't be true.
Sometimes the mind just absorbs things and doesn't leave a record like
that card that used to be in a library book that shows when it was
first checked out and when each subsequent check-out took place.

I don't even know how old I was when I learned to read. I can't
remember not being able to, but I can't remember much of anything
earlier than when I was six. I see people here post that they could
do this or that when they were three years old and it amazes me. Not
that they did it, but that they can remember the age at which they did
it.

I think that some of it is hearsay, and other dates are derived from some
major events in one's life.

As for bussing, yeah, I have known about that pleasurable activity since way
back. Don't know when, though. Never read much Shakespeare.
--
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/
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Robert Lieblich
Guest
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 7:08 am    Post subject: Re: the busboy Reply with quote
Tony Cooper wrote:

[ ... ]

Quote:
I don't even know how old I was when I learned to read. I can't
remember not being able to, but I can't remember much of anything
earlier than when I was six. I see people here post that they could
do this or that when they were three years old and it amazes me. Not
that they did it, but that they can remember the age at which they did
it.

Most of what I "know" about my very early years I was told by my
parents, and I decided to believe them, since they had little
incentive to lie. In similar fashion, my son knows that his first
word was "light" not because he remembers using it before any other
word but because we've told him.

Like Tony, I can't claim detailed first-hand recollection of any event
occuring before I was six. I do have vivid memories of a couple of
things that happened to me at age six. Before that it's pretty much a
blur.

--
Bob Lieblich
And now it's starting to blur at the other end
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Richard Bollard
Guest
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 7:08 am    Post subject: Re: the busboy Reply with quote
On Fri, 07 Oct 2005 01:40:45 GMT, Tony Cooper
<tony_cooper213@earthlink.net> wrote:

Quote:
I don't even know how old I was when I learned to read. I can't
remember not being able to, but I can't remember much of anything
earlier than when I was six. I see people here post that they could
do this or that when they were three years old and it amazes me. Not
that they did it, but that they can remember the age at which they did
it.

They may not remember as such but may have been told by trusted
sources that they did whatever whenever. Parents are wont to tell such
tales.

I can remember learning to stand up. This remembering, I think, is due
to the frustration of finally achieving hands-free balance and calling
out to my mother "Hey look, I'm doing it!" and getting no reponse. She
would have heard random noises rather than the real words but I knew
what I was trying to say. She had her back to me doing the washing up.
I can still see the scene, as well as the solid fuel heater (off) that
I used to get upright.
--
Richard Bollard
Canberra Australia

To email, I'm at AMT not spAMT.
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Tony Cooper
Guest
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 7:08 am    Post subject: Re: the busboy Reply with quote
On Fri, 07 Oct 2005 12:35:38 +1000, Richard Bollard
<richardb@spamt.edu.au> wrote:

Quote:
I can remember learning to stand up. This remembering, I think, is due
to the frustration of finally achieving hands-free balance and calling
out to my mother "Hey look, I'm doing it!" and getting no reponse. She
would have heard random noises rather than the real words but I knew
what I was trying to say.

My youngest grandson is less than a year old (ten months old) and has
been standing unassisted for quite some time. (Not continually, you
understand) He is taking a few wobbly steps on his own from object to
object.

I don't think that's particularly remarkable, and probably even
commonplace for the age, but I would think it to be remarkable that
later in life he could recall doing something at that age.

Quote:
She had her back to me doing the washing up.
I can still see the scene, as well as the solid fuel heater (off) that
I used to get upright.

--

Making an effort to include a condemnable term in every posting.
Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL
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Will
Guest
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 2:18 pm    Post subject: Re: the busboy Reply with quote
Mike Lyle wrote:
Quote:
mUs1Ka wrote:
Donna Richoux wrote:
[...]
"I found it right spang in the middle of the road."

I think I've seen those in British novels, haven't I?

You almost got it bang on (smack bang in the middle).

I know "plumb spang in the middle".

I don't know any of these - I do know "slap bang", which might be an
eggcorn for "smack bang", since I thought these past 48 years that it
was "you've got another thing coming".

Will.
Only a bit tin-eared
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mUs1Ka
Guest
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 3:31 pm    Post subject: Re: the busboy Reply with quote
Will wrote:
Quote:
Mike Lyle wrote:
mUs1Ka wrote:
Donna Richoux wrote:
[...]
"I found it right spang in the middle of the road."

I think I've seen those in British novels, haven't I?

You almost got it bang on (smack bang in the middle).

I know "plumb spang in the middle".

I don't know any of these - I do know "slap bang", which might be an
eggcorn for "smack bang", since I thought these past 48 years that it
was "you've got another thing coming".

GoogleUK gives:

"smack bang in the middle" - c.34,000
"slap bang in the middle" - c 26,000
--
Ray.
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Salvatore Volatile
Guest
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 5:20 pm    Post subject: Re: the busboy Reply with quote
Skitt wrote:
Quote:
Tony Cooper wrote:
I don't even know how old I was when I learned to read. I can't
remember not being able to, but I can't remember much of anything
earlier than when I was six. I see people here post that they could
do this or that when they were three years old and it amazes me. Not
that they did it, but that they can remember the age at which they did
it.

I think that some of it is hearsay, and other dates are derived from some
major events in one's life.

Right. I can date some of my memories pretty reliably to before age 3
(and thus age 2, since I don't suppose it's possible to remember stuff
earlier than that) because specific details of the memory don't make sense
otherwise -- often this has to do with the fact that my younger brother
was born a few weeks after I turned three and the memory is sort of
defined by his absence. And sometimes the nature of the memory makes it
unlikely that it would be hearsay-based -- it's too irrelevant.
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John Dean
Guest
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 5:55 pm    Post subject: Re: the busboy Reply with quote
Skitt wrote:
Quote:
Tony Cooper wrote:
"John Dean" wrote:
Tony Cooper wrote:
(Donna Richoux) wrote:
Will wrote:

Would you be referring to the sense of "bussing" meaning kissing
(if indeed it does mean kissing)? I was going to ask about that,
but I didn't want to offend Donna, and I don't have a gmail
address.

Americans know that meaning only from Shakespeare, vaguely.

I'm not sure about that. Those of us who know the word and the
meaning of the word acquired this knowledge somewhere, but I doubt
that it was acquired from reading Shakespeare. We just pick up odd
bits of knowledge along the way, and some is passed
person-to-person. I could know of "buss" without ever reading
Shakespeare or even hearing it or seeing it used by someone that
has never read Shakespeare.

Lots of people used it. OED has cites from Fielding, Browning,
Tennyson, Richardson and more besides. But maybe you lived in a
community where the word was still in use?

I don't know, but I doubt it. I don't have an Areffian memory that
allows me to recall the date, time, and place I first heard or saw a
word. I want to say I always knew the word, but that can't be true.
Sometimes the mind just absorbs things and doesn't leave a record
like that card that used to be in a library book that shows when it
was first checked out and when each subsequent check-out took place.

I don't even know how old I was when I learned to read. I can't
remember not being able to, but I can't remember much of anything
earlier than when I was six. I see people here post that they could
do this or that when they were three years old and it amazes me. Not
that they did it, but that they can remember the age at which they
did it.

I think that some of it is hearsay, and other dates are derived from
some major events in one's life.

As for bussing, yeah, I have known about that pleasurable activity
since way back. Don't know when, though. Never read much
Shakespeare.

Well,
Brush up your Shakespeare
Start learning him now ...
--
John Dean
Oxford
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R J Valentine
Guest
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 7:34 pm    Post subject: Re: the busboy Reply with quote
On Thu, 06 Oct 2005 13:49:38 -0700 Evan Kirshenbaum <kirshenbaum@hpl.hp.com> wrote:

} trio@euronet.nl (Donna Richoux) writes:
}
}> Will <billrigby@hotmail.com> wrote:
}>
}>>
}>> Would you be referring to the sense of "bussing" meaning kissing (if
}>> indeed it does mean kissing)? I was going to ask about that, but I
}>> didn't want to offend Donna, and I don't have a gmail address.
}>
}> Americans know that meaning only from Shakespeare, vaguely.
}
} Except for those of us who learned it orally, as it were. At least as
} a noun, "a buss on the cheek" doesn't sound at all unusual to me.

At the Greenbelt MetroRail station (q.gg.) there used to be a sign (may
still be there) that said in effect:

<-- Kiss and Ride
--> Busses Only

(ObAUE+ObDrift: and therewith yet another example of why the common
punctuation choice is a bad choice for certain uses).

--
R. J. Valentine <mailto:rj@theWorld.com>
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the Omrud
Guest
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 7:46 pm    Post subject: Re: the busboy Reply with quote
John Dean spake thusly:

Quote:
I keep wanting to play a lick on the guitar and sing "The busboy took
the message and he wrote it on the wall".

Oh, Johnny, be good.

--
David
=====
replace usenet with the
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Laura F. Spira
Guest
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 8:51 pm    Post subject: Re: the busboy Reply with quote
John Dean wrote:
Quote:
I keep wanting to play a lick on the guitar and sing "The busboy took
the message and he wrote it on the wall".

Your uncle was a busboy?

--
Laura
(emulate St. George for email)
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